What did medieval objects do?

This final chapter explores the diverse intersections between human and object biographies in medieval life, drawing from the case studies that were examined in the preceding chapters. Two themes are employed to interrogate the role of material practices in bringing together the lifecycles of people and things. The first reviews the ontological boundary between objects and people, considering the circumstances in which the perceived status of people and objects is exchanged. The use of anthropomorphic objects as human proxies is also examined, in addition to how things are ‘animated’ by the acts of naming and inscription. The second addresses the metaphoric connections between the lifecycles of people, objects and buildings, investigated through the contrasting practices of disposal and curation. The meanings of ‘special deposits’ and heirlooms are examined in the respective contexts of the medieval household, the church and the grave. These strands are drawn together in a concluding discussion on the significance of materiality in medieval memory practice and life course rituals.

In this chapter, agency is considered as a causal capacity that is not restricted to people (see Chapter 1.3). Over the past decade the field of material culture studies has become thoroughly saturated with ‘agency’; agency is observed in objects, buildings, food, clothing, sound, light, colour and all varieties of inanimate things (e.g. Tilley et al. 2006). This philosophical turn has been influenced by the anthropological analysis of art by Alfred Gell (1998), and other recent perspectives (e.g. Latour 2005).