Title Thumbnail

Architecture and Power in Early Central Europe

Marta Graczynska

9781641892049
126 pages
Amsterdam University Press
Overview

The book presents the panorama of social, cultural, and religious changes in the states of the Piast, Premyslid, and Arpad dynasties. Major change occurred in the tenth century and again at the turn of the eleventh century. Given the scarcity of written sources, the author employs an analysis of architectural forms which she applies to buildings founded by dukes, kings, and nobles at this period.

Architecture serves as a reliable source of knowledge and can be successfully read as a text using comparative analysis, iconology, and semiotics. No piece of art appeared without an historical context: forms, functions, and styles are all documents created by its founders and creators. The conclusions of this research help us to understand the era that shaped the foundations of the Polish, Czech, and the Hungarian states.

Author Bio
Marta Graczynska ================ Marta Graczynska is an Art Historian at Wawel Royal Castle in Krakow, Poland, researching the forms and meanings of early medieval architecture in Central Europe.