Monastic Life, Art and Technology at Bizere Monastery (Arad County, Romania) is an interdisciplinary three-years research project supported by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, CNCS-UEFICDI, that aims to investigate the remains of Bizere abbey (Frumușeni, Arad County).
The Bizere abbey was founded by Benedictines prior to the middle of twelfth century on an island located in the valley of the River Mureş – an important salt route. It functioned with numerous disruptions until the sixteenth century when it gradually fell into ruin. Archaeological excavations conducted in 1981 and 2001-2009 already uncovered many parts of the buildings’ foundations that belonged to the abbey. Among buildings one can note the presence of a rectangular construction (probably the abbot`s palace), a Romanesque main church (a three-nave basilica with two in situ floor mosaics) and a Romanesque chapel; a cloister including the refectory, but also additional built spaces on the eastern, southern, and western sides, connected to the cloister or built as independent constructions. Other buildings still remain unexcavated. Furthermore, the archaeological investigations unearthed many fragments of Romanesque stone carvings, as well as a wide variety of ceramic, metal, and bone artefacts. Some of them suggest that the abbey was a production centre of various everyday life objects.
In close connection with some of the objectives and questions of the Bizere monastery project, the research team members warmly invite scholars from different fields of research to submit proposals for the international conference entitled:
Monastic Life, Art and Technology in 11th-16th
The conference will be held at University “1 Decembrie 1918” of Alba Iulia
Department of History, Archaeology and Museology
16-18 October 2014
We welcome proposals for individual papers (15-20 minutes in length) and poster presentations (10 minutes in length) on the following topics:
- Monastic landscape; spatial organization of monastic complexes
- Monastic wealth sources
- Monastery as production centre; resources, craft and technology
- Usage of art in the monastic milieu; artistic connections
The conference will include plenary lectures (to be announced) and thematic sessions for papers and posters of registered delegates.
Working language: English
Proposal submission :
Please include the following information with your proposal:
a) full title of your paper or poster presentation;
b) abstract (ca. 250 words);
c) name of the author, position, institutional affiliation, a short biography (ca. 150 words), and five publications related with the subtopics of conference.
The proposals saved in MS Word or PDF format will be sent by e-mail to: monastic.life2014@gmail.com; subject header: “Paper abstract” or “Poster presentation abstract”.
Poster proposals :
Posters provide an alternative to presenting a new research or a study case at the conference. They could be displayed during the session posters. Individuals will have then the option to introduce themselves and their poster in during maximum 10 minutes. Poster display requirements will be given later.
Deadlines :
Deadline for proposals: 20 March 2014
Notification of acceptance: 28 April 2014
Peer-review
All proposals will be peer-reviewed.
Publication
Selected papers delivered at the conference will be eligible for publication. Deadline: 5 December 2014.
Registration fee :
Registration: 40 Euros
Accepted speakers should pay the registration fee after the acceptance notification. Enrolment deadline and payment methods are to be specified later.
Student fee: 20 Euros
Visits :
Planned visits at the Roman-Catholic St. Michael`s Cathedral and the Batthyaneum Library in Alba Iulia, will be taking place during the conference.
Travel and accommodation :
All speakers are responsible for their own travel arrangements and accommodation; relevant information about hotels will be provided later.
For further information please contact the organizers at: medieval.life2014@gmail.com.
Source de l’information : University “1 Decembrie 1918” of Alba Iulia
L'Agenda des Médiévistes 