THE STITCHED ART OF TEXTILES: DEPICTIONS OF LITURGICAL GARMENTS ON TWO EARLY MEDIEVAL EMBROIDERED
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2020-12-09

St Cuthbert’s stole and maniple are two of the most important early medieval embroideries surviving today. The only embroidered stole and maniple to survive from Anglo-Saxon England, these ecclesiastical vestments represent tangible archaeological evidence of highly skilled medieval craftsmanship and artistry. These objects demonstrate wider Anglo-Saxon attitudes towards the wearer and the priestly vocation not just through their technical attributes but also through their design. On the stole these ideas are displayed through the full-length figures of sixteen prophets (four major, twelve minor) on either side of an Agnus Dei, and the heads of St Thomas and St James set in end tabs. On the maniple there are depicted full-length figures of a Pope and a deacon on either side of a Dextera Dei set in a quatrefoil, with the heads of St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist set in the end tabs. As part of an immersive approach to creating and wearing priestly vestments, the clothes that the embroidered figures are wearing form an intricate part of their meaning. Previously these garments have been studied for their technical attributes, iconography and place in tenth century Anglo-Saxon art (Hohler and Freyhan, The Relics of Saint Cuthbert, 1956). However, none of the design, including the clothes, has been studied as part of an early medieval immersive material and religious culture. In her 2014 publication Maureen Miller demonstrated that the garments worn by the clergy during the medieval period were more than simply richly embellished vestments, they and their designs had deep religious and secular significance. This paper will use Miller’s approach to investigate the immersive meaning that the garments depicted on the stole and maniple would have had for the early medieval maker, wearer

and onlooker, as a reminder of religious obligation and secular patronage and power.


Author(s): Makin, Alexandra (University of Manchester)