L'Agenda des Médiévistes

Graz
02.09.2026 – 04.09.2026
Deadline : 12.06.2026

The PresentDead project (ERC No. 101089324) investigates the re-opening of graves and interactions with the dead and their materials across the 5th-8th centuries. This conference will bring together historians working on a wide range of texts from across the antique and medieval world, that reveal different attitudes to and contexts of interacting with the dead, as a way of pooling knowledge and experience about the scope of what was considered possible or imaginable by various people living, writing and re-writing in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when they turned their minds to the re-opening of graves and interactions with the dead.

Interacting with the Dead in Antiquity & the Middle Ages

The PresentDead project (ERC No. 101089324) investigates the re-opening of graves and interactions with the dead and their materials across the 5th-8th centuries. While the main focus of the project is archaeological, it also includes written texts from and about the period, including historiographical and regulatory texts from histories and chronicles to saint’s vitae, and from penitentials and sermons to Roman and Barbarian Laws. The project’s geographical area of focus — spanning Central and Eastern Europe, from the eastern Alps to Transylvania — is one that is poorly attested in terms of literary sources, for the period, with most of the textual tradition at large arising only at the edges of the space and often much later. And seen in those sources, interactions with the dead are only infrequently mentioned. As such, the textual perspective of the project is very much that of the outsider looking in (or around), indirectly revealed in political, religious and rhetorical terms. Contributions are welcome from within the disciplines of Classics and Medieval Studies, as well as History, Law, Linguistics, Literature, Philosophy, Theology, etc. This conference, following on from a successful workshop held in November 2025, will bring together historians working on a wide range of texts from across the antique and medieval world, that reveal different attitudes to and contexts of interacting with the dead, as a way of pooling knowledge and experience about the scope of what was considered possible or imaginable by various people living, writing and re-writing in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when they turned their minds to the re-opening of graves and interactions with the dead.

The hybrid confernece will be held online and in person at the Karl-Franzens Universität, Graz on 2-4 September 2026.

If you are interested in presenting, please send a title, abstract (250–500 words), and short biography to: thomas.gobbitt@uni-graz.at by Friday 12 June 2026.

An edited collection is planned in relation to the conference (chapters due Monday 30 November 2026), and while participation in both parts would be the ideal, do let me know if you can only commit to one or the other.

Kontakt

thomas.gobbitt@uni-graz.at

Source : H-Soz-Kult

Between the 12th and 13th centuries the Mediterranean was a space of intense political transformation and cultural interaction. In this context, architecture became one of the most visible expressions of power, identity, and legitimacy. Religious buildings in particular often played a key role in representing the authority of rulers, serving not only as places of worship but also as instruments of political communication and symbolic control.

The conference aims to explore the relationship between secular authority and religious architecture in the Mediterranean world during this crucial period. Particular attention will be paid to the ways in which rulers, dynasties, and political elites promoted, transformed, or appropriated religious buildings to assert their power and shape the urban and territorial landscape.

Relevant examples include the architectural policies promoted by figures such as Frederick II, James II of Aragon, and other rulers who used religious architecture as a means of political representation and legitimation. The conference also welcomes studies on episcopal initiatives, monastic foundations, and other forms of patronage connected to the interaction between political authority and sacred architecture.

The conference will encourage interdisciplinary approaches combining history of architecture, art history, archaeology, and medieval studies, with particular attention to case studies, methodological reflections, and comparative perspectives across different regions of the Mediterranean.

Proposals may address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Patronage and political strategies in the construction or transformation of religious buildings
• The role of rulers and political elites in shaping sacred architectural landscapes
• Architectural programs linked to processes of conquest, consolidation, or territorial control
• Interactions between secular and ecclesiastical authorities in the promotion of religious architecture
• Symbolic, liturgical, and representational functions of religious spaces connected to political power

Proposals must include:

• title of the contribution
• abstract (maximum 300 words)
• short CV of the author (maximum 150 words)

Proposals must be sent by 15 June 2026 to the email address: mediterraneomedievale@gmail.com

Papers should not exceed 20 minutes, and poster presentations should not exceed 10 minutes.

The Scientific Committee will evaluate the submitted proposals by 30 June and will communicate their acceptance, if any, as a paper or as a poster, inserting them in the session of the Conference deemed most suitable.

The contributions presented at the Conference will be published as a monographic volume within the series “Architettura Medievale” (edited by Silvia Beltramo and Carlo Tosco), published by All’Insegna del Giglio. Posters admitted to the dedicated session will also be granted adequate space in the publication.

The languages of the Conference are: Italian, English, French, and Spanish.

The Conference organization will provide participants and grant recipients with lunches on 2 and 3 October, dinners on 1 and 2 October, and coffee breaks.

Grants For Early-Career Researchers

Three scholarships are available for PhD candidates in History of Architecture, History of Art, and Archaeology. The grants will cover accommodation and meals, while travel expenses will be borne by the participants. During the days of the Conference, grant recipients will collaborate with the organizing committee in the management of activities. Applicants are required to submit an updated curriculum vitae and a letter of motivation to the email address mediterraneomedievale@gmail.com no later than 31 May 2026.

Source : Medieval Art Research