Medieval towns were large human concentrations where men, women, and children led different daily lives, depending on the places they lived and worked, and personal attributes including gender, religion, social status, and income.
At times, the apparent mundanity of daily life could be interrupted by major events. Whilst some were joyous such as festivities and royal entrances, others could be unruly such as the annual Carnival, or even distressing like preparing to defend the town from military siege. In these present times of unexpected and sudden changes in our own daily lives, the Institute of Medieval Studies of NOVA-FCSH and the Municipality of Castelo de Vide have come together to organize the VI International Conference of the Middle Ages which will be held from 7th to 9th October 2021 under the theme: Everyday Life in Medieval Urban Europe.
With a focus on Christian and Islamic Europe, the approach will be from four distinct but complementary angles: I) Everyday Spaces, including as homes, workplaces and lay and religious institutions; II) Everyday Times, whether the ordinary day-to-day, or those lived during exceptional moments; III) Daily Lives of Specific Inhabitants/Groups, including children, old people, men, women, Christians, Jews, Moors or foreigners, etc; IV) Utensils and Tools of Daily Urban Life, including production, uses, and preferences of residents and outsiders for certain items.
Researchers from any scientific discipline (including, History, Archaeology, Art History, Literature, Law, etc) with an interest in the foregoing, are invited to submit proposals for panels and/or individual papers within the following thematic groupings:
1. Domestic daily life: spaces, times and protagonists
2. Everyday life of lay and religious institutions: spaces, times and protagonists
3. Child and youth daily life: spaces, times, protagonists
4. Female daily life: spaces, times, protagonists
5. Male daily lives: spaces, times, protagonists
6. Everyday life of ethnic-religious minorities: spaces, times, protagonists
7. Troubled times: revolts, conflicts and wars
8. Times of exception: royal entrances and parties
9. Emotions in everyday life: affection, love and sex
10. Materialities of everyday life: materials, functions and preferences
11. The daily life represented: literature and art
12. Everyday life in Castelo de Vide during the Middle Ages
The Conference will comprise 4 plenary sessions featuring researchers invited by the organizing committee, along with separate thematic panels. Each panel will be made up of three paper presentations and will be 60 minutes long. Researchers wishing to participate are requested to submit proposals for whole panels and/or individual papers, the latter being arranged by the organizing committee into coherent panels.
The Conference includes a full cultural program with guided tours, Conference Dinner, and a public Book Launch to present the published volume which brings together a selection of articles gathered from the V International Conference of the Middle Ages and the Autumn School of October 2020.
Conference languages: Portuguese, Spanish, French and English.