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IMC 2010: Sessions

Session 323: The Road Goes Ever on and on: Travelling and Religious Norms in Medieval Texts

Monday 12 July 2010, 16.30-18.00

Organiser:Andreas Inkmann, Projekt Hludowicus, Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut, Freie Universität Berlin
Moderator/Chair:Stefan Esders, Geschichte der Spätantike und des frühen Mittelalters, Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut, Freie Universität Berlin
Paper 323-aThe Vita prima Wandregisili: A Spiritual Journey through the History of Frankish Monasticism?
(Language: English)
Andreas Inkmann, Projekt Hludowicus, Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut, Freie Universität Berlin
Index terms: Hagiography, Manuscripts and Palaeography, Monasticism, Religious Life
Paper 323-bMissi in the Cloisters: The Question of the Observance of the vita religio through Visitations
(Language: English)
Bianca Marschke, Universität Wien
Index terms: Administration, Ecclesiastical History, Monasticism, Religious Life
Paper 323-cMargery a Touring Relic: The Theory and Practice of Pilgrimage in the Book of Margery Kempe
(Language: English)
Einat Klafter, Tel Aviv University
Index terms: Hagiography, Language and Literature - Old English, Lay Piety, Religious Life
Abstract

From the view of religious authorities, the phenomenon of travelling is often recognized as something strange or dangerous not fitting into the ecclesiastical hierarchy. On the other hand, travelling was recognized in concordance with the normative authorities; Missionaries or Pilgrims for example.

This session will spot into three sketches on the field of tension between travelling and religious norms in different types of medieval texts. The main focus will be on how the concept of religious travelling was brought in accordance with the norm and how it was shaped by this. The whole concept could be seen as a main instrument of developing and spreading religious norms which will be discussed elaborately in all three papers.