Introduction: Medieval Cultural Heritage, Then and Now

Abstract This volume of collected essays contains scholarship on the handling of medieval cultural heritage, broadly conceived. Societies around the world look to the Middle Ages for identity and inspiration, defining the past in light of modern concerns about cultural belonging, claims to political legitimacy, and conceptions of community. The essays in this volume explore such questions as: Who has the authority to decide on cultural heritage matters, and what happens when the heritage of one group is preferred to that of another? What happens to local communities when a site becomes a popular tourist destination or a place for memorializing the past in a way that erases the voices of a particular group of people? What are the lived consequences when claims to cultural heritage define communities along racial, ethnic, religious, linguistic, regional, or historical lines? In bringing together a broad range of global and disciplinary perspectives, this volume aims to extend the conversation about the definition and deployment of the medieval past.