[1] Monastic libraries and book collections in times of crisis, c. 1000- c. 1600.

From: Wannes Wets
Date: Jul 27, 2023
Deadline: Sep 12, 2023

At the International Medieval Congress in Leeds (1-4 july 2024), dr. Julie Beckers, Postdoctoral Fellow at Illuminare, and dr. Mercedes Pérez Vidal will conduct a session exploring the topic “Monastic libraries and book collections in times of crisis, c. 1000- c. 1600”. The proposed session(s) focuses on religious communities’ responses to crisis in relation to convent libraries and book collections.

We aim to investigate what happened to medieval convent libraries and book collections in times of peril during the Middle Ages, but also the early modern period and up until our time. At certain times, these changes were detrimental and meant the original context of collections was lost. On other occasions, crises' effects were incremental in book collections of various religious institutions.

Suggested topics on book collections in times of crisis from any geographic area and encompassing a wide chronological framework may include, but are not limited to:
• Dismembering and dispersion of manuscripts in times of peril. How could these collections be interpreted anew? What happened to the identity of these collections in their new surroundings? How were these ‘orphan’ collections used by their, potentially, new owners? Was there re-assembly?
• The post-medieval life and Nachleben of book collections. Dispersion and loss as a result of wars, turmoil, and ecclesiastical suppression during the modern times.
• Assembling of manuscripts as a result of crisis. Medieval and early modern recycling history of manuscripts, and how these processes inform not only medieval book culture but also religious communities’ identities and religious and cultural networks more broadly.
• Assembling versus dismembering manuscripts as a result of crisis. Analysis of the factors that led to one or the other option. Did these occur at the same time in the same community?
• Crisis, continuities, and disruptions in production of manuscripts, re-use, and function of books within religious communities.
• Interplay between manuscript production and the making of other ornamenta sacra in times of crisis.
• The role of manuscripts and book collections in the creation of crisis narratives among religious communities. Who is to blame during crisis? Entangled scales and agents involved at micro and macro levels.
• Explicitly gendered approaches to crises in religious communities. In what way religious women, including nuns and mulieres religiosae, used manuscripts and bookcollections.

We welcome papers from a variety of disciplines including but not limited to history, art history, material culture, codicology, cultural history, musicology, history of liturgy, anthropology, literature, gender studies with a focus on religious communities from different orders/religions, different territories, and geographical regions exploring what happened to medieval book collections (c. 1000-c. 1600) during and beyond the Middle Ages. We invite speakers to explore the impact of crisis in book collections from religious
communities and these communities’ management of their libraries in times of peril.

The submission deadline for an abstract of no more than 300 words and a short bio is September 12.
All proposals should include your name, email address
and academic affiliation, and your preferred format (in-person or virtual)

Organisers:
Dr Mercedes Pérez Vidal (Autonomous University of Madrid) mercedes.pvidaluam.es
Dr Julie Beckers (KU Leuven) julie.beckerskuleuven.be