Workshop: Charisma: Imagining women’s power in medieval Europe, 30.11.-02.12.2017, Bonn

Rheinische-Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität Bonn und der SFB 1167: „Macht und Herrschaft – Pre-modern Configurations in a Transcultural Perspective“
Zeit: 30.11.-02.12.2017
Ort: Bonn
Saints, empresses, mothers, seductresses: medieval authors and artists were fascinated with the shapes women’s power could take. This workshop uses charisma as a key to thinking through women’s power in medieval Europe. While some medieval women enjoyed official authority, women could also influence others through a range of strategies not necessarily dependent on their public status. Over the three days of this international workshop, we will consider how theories of charisma, and the related concepts of enchantment, charm, celebrity and sacrality, allow us to understand modes of women’s influence. Thirteen scholars will come together from the fields of medieval literature, history, art history, performance, religious studies, and gender studies to examine how medieval European literary texts, art works and historical documents represent influential or fascinating women. Speakers will discuss Byzantine, Carolingian, English, French, Italian and Spanish sources spanning the early and late Middle Ages. Read more and source … (Web)