Colloque – Meeting the "Gentes", Crossing boundaries. Columbanus and the Peoples of Post-Roman Europe

In the Early Middle Ages Europe’s political landscape was significantly shaped by the emergence of new fundamental modes of identification, both ethnic and religious. These processes created new forms of social cohesion and conflict. The world into which the Irish ascetic exile and monastic founder Columbanus (d. 615) entered when he left Ireland in 590 was a world of gentes. The pluralistic political landscape of the gentes had replaced a world of Empire. The post-Roman kingdoms through which Columbanus travelled and established his monastic foundations were made up of many different communities of peoples. As an outsider, how did Columbanus and his communities interact with these peoples? How did they negotiate differences and what emerged from these encounters? How societies interact with outsiders can reveal the inner workings and social norms of that culture.

Columbanus crossed many boundaries (both literally and figuratively) during his time on the Continent and his travels through Merovingian Gaul, Alemannia, and Lombard Italy brought him into contact with the elite political power players and the local communities of post-Roman Europe. This international conference hosted by the Institut für Mittelalterforschung at the Austrian Academy of Sciences aims to explore the strands of this contact.

Programme : ici

Informations pratiques :

Meeting the « Gentes », Crossing boundaries. Columbanus and the Peoples of Post-Roman Europe

International conference

22-23 november 2013

Schottenstift / Prälatensaal

Freyung 6 A

1010 Vienna

Information and programme :

Dr Alexander O’Hara

Institut für Mittelalterforschung

Wohllebengasse 12-14