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IMC 2015: Sessions

Session 1705: Landscapes/Seascapes, III: Conceptualising Landscapes

Thursday 9 July 2015, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:School of Humanities, Canterbury Christ Church University
Organiser:Leonie V. Hicks, Department of History and American Studies, Canterbury Christ Church University
Moderator/Chair:Leonie V. Hicks, Department of History and American Studies, Canterbury Christ Church University
Paper 1705-aFortified Settlements in Old English Poetry
(Language: English)
Michael Bintley, Department of English & Language Studies, Canterbury Christ Church University
Index terms: Geography and Settlement Studies, Language and Literature - Old English, Mentalities
Paper 1705-bPolitical Reform and Renewal of Urban Landscape: Late Medieval Florence
(Language: English)
Anna Pomierny-Wąsińska, Tadeusz Manteuffel Institute of History, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszawa
Index terms: Economics - Urban, Geography and Settlement Studies, Mentalities, Social History
Paper 1705-cLandscapes of the Dead: The Vision of Edmund Leversedge
(Language: English)
Carl Watkins, Magdalene College, University of Cambridge
Index terms: Language and Literature - Middle English, Lay Piety, Mentalities
Abstract

The final session in this strand considers mental constructions of different landscapes. It draws on Old English poetry, descriptions of urban geography in late medieval Florentine legal, and narrative texts and a 15th-century vision of the otherworld. Key themes include the interplay of politics and ideology, the links between physical and imagined space, and the relationship between earthly landscapes and those of heaven, purgatory, and hell. All three papers stress the importance of language as a key tool in understanding concepts of the medieval landscape and their role in society.