CONFERENCE & CFP: “Law, Custom and Ritual in the Medieval Mediterranean" (Lincoln, 13-15 July 2015)

WHAT:   “Law, Custom and Ritual in the Medieval Mediterranean”, fourth biennial conference of the Society for the Medieval Mediterranean

WHERE: University of Lincoln

WHEN: Monday 13th July to Wednesday 15th July 2015

All information here

Deadline: Abstracts for individual papers and proposals for sessions should be emailed to the conference email address (smmconference2015@gmail.com) by the end of the day on Saturday 18th October 2014.

The Society for the Medieval Mediterranean is pleased to announce that the fourth biennial conference of the Society  will take place at the University of Lincoln from Monday 13th July to Wednesday 15th July 2015. The theme of the conference is “Law, Custom and Ritual in the Medieval Mediterranean” and the keynotes will be delivered by Professor Maribel Fierro (CSIC, Madrid: "Obedience to the ruler in the Medieval Islamic West: legal and historical perspectives") and Dr Andrew Marsham (University of Edinburgh: “Rituals of accession in early Islam: a comparative perspective”).

They welcome both individual papers and panel proposals (please, fill in the appropriate form which you will find on the SMM website at http://www.societymedievalmediterranean.com/conference-2015.php).

Those who are interested in presenting at the conference might consider the following sub- themes when putting together their abstracts (but are by no means limited to them):

    •    Roman, Canon and municipal law in the medieval Mediterranean

    •    Lawyers: their identities, status and practice

    •    Disputes, dispute settlement

    •    Legal agreements (e.g. charters, treaties)

    •    Law codes and codification

    •    Manuscripts of law codes, charters, etc.

    •    Legal training in the medieval Mediterranean

    •    Ritual sites and ritual objects

    •    Law, treaties and rituals in visual and material culture

    •    Trading and other contractual agreements

    •    Oath-making and oath-breaking

    •    Outlaws, criminals and rebels

    •    Scribal practices and legal record-keeping

They are also interested in papers that propose to take a more openly theoretical look at law, ritual and custom in our period, digital humanities approaches to the topic, and would also consider proposals that discuss the (contemporary) teaching of law, ritual and custom in the medieval Mediterranean.

Abstract: the invite 200-300 word abstracts for individual 20 minute papers relating to the conference theme. Participants are also encouraged to submit proposals for sessions of 3 papers – in this case, the session proposer should collate the three abstracts and submit them together, indicating clearly in a covering letter/ email the rationale behind the planned session. Please, fill in the appropriate form, available at http://www.societymedievalmediterranean.com/conference-2015.php.

Postgraduate student bursaries: They will offer up to 10 bursaries for MA and PhD students who are interested in presenting at the Conference. The bursaries, which will cover the Conference fees, will be assigned to those proposals which best fit the theme of the Conference.

Publication: Presenters will be invited to submit their papers for publication in the Society’s journal, Al Masaq: Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean (http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/calm20/current#.U9TZnONdXng), published by Taylor and Francis. Previous conferences have resulted in the publication of special issues of the journal as well as individual articles.

Queries: Specific questions about the conference can be directed to the conference organisers, Dr Antonella Liuzzo Scorpo and Dr Jamie Wood at the conference email address (smmconference2015@gmail.com).