Foundation of working group "Körper und Geistlichkeit im Mittelalter. Tugend, Macht und Repräsentation" (KuG) and CfP

In December 2023, the working group "Körper und Geistlichkeit im Mittelalter. Tugend, Macht und Repräsentation" (KuG), an initiative of Daniela Bianca Hoffmann (Dresden), Jan Lemmer (Köln) and Matthias Weber (Bochum) was founded.

The working group aims to focus on a field of research that has been neglected to date but is central to understanding the medieval world. The position of power and the special social influence and status of spiritual actors are considered typical of the period; this position was often communicated visually and ritually by means of the body, which was also typical of the era. Although body-related practices in the Middle Ages have been intensively researched for the secular sphere, which has led to the identification of various rituals, social rules and the like, body practices and concepts of the clergy, including their medial communication, have so far only been examined selectively and in relation to individual groups of actors (above all popes and bishops).

The preliminary homepage of the working group can be found here.

Call for Papers "Körper und Geistlichkeit im Mittelalter: Zwischen Konvention und Unkonventionalität?" (26-27 September 2024, Cologne)

The first conference will take place on 26 and 27 September 2024 in Cologne. The conference will take place in cooperation with and with the support of the Graduiertenkolleg 2212 "Dynamiken der Konventionalität (400-1550)" at the University of Cologne and will therefore focus on the topic of body-related conventions of the clergy and violations of these conventions. It is therefore entitled: "Körper und Geistlichkeit im Mittelalter: Zwischen Konvention und Unkonventionalität?"

Here you can find the link to the Call for Papers on H-Soz-Kult.

Presentation proposals can be submitted until 1 May 2024.