International conference “Body and Clerical Order in the Middle Ages: Body and Communication” (Dresden, November 25–27, 2026)

From November 25–27, 2026, the Research Center for Comparative History of Religious Orders (FOVOG) will host an international and interdisciplinary conference titled “Body and Spirituality in the Middle Ages: Body and Communication.” It is organized in cooperation with the Working Group on Body and Spirituality in the Middle Ages: Virtue, Power, and Representation, Ruhr University Bochum, FOVOG, and the University of Zagreb. The working group was founded in December 2023 by Daniela Bianca Hoffmann (FOVOG-Dresden), Jan Lemmer (University of Cologne), and Matthias Weber (Ruhr University Bochum).

The presentations at this interdisciplinary conference, drawing from the fields of history, art history, and philosophy, will explore the relationship between body and spirituality, with a particular focus on the body and communication. In four sections, the conference will first examine disciplined bodies, then outward appearances and clothing, followed by sick and poor bodies, and finally sacred and profane bodies.

The detailed conference program can be found here