Parish Churches of Virginia Dell Upton

What’s his point? Little attention has been given to the ideological functions of artifacts. What role do artifacts play in reproducing social structure and ideology ? System must be described and the principles of its functioning must be outlined System must be observed in operation in a specific historical context.

What was the parish church? The Anglican parish was the smallest official community, its churches were the largest public buildings in the colony. Roles Official role Integrative social function (hard to understand) Reading of the Biblical text. Minister sermons were dull

Mixe not holy things with profane Attraction for parishioners Popularity of church attendance Large sums spent on church buildings Church’s appeal The church melded holy things with profane ones in a way that allowed a specific social order and an idealized religious one to buttress each other's legitimacy.

Order was expressed with architecture and artifacts Forms –Fittings were required by civil and ecclesiastical law –table and rail, –pulpit and altarpiece displaying the Ten Commandments (often with Lord's Prayer and Apostles' Creed) Church ornaments altar and pulpit cloth, cushion for the pulpit bible two large copies of the Book of Common Prayer The coat of royal arms.

Messages Churches were planned to facilitate hearing the service read from the pulpit and the attached reading desks. Pulpit stood visible to all Many parishioners could not even see the chancel in such a church. Dramaturgical possibilities through the display of formal documents. Because the written word was not yet commonplace. Discourse of Power (from Geertz)

Seating If the royal arms and the altarpiece made an argument about religion and the state, the seating patterns established by the parish vestry and manifested in the construction of pews and benches made an argument about local society. Seating varied by: kind elaboration placement Seating order was determined by the vestry. some seating by rank segregation by age segregation by gender What was the best seat in the house? Some seats were better than others but the rating was by convention rather than a uniform spatial hierarchy. As established the seating made the local hierarchy visible.

What is religious ideology? It describes an ideal that is very like the existing order. The church was another world. Yet within this microcosm, the facts of the larger world were reproduced. The social discourse of the Anglican parish church had a special historical content. (is this correct?) Communion vessels of domestic form and shape. Their forms were those used in the homes of the elite. This identified religious order with the gentry style. (the importance of plate)

Concepts resonant ambiguity divine/earthly ambiguity relationship of hospitality planter in his own house in church parish church synthesized religious ideology traditional religious symbols social ideology local social customs artifactual language of the upper class

Power of Things Physical objects and visual images are always more powerful than words Artifacts made the word seem natural commonsensical, indisputable--the only way things could be. This is the function of ideology and Virginia's Anglican Parish Churches performed it.