Medieval folk, Churches and the search for Folklore

SATURDAY 6 JUNE | 2:00–4:00PM

This talk, taking place as part of our Folklore Festival, invites audiences to consider a fascinating question: why are medieval churches adorned with fantastical imagery so far removed from the religious buildings that host them?

In medieval society, literacy was far from widespread. From monks to peasants, a large proportion of people were unable to read and write. While Christianity stood at the centre of medieval life, it was visual language that shaped people’s beliefs and perceptions. At the heart of this was the physical structure of the parish church itself, richly decorated with pagan and folkloric motifs. Whether in the foliate heads of the Green Man, emerging from ceilings and corbels, or the Wildmen, whose hairy forms stand watch at the bases of fonts across East Anglia, medieval churches are filled with imagery that feels distinctly otherworldly to modern viewers. Indeed, much of what…