A two-days conference in Oxford exploring the assumptions linking violence and femininity in the late medieval mediterranean (Byzantium, Western Europe, Islamic world).

Presentation

The last decades have witnessed an increased interest in research on the relationship between women and violence in the Middle Ages, with new works both on female criminality and on women as victims of violence. The contributions of gender theory and feminist criminology have renewed the approached used in this type of research. Nevertheless, many facets of the complex relationship between women and violence in medieval times still await to be explored in depth. This conference aims to understand how far the roots of modern assumptions concerning women and violence may be found in the late medieval Mediterranean, a context of intense cultural elaboration and exchange which many scholars have indicated as the cradle of modern judicial culture. While dialogue across the Mediterranean was constant in the late Middle Ages, occasions for comparative discussion remain rare for modern-day scholars, to the detriment of a deeper understanding of the complexity of many issues. Thus, we encourage specialists of different areas across the Mediterranean (Western Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic world) to contribute to the discussion. What were the main differences and similarities? How did these change through time? What were the causes for change? Were coexisting assumptions linking femininity and violence conflicting or collaborating?

The conference will take place over two days thanks to the generous contributions of The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities, the Maison Française d’Oxford, and the UMR Orient- Mediterranée Monde Byzantin.

Keynote speakers

• Professor Carol Lansing (UC Santa Barbara)
• Professor Élisabeth Malamut (Université de Provence)
• Conclusion by Professor Annick Peters-Custot (Université de Nantes)

Submission guidelines

Please, send abstracts of max. 250 words for papers of 20 minutes to: lidia.zanettidomingues@stx.ox.ac.uk

by 31 May 2019.

Selection

The conference organisers (Lidia Zanetti Domingues, Oxford, History; Lorenzo Caravaggi, Oxford, History; Giulia Maria Paoletti, Oxford, Byzantine Philology) will act as a scientific committee to select the most fitting papers for the conference.