The Power of Textiles: Tapestries of the Burgundian Dominions (1363–1477) by Katherine Anne Wilson (review)

Drawing from entries in the account books of the four Valois dukes of Burgundy—Philip the Bold, John the Fearless, Philip the Good, and Charles the Bold—as well as inventories of their belongings at the time of death, probate inventories and testaments, and documentary references to tapestry production and ownership, Katherine Anne Wilson undertakes an examination of material culture that highlights the performative role of tapestry in the construction of social relations during the late medieval Burgundian Dominions. References to tapestries figure strongly in all of the above documents. In the ducal account books, for example, there are"several thousand payments" (13) related to tapestry production or transportation. Although the Burgundian Dominions were one of the most powerful territories in Western Europe during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, Wilson emphasizes that the Burgundian polity was comprised of a fragile and fractured"patchwork of territories" (11). As each of the dukes of Burgundy traveled from residence to residence throughout their vast territories, the furnishings and tapestries that accompanied the ducal household played an important role in the construction and maintenance of Burgundian power. Wilson notes that unoccupied ducal residences remained"largely unfurnished" (11) until the household arrived, along with their carts of furnishings. Among these furnishings, the material value of tapestries as rare and exclusive luxury items, as well as the visual programs depicted through their imagery, made tapestries particularly powerful and effective agents in the construction of Burgundian power: "These textiles had an agency of their own and were themselves performers able to control and manifest relations in their own right, even at times when no human actors were present" (78). Based on a study of the suppliers of tapestries to the dukes of Burgundy, as well as the consumption of tapestries by urban elite, Wilson stresses the importance of strong relationships between the city and the court. She examines the variety of forms and functions of tapestry, both for urban and courtly consumers, and notes that in addition to their decorative use as wall hangings in residences and churches, bed covers, bench covers, and cushions, they were also used as "flexible architecture" (58) to create portable chambers and chapels. When given as gifts, tapestries could operate to establish social relations, such as a strategic marriage or diplomatic alliance. When offered to a church, a tapestry could help to ensure grace for the giver and their descendants. Although Wilson notes that the intended message of tapestries could be ambiguous or misinterpreted, she demonstrates through her examination of numerous case studies that tapestries played a significant role in the performance and construction of social relations and power. Her work offers an important contribution to the history of textile production and consumption, and enriches our understanding of social status and power during the Burgundian Dominions.