Church and Court Patronage

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Church and Court Patronage

• By
• Mika Tsuboi, Jacob Rosok, Kyle Fuller, Sarah
  Brown, Lyssa Hogan

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Patronage

• The term derives from the latin patronatus, the
  formal relationship between a Patronus and his
  Clientes.
• Support
• Encouragement
• Privilege
• Sponsorship

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History of Patronage

• Peak between 14th and 17th centuries
• Various Scholars who enjoyed the support of
  patrons
• Natural philosophers (Galileo)
• Musicians (Beethoven, Mozart)
• Writers (Shakespeare)
• Philosophers
• Alchemists
• Astrologers
• Artists (Leonardo da Vinci Michelangelo)

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Benefits of Patronage

• Recipients
• Received Notability and Credibility
• Benefactors
• Received prestige

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Types of Patronage
Court
Church
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Court Patronage
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Development of court Patronage

• Conditions under which court patronage manifests
• Ancient origins

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History

• England
• Anglo-Saxon Scop
• was looked upon as divinely inspired for the
  purpose of setting forth the noble deeds of his
  hearers, and of raising their thoughts to higher
  things.
• -Karl Julius Holzknecht
• Courtly Love
• Medieval Emperors
• Patronage Leads to the Renaissance

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Elizabethan Era

• Patronage of actors changes quality of
  performance
• Public performances as practices for court
• Elizabeth selects her own company
• Shakespeare

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Social Stratification

• Common People
• Nobility

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Christianity in the Middle Ages
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Church as Patron

• Financial resources to commission literature
• Education to produce it
• Influence to spread it

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Financial Resources

• Creation of literature was expensive
• Books considered a luxury item
• In order to make money for writing, authors must
  work on commission
• No means of independent distribution

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Education

• Average person not literate
• Most of those who were literate were employees of
  the church
• Monks copying manuscripts

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Influence

• Church
• Vast network
• If a work was deemed worthy, Church had means of
  distributing it over vast distances
• Example Dream of the Rood in three different
  locations

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Direct Vs. Indirect Patronage

• Direct
• actual financial commissioning of a work by a
  church group or official
• direct control of content
• Indirect
• A reflection of church influence and cultural
  dominance in society
• Example Beowulf
• Preserved when copied by monks
• Example Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
• Reflection of Christian morality

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Pros and Cons

• Pros
• Less literature produced
• Less literature preserved
• Cons
• Bias

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Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

• And he releases it lightly, and lifts up his
  hand / And gives him Gods blessing, and
  graciously prays lines 369-370
• - Aurthur is shown as a spiritual leader. This
  also enforces the belief that the King was
  somehow divine and connected directly with God.
• And therefore, as I find, he fittingly had / On
  the inner part of his shield her image
  portrayed lines 648-649
• - The Cult of the Virgin promotes the belief that
  the Virgin Mary, while not directly involved with
  the inner workings of the Holy Trinity, does hold
  great sway in Heaven and can use this power for
  the benefit of her devotees.

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• And better so to have been than battered to
  bits, / Beheaded by an elf-man, for empty pride!
  lines 680-681
• - The Green Knight can be interpreted in many
  ways, but generally he is seen as a device used
  to glorify Christianity while demeaning previous
  religions.

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• Thus she tested his temper and tried many a
  time, / Whatever her true intent, to entice him
  to sin lines 1549-1550
• - The continued advances upon Gawain may be an
  allusion to the story of Adam and Eve. This
  would give the text an appeal to a particularly
  pious audience as well as demonstrate the
  knowledge held by the author.
• Each brother of that band, a baldric should
  have, / A belt borne oblique, of a bright green /
  To be worn with one accord for that worthys
  sake. / So that was taken as a token by the Table
  Round lines 2516-2519
• - Demonstrates that a gracious King and his
  court, who have allied themselves with a gracious
  God, have the power to turn something negative
  into a symbol of unity and strength.

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Propaganda

• Can we trust the texts we read as a good account
  of medieval culture?

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Examples of Propaganda

• Michelangelo
• Geoffrey Chaucer
• Welsh Poets

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The End