IMC 2014: Sessions

Was it necessary for medieval kings to be able to write? Or could they sometimes get by without possessing basic literacy skills themselves? Did they resort to writing in communicating with their subjects? If they used an administrative apparatus, did they understand the mechanisms of communication through documents? And did they use written texts for their own, personal edification and devotion? These are some of the fundamental questions that need to be asked by students of medieval royal literacy. We propose a series of four sessions and a round table on the comparative study of the literacies of three paradigmatic emperors, Charlemagne (r. 768-814), Charles IV Luxembourg (r. 1346-1378), and Charles V (r. 1519-1556). We hope to be able to draw some preliminary conclusions from the four sessions devoted to Karolus Litteratus. On the basis of our comparative approach, what, if anything, can be said about the nature of royal literacy? And what can we say about the influence of chronology and the turning points in the development of literacy within medieval Latinitas as such?

Participants include Anna Adamska (Universiteit Utrecht), Michael Clanchy (University of London), and Eva Schlotheuber (Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Düsseldorf).