Robes and Honor

This is an exploration of the possible common origin and subsequent developments of investiture across medieval Christianity and medieval Islam. The ceremony in all of its cultural variety was much more than the public adoption of a high value textile as symbol of office within a culture. Robing established a personal link from the hand of the giver king, pope, head of a sect, ambassador - to the receiver noble, general, official, nun, or acolyte. This volume challenges current thinking on religious and regional boundaries of cultures, raises semiotic issues about imagined communities, and addresses problems of kingship.