IMC Leeds 2027
5-8 July 2027

The concept of community has become central to medieval studies, yet late medieval courts are still predominantly studied through institutional structures, political elites, or individual actors. This session proposes a different perspective by approaching the court not as a static institution but as a dynamic social formation, continuously produced, negotiated, and transformed through everyday practices, material culture, administrative routines, and interpersonal relationships.

Rather than treating the household merely as an administrative or economic unit, the session explores how courtly communities were constituted through the daily organisation of court life. Household accounts, inventories, ordinances, correspondence, registers, and other administrative records are particularly valuable because they document the routine practices through which communities were organised, maintained, and reshaped. These sources reveal not only institutional structures but also the interactions between people, objects, spaces, and everyday activities that sustained the functioning of medieval courts.

The session welcomes contributions from different geographical regions and disciplinary perspectives. Comparative approaches are particularly encouraged, as are papers exploring innovative methodologies—including Digital Humanities approaches—to investigate complex administrative sources and reconstruct courtly communities.

Possible questions include:

– How were courtly communities constituted, negotiated, and transformed through everyday practices?
– Which actors beyond rulers and high-ranking elites contributed to the making of courtly communities?
– How did household organisation structure social relationships, hierarchies, and forms of cooperation?
– What role did material culture, food, objects, and spaces play in creating and maintaining courtly communities?
– What can household accounts, inventories, ordinances, correspondence, and other administrative records reveal about everyday interactions at court?
– How can Digital Humanities methods contribute to reconstructing courtly communities from complex historical sources?
– How did mobility, travel, and seasonal movement shape communities at late medieval courts?
– Which similarities and differences emerge when comparing courtly communities across late medieval Europe?

The session aims to bring together scholars working on medieval courts, household history, material culture, administrative records, food history, and Digital Medieval Studies to discuss new approaches to understanding how courtly communities were formed, organised, and experienced across late medieval Europe.

Kontakt : barbara.denicolo@hotmail.com

Source : H-Soz-Kult