Pilgrimage, Shrines and Healing in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe
A one-day symposium at the University of Chester, hosted in collaboration with Plymouth University
24 June, 2016

Plenary Speakers: Anthony Bale (Birkbeck) & Elizabeth Tingle (Plymouth)

Pilgrimage is a spiritual undertaking with a long history. Taken up by Christians as early as the second century, pilgrims journeyed to holy sites to enhance their faith with prayers and also for the expiation of sin in the performance of public penance. The association with early Christian shrines as spaces for healing replaced earlier pagan traditions and, in turn, generated a thriving medieval material culture of pilgrimage inextricably connected to the cult of saints. Pilgrimage has also long been more broadly symbolic of devotional life. Spiritual doubt and temptation, conversion, and the pursuit of salvation have historically been represented using the language and vocabulary of the spiritual journey.

If the Reformation brought this tradition of Christian pilgrimage into question via its attack on indulgences, it nonetheless proved resilient. Recent histories have begun to trace the enduring nature of pilgrimage as a devotional practice in early modern Catholic Europe, as pilgrims continued to flock to shrines to venerate relics and sacred sites, in return for indulgences, healing and spiritual comfort. As a number of scholars have recently observed, the celebration of sacred landscapes through the promotion and veneration of local and regional shrines was particularly characteristic of post-Tridentine Catholicism. For the literate elite, mental pilgrimage was also advocated as a meditative technique to facilitate interior journeys to more distant holy sites.

The aim of this one-day colloquium is to explore continuity and change in material and spiritual pilgrimage across the late medieval and early modern period. We are seeking contributions from scholars whose research speaks to these themes in the pre- and post-Reformation eras.

We invite proposals for 20-minute papers on themes that might include (but are not restricted to):

• Pilgrimage: local, regional, international
• Sacred landscapes and architecture of pilgrimage
• Pardons and indulgences
• Shrines and the cult of saints
• Healing and miracles
• Relics, paintings, ex-votos and the material culture of pilgrimage
• Confraternities and collective pilgrimage
• Pilgrims and their representation
• Mental pilgrimage and meditation
• Spiritual journeys

Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words to Jennifer Hillman at j.hillman@chester.ac.uk by Friday 11 March, 2016.

In the Light of Gloriana
The Tower of London, London, UK
Nov 18-21, 2016

This event is the result of many discussions about having a dedicated conference and society focusing on the emerging scholarly works within Elizabethan studies. The long-term goal is to produce a bi-annual publication and host a bi-annual conference highlighting these innovative ideas; we will begin with an inaugural conference. It will be held from 18th to 21st November 2016 at the Tower of London, a place of huge significance and importance for Queen Elizabeth I.

Academic Keynotes:

• Dr. Carole Levin, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Public Keynote & Lecture: Dr. John Cooper, University of York
• Closing Keynote: TBA

Therefore, we are currently seeking proposals on any of (but not limited to) the broad themes outlined below:

• National and international concepts of power, authority, kingship and queenship during the Elizabethan period
• Court politics and diplomacy in the Elizabethan period
• International dynamics and relations between England and continental Europe between 1558-1603
• Religious discourse such as the implications of the royal supremacy in the establishment and maintenance of a state church; religious identities; and forms of worship and devotion during the Elizabethan Reformation
• Film and television depictions of Elizabeth I and/or the Elizabethan period
• Elizabethan letter writing, correspondence and female writing
• Imagery, rhetoric and constructions of the Queen in literature, art, fashion and drama
• Trade, currency and economic relations in Elizabethan England
• Medicine, illness, senses and concepts of the body in the Elizabethan period
• Science, magic, alchemy and the divine
• Gender and female networks
• Functions of daily life for all Elizabethans
• Law, crime, witchcraft and Elizabethan court systems
• The Tower of London during the Elizabethan period
• Music & Material Culture

We welcome proposals from postgraduate researchers, early career researchers and established scholars. Please send proposals consisting of your name, affiliation and status [e.g. postgraduate/faculty member] with an abstract of 250 words outlining the theme of your paper to the conference committee at glorianasoc@gmail.com. All inquiries can be sent to the same address. Please note that the deadline for submissions is 15 April, 2016.

If you are interested in joining the Gloriana Society, please go to our website (www.glorianasociety.org) and fill in the form under “Membership”. Membership in the Gloriana Society is free until January 1, 2017, when a fee will be introduced to help support future conferences and activities. Current members will receive the discounted rate.

Society and conference sponsors: The University of York, The University of Winchester, and the Royal Studies Journal.

Shakespeare and Music Studies: From Theory Into Practice
Monash University, Caulfield Campus, H.8.04–06
Friday 4 November, 2016

Hosted by: The Monash Shakespeare Company & The Melbourne Shakespeare Society

When the field of Shakespeare and music studies emerged in the late-nineteenth century, it mainly concerned itself with the problems reconstructing the musical materials and practices of early modern theatre cultures. Since then, the field has evolved to encompass a vast body of methodologies and contexts, incorporating discussions of literature and history, and linking them to musical and theatre practices. As the field stands today, it is characterised by its eclecticism, even as it asserts its intrinsic value to Shakespeare studies more generally.

This symposium calls upon these diverse areas of expertise that make up the modern field to assist in identifying and developing strategies for the integration of music into productions of Shakespeare. We invite submissions from theatre and music practitioners, academics in literature, theatre, history and music studies, as well as postgraduate and undergraduate students, to contribute to this conversation. We impose no particular restrictions on paper topics, provided they are generally relevant to the field of Shakespeare and music studies. However, the following questions may act as a guide to submissions:

• Why should music be considered a priority in the production of Shakespeare?
• How can an understanding of early-modern music practice be applied to modern theatre productions?
• How can knowledge of modern musical practices be applied to the staging of Shakespeare?
• What specific challenges do composers face when setting Shakespeare’s language to music?
• What types of musical resources can small theatre companies employ when staging Shakespeare?
• How can theatre directors employ music in audition, rehearsal and production processes?

NB – Since the symposium will be practice-focused, we are also interested in considering workshop sessions.

Please submit an abstract or proposal of approximately 200 words to christian.griffiths@monash.edu by 1 May, 2016. Some travel bursaries will be available for interstate or international scholars. All submitted papers will also be considered for inclusion in an edited volume.