The Oxford Handbook of Victorian Medievalism

The Oxford Handbook of Victorian Medievalism is the first comprehensive study of the fascinating phenomenon of ‘medievalism’ in Victorian Britain. Drawing on the expertise of more than 40 international contributors and covering literature, fine art, architecture, religion, politics, and social change, it examines the pervasive Victorian obsession with the culture of the Middle Ages, revealing how it has crucially shaped the Britain that we live in today. While the main focus of the book is on nineteenth-century Anglophone cultures, it also considers the relationship between British medievalism and the obsession with the Middle Ages that also took hold of other nineteenth-century European nations, as well as considering the roots of the movement in earlier centuries. The Handbook will not only become essential reading for a full understanding of Victorian culture, it will also establish Victorian medievalism as one of the most influential cultural developments in modern British history.