Paris exhibition dispels myth of 'primitive' England in middle ages

A new exhibition in Paris aims to show how England in the middle ages was very much part of Europe's dynamic art, architectural, trade and culture scene between AD1000 and AD1500

- Kim Willsher

Organisers said the event would discredit the "popular perception" - mainly across the Channel - that medieval England was "primitive and barbaric" while France and parts of Europe enjoyed a gothic zenith.

James Robinson, the exhibition curator who is keeper of decorative art and sculpture at London's V&A, said there had been a "reassessment" of England's contribution to European art in the middle ages over the past half a century.

"I'd like to blow apart the popular perception that the middle ages were all about pestilence, the Black Death and religious repression, and demonstrate the artistic and technical excellence that was evident," he said. "When you look at the artworks in this exhibition you will see some of the true masterpieces of the age."

Unfortunately, while France and other European countries largely preserved their medieval treasures, England's artistic heritage was "systematically and ruthlessly decimated" by the 16th-century  Reformation and the revolution led by Oliver Cromwell in the 1640s, said Robinson.