Religion and Conflict in the Medieval and Early Modern Periods – Call For Papers

Religion and Conflict in the Medieval and Early Modern Periods
Nottingham Trent University
11-13 July 2017

This conference is the inaugural event for the Centre for the Study of Religion and Conflict in the Medieval and Early Modern Periods at NTU. The centre aims to increase understanding of the origins, ideology, implementation, impact and historiography of religion and conflict in the medieval and early modern periods. Conflicts with religious elements incorporate not just military engagements but also social, political, cultural and economic events, forming a common strand between Medieval and Early Modern worlds. The conference will both launch the centre and highlight new subjects and strategies for its future development.

Current members have expertise in the Crusades and the Military Orders; Reformations and Confessional societies; the Conquest of the New World and Seventeenth Century Britain, but we are keen to establish networking links with scholars and students who investigate the role of religion and conflicts with different faiths, confessions and heterodox groups, so that comparisons may contribute towards the development of new definitions and paradigms for understanding the roles played by belief in national, communal and inter-personal conflict.

The conference will incorporate a broad chronological spectrum from medieval to early modern with a view to developing current research, sharing techniques, investigating new approaches and enhancing study in the wider field. It will consist of keynote and public lectures, and academic papers presented in a workshop format. Postgraduate and early career applicants are particularly welcome.

Prospective speakers are invited to submit 200 word abstracts which broadly relate to the following themes from any period in the medieval to early modern range, and comparative approaches are particularly welcomed:

  • Religious discourse and dissent
  • Religion and warfare/military conflict
  • Conflict relating to religious property or objects
  • Gender and religious conflict
  • Confessional conflict
  • Conversion and conflict
  • Religion and family conflicts: marital violence, divorce, separation, property disputes
  • Religion and conflict in social environments, communities and networks
  • Religious sources in conflict

There will be an opportunity to publish conference proceedings in a special volume for the Themes in Medieval and Early Modern History Series for Routledge.

Abstracts should be sent to: Natasha.Hodgson@ntu.ac.uk by Friday 7 April, 2017.