The terms “reform losers” and “reform winners” (Reformverlierer and Reformgewinner) have recently been introduced in German-speaking scholarship to examine the dynamics of self-positioning and experiences of defeat in the context of medieval reforms. Looking at ‘snapshots’ of success and defeat, scholars have challenged the traditional dichotomy between successful “reformers” and “opponents of reform”: reformers could face defeats, and resistance against reforms could prove to be successful.

The term Reformverlierer refers to heterogeneous group of people, including “active opposers, martyrs, malcontents, stubborn hardheads, passive bystanders, conservatives out of step with the times, and opportunists […].” However, the term has so far primarily been used for monks, clerics, kings or popes. But what about women as losers and winners of reforms?

Recent studies have challenged the traditional view of reform as a ‘male domain.’ Nevertheless, gender-specific questions are still neglected in scholarship on medieval reform, particularly with regard to ‘reform winners and losers’ and religious reforms after the 10th century. How does our perspective on reform and defeat change when women are considered? This question is the starting point for the conference, which will focus on women as losers and winners of religious reforms in the 11th and 12th centuries. These can include, for instance, (communities of) religious women, priests’ wives, noblewomen and queens, as well as female followers of spiritual lay communities and alleged “heretics”. By examining these groups and individuals and focusing on gender-specific questions, we aim to expand our understanding of the concept of ‘reform winners’ and ‘reform losers’.

Key questions
Taking women as reform losers and winners as our starting point, we shall examine the following questions:
– What impact did reforms have on women’s self-perception and perception by others, as well as on women’s agency?
– What forms did women’s experiences of reform take? How did they navigate and cope with “losing”, and in which contexts did they instead emerge as “winners”?
– To what extent can we grasp the voices of women as reform losers, keeping in mind that sources mostly adopt the perspectives of male reform winners?
– What sorts of media were these changes in values and ideals communicated through? To what extent did reforms and particularly a language of reform lead to the exclusion of individuals and groups?

Organization
The conference is scheduled for 19th and 20th July 2027 at the University of Münster. We invite researchers at all stages of their careers to submit proposals for a 25–30-minute presentation.
Please send an abstract (max. 300 words) and a CV in German or English to Sarah Schnödewind (sarah.schnoedewind[at]uni-muenster.de) by 15th November 2026.

[1] A. Bihrer/D. Schiersner, “Reformen – Verlierer. Forschungsfragen zu einem besonderen Verhältnis,” in: Eid. (eds.), Reformverlierer 1000-1800: zum Umgang mit Niederlagen in der europäischen Vormoderne (Zeitschrift für historische Forschung. Beiheft, 53), Berlin, 2016, 11–36, at 15: “Das Augenmerk gilt somit einem besonderen Typus des Verlierers und damit einer durchaus heterogenen Gruppe, die aus aktiven Widerständlern, Märtyrern, Querulanten, Trotzköpfen, passiven Duldern, konservativen Aus-der-Zeit-Gefallenen und Opportunisten besteht […].“
[2] See e.g. F. J. Griffiths, Women and Reform in the Central Middle Ages, in: J. M. Bennett/R.M. Karras (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Women and Gender in Medieval Europe, Oxford 2013, 447–463; J. Hotchin/J. Thibaut (ed.), Women and Monastic Reform in the Medieval West, c. 1000-1500: Debating Identities, Creating Communities, Martlesham 2023.

Source : H-Soz-Kult