In medieval history, the Polyptych (or Polyptyque) was a document detailing the lands that a noble owned. Many also featured names of the peasants that lived there, allowing for historians to track the history of peasant families. Another common feature was the recording of the transport services and payments of money by peasants. The polyptych was developed in the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...

period. They are used in the study of

manorialism Manorialism, also known as seigneurialism, the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "Land tenure, tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features incl ...

. Examples include the

Polyptych of Irminon The Polyptych of Irminon, also known as the Polyptych of Saint-Germain, is an inventory of properties compiled around 823 by Irminon, the abbot of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Saint-Germain-des-Prés in France. The Polyptych describes the ...

from the monastery of St-Germain des Pres. They are not to be confused with the multi-panel

polyptych A polyptych ( ; Greek: ''poly-'' "many" and ''ptychē'' "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) which is divided into sections, or panels. Some definitions restrict "polyptych" to works with more than three sections: a diptych is ...

paintings, mostly

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

s of the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance.

References

Sources

* *{{Citation , last1 = Vauchez, first1 =André , last2 = Dobson, first2 =Richard Barrie , last3 = Lapidge, first3 =Michael , title =Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages, Volume 2, publisher =Routledge , year =2000, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=om4olQhrE84C Carolingian period Feudalism in Europe Medieval documents Medieval legal texts