Please see the attached call for submissions for vol. 14, issue 2 of the St. Nersess Theological Review.

The next issue invites submissions of original research articles relevant to Armenian theology and the Armenian Church in the “long eighth century,” the period of Armenian history between the Arab conquest and the reemergence of independent Armenian kingdoms in the ninth century. Articles with an interest in ecumenical relations between the Armenian, Syriac, and Byzantine churches are very welcome. 

Further inquiries can be directed to Dr. Christopher Sheklian, Editor of SNTR, at sntr@stnersess.edu. The submission deadline is June 1, 20

 Another fascinating conference of note:

https://www.afterconstantine.com/post/easter-in-late-antiquity-and-the-middle-ages-abstract-booklet

The After Constantine Journal, Medievalists.net, and the Orthodox Academy of Crete are inviting you to attend the conference Easter in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, which will take place on Zoom and YouTube on April 1st, 2023.

This conference will examine how Easter was celebrated and viewed from Late Antiquity throughout the medieval period. Every year this would be a high point of the Christian life, and late antique and medieval people were keenly interested in many aspects of this event.

 

CFP International Conference: Emerging Historical Perspectives on Christian-Muslim Interactions in and around the Mediterranean (c. 630–1614)

by James Wilson

 

CFP International Conference: Emerging Historical Perspectives on Christian-Muslim Interactions in and around the Mediterranean (c. 630–1614)

 

Konstanz, 21–23 March 2024 (hybrid format)

 

Conference organisers: Hossameldin Ali, Eric Böhme, Alejandro Peláez Martín, James Wilson (University of Konstanz)

 

From the beginning of the Arab-Islamic expansion in the early seventh century, Muslim and Christian communities interacted daily for sustained periods in several different geographical areas, from Iberia to Sicily, southern Italy and the Near East. In the last three decades, a new wave of revisionist and interdisciplinary methodologies, ranging from gender and global history to medievalism and the history of emotions, have broadened our epistemological horizons, creating innovative avenues of enquiry that provide new ways of thinking about the historical roots of Christian-Muslim relations. However, despite recent methodological advances and the various ways in which they enhance our understanding of the pre-modern Mediterranean (c. 630–1614), few conferences have attempted to apply these new approaches in a trans-Mediterranean context. By exploring the complex and much-studied topic of Christian-Muslim relations through the changing lens of methodologies, this conference aims to foster an interdisciplinary debate that, through comparison and collaboration between scholars from different fields, bridges rigid geographical and temporal frameworks. Early career scholars and all others interested in participating are thus invited to help demonstrate the historical value of new or nuanced methodologies by applying them to specific case studies (to be presented in c. 20–25 min papers). The conference has three main themes:

• Innovative approaches to the source material
• Revised, new, experimental methodologies
• Macro-historical perspectives

 

1. Select list of possible methodologies

i) Sources

Material culture	The study of space, place and cartography
Vernacular literature, poetry, liturgy, songs & music	Climate change and environmental history
Bilingual manuscripts and codicology (Judeo-Arabic, Aljamiado, Coptic, Syriac etc.)	Human body/medical history
Legal traditions

 

ii) Methodologies

Gender history	Manuscript studies, codicology
Medievalism, post-colonial studies, translation studies	Legal frameworks (charters, laws, treaties, court cases etc.)
Questioning the value of ‘eye-witness’ testimonies	Historiographical approaches and the role of authorial ‘agency’
Digital humanities (large scale analysis of text)	Emotions
Ceremonial interactions and rituals	Trade and economic history
Prosopography

 

iii) Macro-historical perspectives

Comparative approaches – across regions or temporalities	Legal sources & theories
Network analysis	Micro-historical Quellenkritik
Diplomacy and international relations	Frontier theory
Transregional / Mediterranean / Global history

 

1. Potential topics for discussion

Please apply one or more of the above approaches to one or more of the topics outlined below. Any other combinations of approaches and topics are highly welcomed as well.

 

Q1 – Christian-Muslim relations during periods of transition or crisis

• To what extent are periods of transition or crisis discernible in the source materials and how might they have influenced Christian-Muslim ties?
• Did some crises / transitions increase or reduce tensions more than others? Were they a cause for renewed attention to historical episodes of conflict or oppression?
• Were there standardised practices or mechanisms for negotiating periods of crisis/transition, or did these alterations produce new modes of communication or collaboration?
• What were the linguistic, cultural and ceremonial practicalities of cross-cultural contact following periods of rupture? Did written material need to be translated, or provided in multiple languages, who translated it and how?

 

Q2 – Christian-Muslim relations during periods of stability

• Did periods of sustained contact facilitate new forms of communication, trade, settlement or political and military cooperation?
• Did behaviour around sites of devotional significance and shared sacred spaces change as a result to sustained periods of Christian-Muslim cohabitation? How did this compare to sites of strategic importance?
• Did periods of stability necessitate multi-cultural courts and shared mechanisms of legitimisation or diplomacy?
• Why was emphasis placed on translating scientific, medical and philosophical knowledge at the expense of historical writings? What does this suggest about the nature of Muslim-Christian contact in the Mediterranean? Was there any regional variation in this seemingly trans Mediterranean trend?

 

Q3 – The variation or preservation of political, legal, ceremonial or cultural norms in different geographical, topographical or temporal contexts

• Were there variations in attitudes towards Christian-Muslim interactions in rural and urban communities?
• What were the similarities and differences between Christians living under Muslim rule and Muslims living under Christian rule for sustained periods? Were any differences linked to local factors?
• How aware were communities of the customs of Christian-Muslim interactions in other geographical regions in the Mediterranean? How was this knowledge acquired?

 

1. Further details about the conference

The conference will take place at the University of Konstanz from 21–23 March 2024. The organisers plan to cover the full accommodation and travel costs (EU and UK) of all active participants. However, this is dependent upon securing sufficient funding. A publication of the conference proceedings is envisaged as well. Scholars interested in participating actively as speakers are invited to submit an abstract (about 250–500 words) as well as a short bio (about 150–250 words) to emerging-historical-perspectives@uni-konstanz.de by 31 March, 2023. Any inquiries about the conference and the modalities of participation can also be directed to this address.

 

Call for Participants-GSA Seminar: Premodern Representations of Race (800–1700) and their Reception in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries [sponsored by the Medieval and Early Modern German Studies Network] (GSA Conference, Oct. 2023, Montreal)

by Annegret Oehme

The past decade has seen an expanding turn to Critical Race Studies within medieval studies, highlighting the importance of the concept through the context of what has been traditionally considered a time “before race.” While German Studies has not produced a similarly broad body of scholarship as French and English Studies, there has been sustained interest in critical race studies. This interest has led to a more prominent positioning of applying and revising the findings of CRS to our field (see the recent special issue of the German Quarterly on Black German Studies). It is essential to examine this discourse's long history and roots. In the seminar, we will look at representations of race in premodern primary sources. The reception of this material and its impact on the formation of German studies in the 18th and 19th centuries are of further importance. We hope this seminar can foster a dialogue beyond the GSA by bringing together scholars working on the topic in various disciplines to establish an interdisciplinary network spanning literature, history, religion, art history, and more.

Format: Each participant will draft a 1000–1200-word discussion paper focusing on a specific case /question (papers due August 15th), which will then be pre-circulated together with two scholarly articles.

Please submit an abstract (500 words max) and a short biography (300 words max) through the GSA OpenWater platform by March 2, 2023. Please note that all participants must be members of the GSA at the time of submission. Please contact Tina Boyer (boyertm@wfu.edu) and Annegret Oehme (oehme@uw.edu) with any questions about this seminar.

 

CFP: Politische Lyrik in Europa vom 12. bis zum 15. Jahrhundert (Universität Freiburg, Schweiz)

by Cornelia Herberichs

Freiburger Colloquium 2023

Mediävistisches Institut, Universität Freiburg (Schweiz)

vom 06.–08. September 2023

 

Politische Lyrik in Europa vom 12. bis zum 15. Jahrhundert

Zu Beginn des zweiten Buches von ,De vulgari eloquentia‘ behandelt Dante die Frage, welche Themen es verdienen, von den besten Dichtern in der ehrwürdigen Volkssprache behandelt zu werden, und nennt als die drei wichtigsten (magnalia): salus videlicet, venus et virtus (II ii 8),  was meint: Waffentauglichkeit (armorum probitas), Leidenschaft der Liebe (amoris accensio) und Rechtschaffenheit des Willens (directio voluntatis). Diese Themenaufzählung – Waffenkampf-, Liebes- sowie moralisch-didaktische Dichtung – schliesst also unter anderem die Gattung der politischen Lyrik aus, obgleich diese in Dantes Heimatland Italien durchaus sehr verbreitet war und gepflegt wurde. Der Grund für diese Aussparung mag wohl darin liegen, dass in den Augen des florentinischen Poeten politische Dichtung eine hybride Gattung darstellt, sei es, weil in ihr sowohl moralische als auch gesellschaftliche sowie militärische Themen zusammenfliessen, sei es, weil politische Lyrik zuweilen in der Form fiktiver oder allegorisch verbrämter Liebeslieder daherkommt und damit als eine Variante oder Untergattung der erotischen Lyrik zu klassifizieren ist. Für Dante müssen die magnalia von den besten Dichtern jeweils in ihrer reinen Form oder aber anhand von Themen behandelt werden, die sich direkt und unmittelbar aus ihnen ableiten (Dve II iv 9); in die politische Dichtung hingegen bricht eine Dimension des Unvorhersehbaren und Zufälligen ein. Insofern sich letztere zumeist auf bestimmte historische Ereignisse bezieht, ist sie parteiisch und verfolgt – indem sie ermahnend, persuasiv, propagierend oder diffamierend ist – pragmatische Ziele.  

Obwohl die in ,De vulgari eloquentia‘ angestellten Reflexionen zu den magnalia sich nur bedingt anderen literarischen Traditionen als der italienischen Lyrik zuordnen lassen, vermögen sie dennoch, das Feld der politischen Dichtung insgesamt einzugrenzen und zu charakterisieren. Auf dieser Grundlage und um komparatistische Diskussionen anzustossen, will das Freiburger Colloquium europäische Traditionen politischer Dichtung erforschen und lädt Expertinnen und Experten ein, die sich mit lyrischen Traditionen verschiedener mittelalterlicher Literaturen und geographischer Räume (zwischen Island und dem Kaukasus) befassen. Im Fokus steht der Zeitraum zwischen dem 12. und der ersten Hälfte des 15. Jahrhunderts. Neben den Volkssprachen werden auch die ,heiligen‘ und/oder ,imperialen‘ Sprachen (Latein, Griechisch, Arabisch, Hebräisch) berücksichtigt.

Mögliche Fragestellungen sind: Welchen Stellenwert hat die politische Lyrik innerhalb einer spezifischen literarischen Tradition oder im Rahmen verwandter Traditionen? Welche formalen Merkmale besitzt sie (metrische Formen, Mise en texte, Mise en page)? Wer sind die Autorinnen und Autoren und welches Publikum adressieren die Texte? Um welche historischen Ereignisse herum entsteht politische Lyrik? Unter welchen Bedingungen wurde sie überliefert? Steht sie in einem Dialog mit bildlichen Medien? Sind sprachübergreifende und/oder transnationale Themen und Debatten erkennbar? Unter welchen Bedingungen lässt sich von politischer Propaganda in Versen sprechen? – Das Freiburger Colloquium sucht Antworten auf diese und weitere Fragen mit dem Ziel, Grundlagen zu erarbeiten sowie erste Umrisse zu skizzieren im Hinblick auf ein Gesamtbild der europäischen politischen Lyrik im hohen und späten Mittelalter.

Das Mediävistische Institut der Universität Freiburg (Schweiz) organisiert im Rhythmus von zwei Jahren interdisziplinäre Kolloquien, anlässlich derer sich Spezialistinnen und Spezialisten verschiedener Fachbereiche versammeln, um sich über ein bestimmtes mediävistisches Forschungsgebiet auszutauschen. Vorgesehen ist die Teilnahme von ca. 12–15 Forschenden, welche nach Möglichkeit die verschiedenen Fachbereiche der Mediävistik vertreten (die Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften: Romanistik, Germanistik, Anglistik, Nordistik, Slavistik; Geschichte, Philosophie, Kunstgeschichte, Theologie). Die Vorträge können in Französisch, Deutsch, Englisch oder Italienisch gehalten werden. Für jeden Beitrag ist ein Zeitfenster von 45 Minuten vorgesehen (Vortrag von ca. 30 Minuten sowie Diskussion). Wie bei den Freiburger Colloquien des Mediävistischen Instituts üblich, werden die Ergebnisse der Veranstaltung in der institutseigenen Buchreihe „Scrinium Friburgense“ veröffentlicht, die beim Reichert Verlag in Wiesbaden erscheint.

Unkosten für Reise, Unterkunft und Verpflegung werden übernommen.

Vortragsangebote mit einem etwa einseitigen Exposé werden bis zum 05. März 2023 erbeten an:
 

Prof. Dr. Paolo Borsa

Lehrstuhl für italienische Literatur und Philologie

Universität Freiburg

paolo.borsa@unifr.ch

oder

Mediävistisches Institut / Institut d’études médiévales

Universität Freiburg / Université de Fribourg

iem@unifr.ch

Die Organisator:innen werden auf Grundlage der eingegangenen Exposés ein Tagungsprogramm erstellen und den Einsenderinnen und Einsendern zeitnah Rückmeldung geben.

Die Organisator:innen:

Prof. Dr. Paolo Borsa (Letteratura e filologia italiane)

Prof. Dr. Hugo O. Bizzarri (Filología hispánica)

Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Dutton (English Philology)

Prof. Dr. Cornelia Herberichs (Germanistische Mediävistik)

Prof. Dr. Marion Uhlig (Langues et littératures françaises du Moyen Âge)

Dr. Martin Rohde (Geschäftsführer des Mediävistischen Instituts)

 

Aktuelle Informationen finden Sie unter: https://www.unifr.ch/mediaevum/de/veranstaltungen/freiburger-kolloquien/

 "The After Constantine Journal has published its 4th Call for Papers. Candidates are invited to submit their papers by September 20, 2023, to afterconstantine@mail.com".

The link is here: https://www.afterconstantine.com/post/call-for-papers-after-constantine-issue-4-2024

 Priests and their Manuscripts in the Holy Land and Sinai

 

Conference at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna

Institute for Medieval Research, Department of Byzantine Research

8–10 November 2023

 

Call for Papers

 

Where did priests learn to read and write? What did they copy and where? How did their libraries look? What did they do with their books? Little is known about these topics, and a general overview is missing, especially if we focus on clerics active in the Holy Land and Sinai. By addressing these and related topics, this conference will aim at gaining a better understanding about the social and cultural role of priests latu sensu (preferably priests and priestmonks, but also monks, nuns, lectors, deacons, bishops) in the Holy Land and Sinai.

We invite the submission of abstracts (300 words max.) for 20-minute papers dealing with manuscripts copied, owned, and used by priests in Sinai and Palestine during the Byzantine and immediate post-Byzantine period in the languages of the Christian Orient. Contributions by historians, archaeologists, art historians, epigraphers, liturgiologists, which aim at shedding light on the social and cultural role of priests in this region and historical period are welcome as well.

Topics that that may be addressed include the following, but participants are encouraged to develop their own questions and approaches within the parameters of the conference theme:
Social context: Which sources offer information about the social role and cultural life of priests in the Holy Land and Sinai? What can we learn from them?
Priests as copyists of manuscripts: Where and how did priests learn how to read and write? What was their level of literacy? Which script styles did they use? Which techniques of book-making did they employ? How many languages did they know and write?
Priests as owners of manuscripts: Which manuscripts did priests own? What do we know about their private ‘libraries’?
Priests and their use of manuscripts: Which signs of use (including annotations, colophons, etc.) did priests leave on the manuscripts they used? Where were manuscripts used and how?

Organizer: Dr. Giulia Rossetto (Austrian Academy of Sciences)

 

Please send the title of your paper and an abstract (max. 300 words) to Giulia Rossetto (giulia.rossetto@oeaw.ac.at) no later than March 15, 2023. The speakers will be notified by April 15.

If selected, we can offer you reimbursement for your travel expenses (second-class) as well as pre-paid accommodation for two nights in Vienna. 

This conference is organized within the framework of the project “Priests, Books and the Library at Saint Catherine’s (Sinai)” (T1192 – G25) funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF.

 Deadline Extended: Feb 7th 

 

Materiality of Medieval Manuscripts: A Work-in-Progress Workshop 

 

MAY 29, 2023 ~ TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN

 

The Early Irish Hands project is inviting applications for the first of three Work-in-Progress Workshops. This first workshop will address the theme of materiality.

Participants are invited to present ongoing research on the intersection of materiality and regionality, dating, palaeography, scribal cultures, or transmission. Comparative and transnational approaches are especially encouraged.

Proposals (250w) for 20min presentations, along with a short bio, may be sent to Dr Nicole Volmering at volmern@tcd.ie. Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by Feb 17th.