59^th International Congress on Medieval Studies (May 9-11) in Kalamazoo, MI (USA)

Sponsor: Medieval Institute, University of Notre Dame. In person.

Lives of female saints were recorded since the early centuries of Christianity, as in the Passio Sanctarum Perpetuae et Felicitatis, and were re-written and re-interpreted throughout the Middle Ages, appearing, for example, in poetic versions and liturgical hymns. This panel invites papers studying the stories of female saints written in Latin, from Late Antiquity to the Reformation. We welcome research on vitae and other hagiographical texts, including feast day musical compositions, that emphasize aspects of textuality, transmission, and manuscripts. We prioritize work on understudied saints and encourage varied approaches and methodologies, including source and literary criticism, musicology, and manuscript studies.

Descriptions of encouraged methodology or discourse: The panel welcomes studies that use a variety of methodologies and approaches to hagiographical texts and hagiographical sources. In particular, we welcome studies in the fields of codicology, paleography, literary criticism, source criticism, and musicology. Ultimately, this panel encourages papers that reflect on the following question: Why was the story of a saint written or rewritten at some point in history, in a specific form and in a specific manuscript? Thus, the panel invites papers that reflect on the broader significance of the historical role of female saints and hagiographical texts within the medieval world.

For information, please contact ecelora@nd.edu or hvansyck@nd.edu. 

All those interested in presenting a paper are encouraged to submit abstracts directly to the Confex system (https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/submissions#papers) before September 15th.