The Typology of Prayer Gestures in the Middle Ages (1200-1500)

In my research, I explore the history of Christian prayer in medieval Europe from approximately 1200 to 1500. Considering prayer primarily as an anthropological subject, I focus on the configuration of three elements: text, image, and affect. These elements are related in different ways throughout the history of the Middle Ages. Changes in their articulation provide insights into the transformation of prayer.

The primary question of my research concerns the function of prayer representations for prayer practice, specifically the models of prayer that guide individuals in imitation, particularly in medieval art. The following questions are of particular interest: Under what conditions does which prayer model historically arise? What postures do these prayer models take and in which situations are they, who are they praying to? What is the purpose of these postures? Are they primarily intended to shape the affects of the praying person? Finally, which changes in prayer postures can be identified in visual representations across different periods and geographical regions?

To address these questions I will conduct an AI-driven analysis of digitized images of prayer postures in medieval artefacts, complementing my qualitative research. For this, I will use a method from the Digital Humanities called “Distant Viewing” (Arnold/Tilton), an automated form of evaluating large quantities of digitized images. This method allows for the classification and evaluation of prayer postures in the representations, based on historically documented typologies such as Peter the Chanter’s “De oratione et speciebus illius”, David of Augsburg’s “De exterioris et interioris hominis compositione” and the anonymous “De novem modis orandi Sancti Dominici”.

My research on prayer will contribute to understanding how people in the Middle Ages demonstrated humility and embodied it as a posture. I consider prayer to be a medieval cultural technique (“Kulturtechnik”), something that can be learned and practiced, and through which one’s person and affects are formed. Thus, the history of prayer provides a mediated access to the history of emotions and communicable knowledge of the body.