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IMC 2016: Sessions

Session 729: Games and Competitions in Medieval Sociability

Tuesday 5 July 2016, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:Deutsches Historisches Institut, Paris
Organiser:Vanina Kopp, Deutsches Historisches Institut, Paris
Moderator/Chair:Jessika Nowak, Historisches Seminar, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
Paper 729-a'My lady, may I ask you...': Literary Games and Poetic Competitions at the French Court
(Language: English)
Vanina Kopp, Deutsches Historisches Institut, Paris
Index terms: Language and Literature - French or Occitan, Literacy and Orality, Mentalities, Social History
Paper 729-bStaging Configurations of Gender in the Late Medieval Tournament: Representations, Norms, and Cultural Practices between Gender Conformity and Gender Non-Conformity
(Language: English)
Constanze Buyken, Deutsches Historisches Institut, Paris
Index terms: Gender Studies, Mentalities, Social History, Women's Studies
Paper 729-cUnion and Disunion of the Nobility: The Role of Passages of Arms in Games of Rivalries in Princely Courts during the 15th and 16th Centuries
(Language: English)
Guillaume Bureaux, Deutsches Historisches Institut, Paris
Index terms: Heraldry, Military History, Politics and Diplomacy, Social History
Abstract

Games and competitions were an integral part of medieval culture. By investigating their social function in courtly 'leisure' time, we want to analyse the role that games and competitions played in transmitting and keeping up social order among the three estates, among the sexes, and also among nations. Depending on the context, all these games were performative expressions of courtly sociability. In the hierarchical and agonal medieval society, ludic endeavours were a cultural vector to connect pastime, interaction, communication, and hidden power relations. Thus, the three participants discuss games and competitions in different geographical and chronological settings, each using different sources and approaches.