The Medieval Church: From Margins to Centre
26-27 June 2023
University of York
Sponsored by the Centre for Medieval Studies and Department of History at the University of York (UK)
This interdisciplinary two-day conference brings together medievalists from across the disciplines of history, archaeology, art history and literary studies in order to explore the relationships between the Church and the marginalised in medieval society – minority genders and sexualities, racial minorities, disabled people, non-Christians, and the poor. Download the full programme as a PDF, or consult the plain-text version here.
This is a hybrid conference which will be held at the Humanities Research Centre, University of York on the 26-27 June 2023. It includes both in-person and online sessions, but all sessions will be broadcast live online and we welcome remote participation.
Registration is now open for the conference. There are three ticket rates: for those attending in-person, the cost is either £30 for the full rate, or £20 for unwaged/early career researchers/students. There is no charge for attending online, but you will need to register in order to receive the link to the livestream. Registration will close on 31 May.
The cost of registration covers includes tea/coffee and lunch on both days. The registration form includes a section for indicating any dietary preferences you may have. We will also be organizing a conference dinner on the 26 June which is not included in the registration; however, we will ensure we will keep costs affordable. Please complete the questionnaire included in the registration form by 30 April if you’d like to join the dinner.
We will be providing 10 x £30 bursaries for PhD students, early career researchers and independent scholars. If you wish to apply, please email Tim (tim.wingard@york.ac.uk).
If you’re joining us online:
All sessions will be available to watch and participate in online
Registration is free if you are joining us online only, but please sign-up here, selecting the free ticket option, by 15 June:
We will send out Zoom link and joining instructions a few days before the conference
Venue and accessibility information
The conference is being held in the Berrick Saul building, which is on Campus West, University of York. A campus map can be found here. There is step free access from both nearby car parks on campus and the nearest bus stop.
All sessions will be held in the Bowland Theatre (Room BS/005). This is a tiered lecture theatre on the ground floor of the Berrick Saul building. There is step free access to the lecture theatre, the room is wheelchair accessible, and the room has an induction loop hearing system.
Refreshments will be served in the Treehouse, on the first floor of the Berrick Saul Building. There is a lift and the room is wheelchair accessible. An induction loop hearing system is also available in the room.
Note: all times are British Summer Time (GMT+1). All sessions and the keynote will be broadcast live.
Note: all times are British Summer Time (GMT+1). All sessions and the keynote will be broadcast live.
PROGRAMME
Day 1 – 26 June
9:30–9:50 – Welcome and introduction (Bowland Theatre)
9:50–11:00 – Keynote lecture (Bowland Theatre)
John Arnold: ‘Southern France and Pastoral Reform: Heretical Margin or Orthodox Centre?’
Chair: Peter Biller
11–11:30 – Coffee break (Treehouse)
11:30–13:00 – Session 1: Disability and the Church (Bowland Theatre)
Chair: Laura Atkinson
1a – Hegemonic Hagiography? Narrative, Rhetoric and Agency in Medieval Canonisation Depositions, Ed van der Molen
1b – Disability and the Icelandic Church in The Saga of Bishop Lárentíus, Ryder C. Patzuk-Russell and Yoav Tirosh
1c – Taking Care of their Own? Institutional Support for Poor Clerics in the Late Middle Ages, Hannah Wood
13:00–14:00 – Lunch (Treehouse)
14:00–15:30 – Session 2: Marginalising the Other (Bowland Theatre)
Chair: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow
2a – Public opinion and the marginalisation of ‘heretics’ in southern France 1145–1209, Joshua Rice
2b – Kyiv monks about ‘them’: an image of the ‘others’ in medieval Rus, Andrii Kepsha
2c – The Catholic Church and the representations of the Muslims in the Kingdom of Castile during the thirteenth century, David De Pablo
15:30–16:00 – Coffee break (Treehouse)
16:00–17:30 – Session 3: Space, Travel and Marginality (Online, screened in Bowland Theatre)
Chair: Tim Wingard
3a – Racialized Sacred Spaces: Narratives of Exclusion and Inclusion in Northern European Churches, Lorenz Hindrichsen
3b – Dionysius Fabricius in Livonia, Anastasija Ropa
3c – The Healing Journey from the Margins to the Centre In Twelfth-Century Miracle Narratives, Anne Bailey
17:30–18:30 – HRC drinks reception (TBC)
19:00 – Conference dinner (TBC)
Day 2 – 27 June
9:30–11:00 – Session 4: Monasticism and Marginalised Genders (Bowland Theatre)
Chair: Emma Nuding
4a – Enkindling Faith and Burning it Down: Endorsing Spiritual Struggles in Christina Mirabilis and the Nuns of Watton, Scott Harrower
4b – What Constitutes the ‘Outside’?: “Lesbian” Affection at the Heart of 12th and 13th century Spiritual Writing, Hannah Victoria Johnson
4c – An Example for Nuns or Monks? Joseph of Schönau and Transgender Possibilities in the Cloister, Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow
11–11:30 – Coffee break (Treehouse)
11:30–13:00 – Session 5: Sexuality on the Margins (Bowland Theatre)
Chair: Hannah Victoria Johnson
5a – Sexuality in Crisis: Anxieties of Sodomy and Plague in the Fourteenth-Century English Church, Tim Wingard
5b – Divorce and Disability in Byzantium: Male impotence before ecclesiastical courts in 13th century Epirus, Romain Goudjil
5c – The Maternal Dilemma, Tracey Davison
13:00–14:00 – Lunch (Treehouse)
14:00–15:30 – Session 6: Global Christianities (Online, screened in Bowland Theatre)
Chair: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow
6a – Christian Minorities in Medieval Asia: Social Networks and Local Powers, Valentina A. Grasso
6b – Churches in Kochi: Symbols of Assimilation of Keralite community in the Christian fold, Lubna Irfan
6c – Establishment of Church at Mughal Agra: Socio-cultural exchange in a Heterogeneous Society, Mohammad Abdullah Raza
15:30–16:00 – Coffee break (Treehouse)
16:00–17:30 – Session 7: Agency of the Marginalised (Bowland Theatre)
Chair: Lawrence Duggan
7a – The Jewish Community of York in the Early Thirteenth Century: From Margins to City Centre, John Jenkins and Louise Hampson
7b – Sculpting the Margins in Danish and English Parish Churches: Looking Across the North Sea, Line M. Bonde and Meg Bernstein
7c – Climate of Care: Reconsidering Eaves-Drip Burial through Affective and Domestic Archaeology, Kate Bajorek
For more information, https://medreligion.wordpress.com/the-medieval-church-from-margins-to-centre-26-27-june-2023/