Highway to the Heart: Ordering Beauty & Organizing Rome-Bound Pilgrims on Siena's Via Francigena
Open Access
Author:
Brady, Isabel
Area of Honors:
Interdisciplinary in Art History, History, and Medieval Studies
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Benjamin Thomas Hudson, Thesis Supervisor Cathleen Denise Cahill, Thesis Honors Advisor Amara Leah Solari, Thesis Honors Advisor Heather C Mccune Bruhn, Faculty Reader
Keywords:
Italy History Art History Medieval Studies Architectural History Pilgrimage Via Francigena
Abstract:
The medieval Italian city-state of Siena’s fortunes rested almost exclusively on the pilgrimage route the Via Francigena, the main thoroughfare from Northern Europe to Rome, which travelled straight through the city. Siena’s portion of the Via Francigena, locally called the Strada Romana, formed the heart of the city’s international political, economic, and social functions. However, the city continually negotiated the fundamentally messy nature of the pilgrimage business with the medieval conception of beauty requiring order, the result is Siena presented a beautiful urban landscape to its international visitors. Siena’s unique urban architecture and plan for the Strada Romana demonstrate its embrace of the pilgrimage business as an essential aspect of its urbanity.
