Richard III Society Dissertation Prize Winner

News

Posted on Thursday 7 March 2024

We are delighted to announce that Eleanor Johnson (MA in Medieval Archaeology) has won the Richard III Society Dissertation Prize for the best 2022-3 MA dissertation submitted on a topic relevant to the period of Richard III.

Très Riches Heures, April (Limburg Brothers 1412-1416), showing a late medieval representation of a designed landscape — Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry avril (Limburg Brothers 1412-1416 (Musée Condé MS65 F.4v)). The main scene is an engagement: a couple exchange rings in front of two witnesses in the front left. In the background there is a castle. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Eleanor's dissertation is on "Recreating Paradise: A Study of Contemporary Experiences of Designed Landscapes in the Late Medieval Period."

This outstanding dissertation makes a significant original contribution to the analysis of medieval designed landscapes through its consideration of multivocal experiences of the designed landscape of Kenilworth Castle. The visualisations and access analysis diagrams that the student has created of Kenilworth’s landscape are exceptionally well executed and clearly presented and explained, and are a genuine methodological innovation which could be applied to a wide range of other historic designed landscapes. The dissertation not only undertakes a detailed analysis of Kenilworth, but offers comparisons of British and European examples to understand the wider medieval context within which it sat, and the discussion offers insightful analysis of the relationship of leisure landscapes to cultural knowledge, gendered performances, and status, considering both intra-elite display and material communication, as well as elite/non-elite relationships.

Image: Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry avril, Limbourg brothers, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons