Religious and legal consciousness representation in Spanish sculpture of the XI-XIII centuries

In the XI-XIII century Spain the development of public authority and the formation of statehood took place. The emerging system of government was not yet able to unite social groups in formation, but it already claimed leadership in the political process. In particular, it needed legitimation. Since society at that time was basically non-writing (culture without literacy), the authorities disseminated various images into public consciousness through visual (sculpture, painting) and sound (preaching) instruments. Messages were formed with images, and they were designed to simulate a specific form of political and legal consciousness, to complete the construction of social groups, to lay the foundations of identity that would form the basis of statehood. Romanesque art nowadays is one of the least studied areas, especially in the legal context. In this article, the general contours of cultural-anthropological historical-legal research are demonstrated. They are able to give a new outlook in the study of medieval religious-legal consciousness in Europe. The article is written on the basis of a report presented at the conference “Church Law and Culture: Facets of Interaction” (SPbTA, 21.10.2022).