Lindy Grant

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Lindy M. Grant, FSA , (born 1952) is professor emerita of medieval history at the University of Reading, [1] an honorary research fellow of the Courtauld Institute of Art, [2] and a former president of the British Archaeological Association. [3] Grant is a specialist in Capetian France and its neighbours in the 11th to 13th centuries. [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Grant grew up in the Thames Valley area although her background is mainly Scottish. She read for her undergraduate degree (BA) in Medieval History at the University of St Andrews and then went onto the Courtauld Institute of Art where she studied for an MA in Medieval Art History and a PhD on ‘Gothic Architecture in Normandy in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries’. [5]

Career

Following completion of her post graduate studies, Dr Grant remained at the Courtauld and worked for many years in the Conway Library as mediaeval curator. She recalls her time working with the collection:

"The collection included some wonderful early photographs, and I became very interested in the early history of photography, especially photography of monuments. The collection included photographs taken during Merimee’s famous ‘Missions Heliographique’ of 1851, to record the great buildings of medieval France, and photographs commissioned by Viollet-le-Duc to record his restorations of Notre Dame in Paris in the 1850s and 1860s." [5]

Grant curated two exhibitions in the Courtauld Gallery in 1992 and 2004; the first featured photographs from the collections of T.E. Lawrence and his brother, A.W. Lawrence, including those of the photographer and travel writer Robert Byron. The second, early photographs of monuments in the Middle East, included works by James Robertson, Francis Frith, Wilhelm Hammerschmidt and Francis Bedford. [5]

While at the Courtauld, Grant contributed many of her own photographs to the Conway Library whose archive, primarily of architectural images, is in the process of being digitised as part of the wider Courtauld Connects project. [6]

In 2006 Grant was appointed professor of medieval history at the University of Reading, a post she held for 10 years before becoming professor emerita. [2]

Media work and scholarship

During her career, Grant has appeared in a number of televised documentaries including two episodes of A Time Team Special on ‘Dover Castle’ (2009) and ‘The Secrets of Westminster Abbey’ in 2010. [7] She was a guest of Melvyn Bragg in the In Our Time episode on BBC Radio 4 in 2016 when they discussed Eleanor of Aquitaine [8] and her article on the medieval queen later appeared in the BBC History Magazine . [9] She has published extensively and her work is often cited. [10] Her biography of Abbot Suger, Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis: Church and State in Early Medieval France, ‘challenges scholarly conventions about the famous abbot. Grant suggests that Suger was not an original thinker, but rather a successful administrator and consummate politician whose theological views expressed a keen desire for orthodoxy’. [11] A review of her most recent book Blanche of Castile, Queen of France heralded it as ‘an invaluable resource for studying Capetian France’. [12]

Public work and honours

Professor Grant has a long association with the British Archaeological Association, serving on its Council, as Honorary Secretary from 1990 to 1994 and was elected President in 2010. She is now Lifetime Vice-President. [3]

Grant was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London on 1 January 1989. [13] She is also a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. [14]

As well as acting as an advisor to English Heritage on their conservation work of Dover Castle, Grant was on the Comité Scientifique for the Centre de compréhension de l’Europe du Moyen Age (Tapisserie de Bayeux) from 2012-2018 which, inter alia, discussed the possible loan of the Bayeux Tapestry to the United Kingdom. [15] .Grant is also involved with the Battle Conference for Anglo-Norman studies [16] and is a Trustee of the British Academy Angevin Acta project. [2] [17]

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

Eleanor of Aquitaine 12th-century Duchess of Aquitaine and queen-consort of France and England

Eleanor of Aquitaine was queen consort of France (1137–1152) and England (1154–1189) and duchess of Aquitaine in her own right (1137–1204). As the heir of the House of Poitiers, rulers in southwestern France, she was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. She was patron of literary figures such as Wace, Benoît de Sainte-Maure, and Bernart de Ventadorn. She led armies several times in her life and was a leader of the Second Crusade.

Louis VII of France King of France from 1137 to 1180

Louis VII, called the Younger or the Young, was King of the Franks from 1137 to 1180. He was the son and successor of King Louis VI and married Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in western Europe. The marriage temporarily extended the Capetian lands to the Pyrenees, but was annulled in 1152 after no male heir was produced.

Bayeux Tapestry Embroidery depicting the Norman invasion of England in 1066

The Bayeux Tapestry is an embroidered cloth nearly 70 metres (230 ft) long and 50 centimetres (20 in) tall that depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England concerning William, Duke of Normandy, and Harold, Earl of Wessex, later King of England, and culminating in the Battle of Hastings. It is thought to date to the 11th century, within a few years after the battle. It tells the story from the point of view of the conquering Normans but is now agreed to have been made in England.

John of Gaunt 14th-century English prince, Duke of Lancaster

John of Gaunt was an English prince, military leader, and statesman. He was the third of the five sons of King Edward III of England who survived to adulthood. Due to his royal origin, advantageous marriages, and some generous land grants, Gaunt was one of the richest men of his era, and was an influential figure during the reigns of both his father, Edward, and his nephew, Richard II. As Duke of Lancaster, he is the founder of the royal House of Lancaster, whose members would ascend to the throne after his death. His birthplace, Ghent, corrupted into English as Gaunt, was the origin for his name. When he became unpopular later in life, a scurrilous rumour circulated, along with lampoons, claiming that he was actually the son of a Ghent butcher. This rumour, which infuriated him, may have been inspired by the fact that Edward III had not been present at his birth.

Basilica of Saint-Denis Basilica located in Saint-Denis, France

The Basilica of Saint-Denis is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the city of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of singular importance historically and architecturally as its choir, completed in 1144, is widely considered the first structure to employ all of the elements of Gothic architecture.

Katherine Swynford Duchess of Lancaster

Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster, also spelled Katharine or Catherine, was the third wife of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, a son of King Edward III. She had been the Duke's lover for many years before their marriage. The couple's children, born before the marriage, were later legitimised during the reign of the Duke's nephew, Richard II. When the Duke's son from his first marriage overthrew Richard, becoming Henry IV, he introduced a provision [citation needed] that neither they nor their descendants could ever claim the throne of England, however, the legitimacy for all rights was a parliamentary statute that Henry IV lacked the authority to amend.

Matilda of Flanders 11th-century Flemish noblewoman and Queen of England

Matilda of Flanders was Queen of England and Duchess of Normandy by marriage to William the Conqueror, and regent of Normandy during his absences from the duchy. She was the mother of ten children who survived to adulthood, including two kings, William II and Henry I.

Blanche of Castile Queen consort of France

Blanche of Castile was Queen consort of France by marriage to Louis VIII. She acted as regent twice during the reign of her son, Louis IX: during his minority from 1226 until 1234, and during his absence from 1248 until 1252. She was born in Palencia, Spain, 1188, the third daughter of Alfonso VIII, King of Castile, and Eleanor of England.

Suger

Suger was a French abbot, statesman, and historian. He was one of the earliest patrons of Gothic architecture, and is widely credited with popularizing the style.

Eleanor of England, Queen of Castile 12th-century English princess and queen consort of Castile and Toledo

Eleanor of England, was Queen of Castile and Toledo as wife of Alfonso VIII of Castile. She was the sixth child and second daughter of Henry II, King of England, and Eleanor of Aquitaine.

David Bates is a historian of Britain and France during the period from the tenth to the thirteenth centuries. He has written many books and articles during his career, including Normandy before 1066 (1982), Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum: The Acta of William I, 1066–1087 (1998), The Normans and Empire (2013), William the Conqueror (2016) and La Tapisserie de Bayeux (2019)..

Blanche of Navarre, Queen of France Queen consort of France

Blanche of Navarre, was a French princess and Infanta of Navarre as a member of the House of Évreux and by marriage Queen consort of France from 29 January until 22 August 1350.

Sancho III of Castile King of Castile and Toledo

Sancho III, called the Desired, was King of Castile and Toledo for one year, from 1157 to 1158. He was the son of Alfonso VII of León and Castile and his wife Berengaria of Barcelona, and was succeeded by his son Alfonso VIII. His nickname was due to his position as the first child of his parents, born after eight years of childless marriage.

Urraca of Castile, Queen of Portugal Queen consort of Portugal

Urraca of Castile was a daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleanor of England. Her maternal grandparents were Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Philip was a king of France from 1129 to 1131, co-ruling with his father, Louis VI. As he predeceased his father and never reigned as sole king, he is not known by an ordinal or included in the traditional lists of French monarchs.

Violant of Aragon Queen consort of Castile and León

Violant or Violante of Aragon, also known as Yolanda of Aragon, was Queen consort of Castile and León from 1252 to 1284 as the wife of King Alfonso X of Castile.

Joan of Dammartin was queen of Castile and León by marriage to Ferdinand III of Castile. She also ruled as Countess of Ponthieu (1251–1279) and Aumale (1237–1279). Her daughter, the English queen Eleanor of Castile, was her successor in Ponthieu. Ferdinand II, Count of Aumale, her son and co-ruler in Aumale, predeceased her, thus she was succeeded by her grandson John I, Count of Aumale.

William W. Clark is a professor of art history in the medieval studies program at the Graduate Center at Queens College, City University of New York. He is a widely published expert on early medieval, Romanesque, and Gothic art and architecture.

Margaret Alison Stones, FSA, is a British/American medievalist and academic. She has held the position of professor emerita of history of art and architecture at University of Pittsburgh since 2012. Her work has been published in national and international academic journals and she has contributed to international exhibitions.

Nicola Coldstream, FSA, is a British architectural historian and academic with special interests in the 13th and 14th centuries. Coldstream studied History and Fine Arts at Cambridge University and obtained her PhD at the Courtauld Institute of Art.

References

  1. ↑ "University of Reading". University of Reading. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 "Professor Lindy Grant". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Lindy Grant | British Archaeological Association". thebaa.org. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  4. ↑ Staff Profile:Professor Lindy Grant. University of Reading. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 readinghistory (16 October 2013). "Spotlight on: Professor Lindy Grant". READING HISTORY. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  6. ↑ "Who made the Conway Library?". Digital Media. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  7. ↑ "Lindy Grant". IMDb. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  8. ↑ "Eleanor of Aquitaine". In Our Time. 28 January 2016. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  9. ↑ "Eleanor of Aquitaine: the medieval queen who took on Europe's most powerful men". HistoryExtra. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  10. ↑ "Lindy Grant". scholar.google.co.uk. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  11. ↑ "Grant, Lindy - Mapping Gothic France". mappinggothic.org. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  12. ↑ "Blanche of Castile, Queen of France | Reviews in History". reviews.history.ac.uk. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  13. ↑ "Prof Linda Grant". Society of Antiquaries of London. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  14. ↑ Franklin, Jill; Heslop, T. A.; Stevenson, Christine (2012). Architecture and Interpretation: Essays for Eric Fernie. Boydell Press. ISBN   978-1-84383-781-7.
  15. ↑ "Prêt de la Tapisserie de Bayeux au Royaume-Uni". France in the United Kingdom - La France au Royaume-Uni (in French). Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  16. ↑ "Anglo-Norman Studies". Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies. 31 March 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  17. ↑ "Acta of the Plantagenets". The British Academy. Retrieved 4 January 2021.


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