Art and Liturgy in the Middle Ages: Survey of Research (1980–2003) and Some Reflections on Method

Eric Palazzo, Université de Poitiers, Centre d'études supérieures de civilisation médiévale

In his monumental body of work Jaques Le Goff unfailingly perceived the central position of liturgy in the heart of the "Civilization of the Medieval West." In this major work of historiography on the Middle Ages, Le Goff opens to view the permanent presence of the liturgy in the life of the church, and, more generally, in the organization of medieval society. One need only point to his article developed from a conference at the Spoleto Center in 1975 on the theme "Simboli e simbologia nell'alto medioevo." In this detailed study of the symbolic ritual of vassalage Le Goff, ardent follower of historical anthropology, provided dazzling evidence of the dual role, both social and political, of the ritual of vassalage. Alongside this aspect Le Goff also demonstrated that this symbolic ritual borrowed at every point from the liturgy of the church, notably from the ritual of clerical ordination. With this insight, the author showed clearly the interactions between church liturgy and "profane" rituals, of which vassalage was a single instance, and demonstrated at the same time that the medieval liturgy was through and through an essential element of society in the period.