Illustration above: ‘Historia’ from Cesare Ripa, Iconologia, Venice 1645

HISTORIA SACRA RENAISSANCE VISIONS OF CHRISTIAN ORIGINSINTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM, 11-12 JUNE 2010

Warburg Institute, Woburn Square, on June 10;University of Notre Dame, London Centre,

1 Suffolk St (near Trafalgar Square) on 11-12 June 2010

Speakers & Discussants: Adam Beaver, Liam Brockey, Euan Cameron, David Collins, SimonDitchfield, Anthony Grafton, Giuseppe Guazzelli, Jean-Marie Le Gall, Howard Loutha,

Margaret Meserve, Kenneth Mills, Ros Oates, Matthias Pohlig, Jean-Louis Quantin,Salvador Ryan, Kate van Liere, Alex Walsham and Joanna Weinberg

Places for those wishing to attend are limited. Attendance is free of charge but requests must be madeto Simon Ditchfield (srd5@york.ac.uk) by 3 June

Generously funded by the University of Notre Dame; the Medieval Institute of the University ofNotre Dame and the Calvin College Centre for Christian Scholarship

 

 

HISTORIA SACRA: RENAISSANCE VISIONS OF CHRISTIAN ORIGINS

The centuries of the Renaissance, Reformation and Counter-Reformation (c.1450-1650) were a particularly fertile period in European history for the application of the historical imagination to questions of religious history and origins. Renaissance humanism, with its pronounced classical influence, combined with the confessional pressures of the Reformation to stimulate new ways of thinking about these questions. The result was a veritable boom in historia sacra – that cluster of genres which embraced national and civic chronicle, topographical description, Episcopal calendar, collective and individual hagiography, art history, archaeology and travel literature – as authors applied both critical erudition and creative imagination to the task of demonstrating the antiquity of their local and national churches, sects and traditions. Thursday June 10 at the Warburg Institute, Woburn Square What was historia sacra? Using Christian pasts in an age of Reformations 5:30 p.m. Public lecture by Simon Ditchfield at the Warburg Institute, followed by a reception at the Institute (for all lecture guests) and supper in a nearby restaurant (for symposium participants only). Friday June 11 at the University of Notre Dame, London Centre, 1 Suffolk St (near Trafalgar Square) 1. What was historia sacra? 09:15-10:45 (Chair: Euan Cameron) What were its principal sources, objectives, and methodological challenges? Simon Ditchfield, Anthony Grafton, Joanna Weinberg 2. Historia sacra and confessional disputes in the Reformation era 11:15-12:45 (Chair: Simon Ditchfield) How did confessional concerns shape analytical categories, research methods, and scholarly practices? Euan Cameron, Giuseppe Guazzelli, Rosamund Oates 3. Historia sacra and hagiographic traditions 14:15-15:45 (Chair: David Collins) What uses did early modern historians make of medieval hagiographic traditions? What continuities and changes do we see in critical methods, intellectual and religious agendas, etc.? Jean-Marie Le Gall, Kate van Liere, Liam Brockey 4. Historia sacra and the measuring of cultural difference 16:15-17:45 (Chair: Anthony Grafton) How did scholars deal with alien cultures or vanished evidence? What antiquarian, anthropological, or cultural tools did they bring to bear on historia sacra in such cases? Adam Beaver, Kenneth Mills, Margaret Meserve Saturday June 12 at the University of Notre Dame, London Centre, 1 Suffolk St (near Trafalgar Square) 5. National history, political history, and sacred history 09:15-10:45 (Chair: Kate Van Liere) How were these boundaries defined? How did the genres intersect? How did their aims and approaches differ? David Collins, Howard Louthan, Salvador Ryan 6. Roundtable discussion 11:15-12:30 (Chair: Howard Louthan) To be led by Jean-Louis Quantin, Matthias Pohlig, Alex Walsham

Attendance on the Friday and Saturday is free but by ticket only and spaces are limited. Anyone interested should contact Simon Ditchfield on srd5@york.ac.uk asap.