Clothing as communication? Vestments and views of the papacy c.1300. Issue 3 (27th May 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Miller, Maureen C.
• Is Part Of: Journal of medieval history. Volume 44:Issue 3(2018)
• Page Start: 280
• Page End: 293
• Publication Date: 2018-05-27
• Subjects: Clothing -- liturgical vestments -- Boniface VIII -- inventories -- embroidery -- performativity; Middle Ages -- Periodicals; 909.0705
• DOI: 10.1080/03044181.2018.1467581
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0304-4181

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This essay argues that Pope Boniface VIII (1294–1303) used clothing in a highly intentional and performative manner to communicate his status and authority. His audience, however, was quite limited – essentially, the small community of those who aspired to hold or influence the power of the Holy See – and the messages conveyed were not particularly complex. Attempting a reception history of papal attire c .1300, the essay surveys remarks regarding clothing in late thirteenth- and early fourteenth-century chronicles and analyses in depth the evidence of two sources: ambassadorial reports to King James II of Aragon (1291–1327) and the De electione et coronatione sanctissimi patris domini Bonifatii pape octavi of Cardinal Jacopo Caetani Stefaneschi ( c. 1270–1343). A suggestive finding is that performativity, or the highly theatrical use of garments, appears to have been used by Boniface VIII to foster dissemination of simple communications across great distances.