IMC 2003: Sessions
Session 107: Texts and Identities in the Early Middle Ages, I: Space, Time and Authority, I
Monday 14 July 2003, 11.15-12.45
| Sponsor: | Forschungsstelle für Geschichte des Mittelalters, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien / Utrecht Centre for Medieval Studies, Universiteit Utrecht |
|---|---|
| Organiser: | Maximilian Diesenberger, Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien |
| Moderator/Chair: | Helmut Reimitz, Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien |
| Paper 107-a | Defining the Sacred: Sacral Spaces in the Early Middle Ages (Language: English) Index terms: Law, Liturgy, Social History |
| Paper 107-b | The Topography of Law: Judicial References in the Roman Gesta Martyrum (Language: English) |
| Paper 107-c | Power and Authority in the Northumbrian Wilderness: The Asceticisation of Saint Cuthbert (Language: English) |
| Abstract | How does authority define sacred spaces? After an introductory overview, the examples of the Rome of the martyrs and of Bede’s England will be discussed. Topographic details in the Gesta martyrum sometimes do not correspond with the informations we have from other texts and thus do not reflect a topographic reality, but link the cult of the martyrs with prominent, sometimes imaginary places of urban infrastructure. In the Vita Cuthberti Bede de-contextualises and re-contextualises some miracle stories, especially the removal of place names and locations, in order to further the image of Cuthbert as an ascetic and otherwordly holy |