(image source: Universität Marburg)“Le rite réalise le droit“? – Rituals and the Law in the Ancient WorldMarburg University&Marburg Center for the Ancient World (MCAW)In person participation: Marburg University, Room 00A26, Deutschhausstraße 12, 35032 Marburg12–13 June 2026 (Friday–Saturday)Program:Friday, 12 June 202614:00. Introduction: Nils Heeßel (Marburg) and Constantin Willems (Marburg)14:30. The Legal Value of Contractual Rites in Mesopotamia: Sophie Démare Lafont (Paris)16:00. The Performative Nature of Sealing Clay Tablets: Steffen Jauß (Frankfurt)17:00. In Search of the Lost Ritual. Ritual(s) and the implementation of Assyrian adê: Lionel Marti (Paris)Saturday, 13 June 202609:00. The Role of Ritual in the Roman Legal Process: Grzegorz Blicharz (Cracow)10:30. Formal Contracts in Roman Law and in the New Belgian Civil Code: Jean-François Gerkens (Liège)11:30. Final Discussion, Conclusions: Nils Heeßel (Marburg) and Constantin Willems (Marburg)The full Program is available in PDF format here: ProgramMCAW.
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01 June 2026
SEMINAR: “Le rite réalise le droit“? – Rituals and the Law in the Ancient World (Marburg: Universität Marburg, 12–13 JUN 2026)
01 March 2022
CALL FOR PAPERS: Ritual: Practice, Performance, Perception (deadline 30 April 2022; Ceræ: An Australasian Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies)
THEME PRESENTATION
Rituals pervade human life. From small or mundane rituals like brushing our teeth or making one’s daily coffee, to grand ceremonies that mark important life stages, rituals are everywhere. This has prompted reflection on what rituals are, on what can be considered as ritual. Ceræ: An Australasian Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies invites essays that analyse rituals of all kinds: public and private, communal and solitary, secular and religious, rapidly changing and long-lasting. It also welcomes theoretically- or methodologically-focused contributions.
Authors may address, but are not limited to:
- Royal rituals: coronations, births, or marriage consummations etc.
- How rituals can be used as an element of identity and alterity
- Subversive and subverted ritual: witchcraft trials, historical (mis)perceptions of Jewish rites etc.
- Sacred landscapes and rituals focused on/in the natural world
- Ritual as a medium for memory and memorialisation
- Sacrifices, magic, religious rites and their intercultural reception
- Medieval and early modern political rituals such as guild processions
- Ritual represented in medievalism, including film, fantasy, literature, and art
The journal invites submissions encompassing all aspects of the late classical, medieval, and early modern world. There are no geographical restrictions. As an interdisciplinary journal, Ceræ encourages submissions from archaeology, art history, historical ecology, literature, linguistics, intellectual history, musicology, politics, social studies, and beyond.
Full length articles should be 5000-8000 words, excluding references. Ceræ also accepts short notices of up to 3000 words. Themed submissions must be submitted by 30 April 2022. For submission instructions, please visit our page on submission guidelines.
The full text of the Call is available here

