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IMC 2020: Sessions

Session 1557: Medieval Papacy, c. 500-1500, I: The Popes and Their Histories

Thursday 9 July 2020, 09.00-10.30

Organisers:Benedict Wiedemann, Department of History, University College London / Institute of Historical Research, University of London
Agata Zielinska, Department of History, University College London
Moderator/Chair:Benedict Wiedemann, Department of History, University College London / Institute of Historical Research, University of London
Paper 1557-a'Hic a cardinalibus in papam Calixtum electus est': Reframing Calixtus II's Election of 1119
(Language: English)
Enrico Veneziani, St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies, University of St Andrews
Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Historiography - Medieval, Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 1557-bRome Seen through a Papal Election: The Pope, the Cardinals, and the Local Aristocracy in Pandulph's Life of Gelasius II
(Language: English)
Francesco Renzi, Centro de Investigação Transdisciplinar 'Cultura, Espaço e Memória' (CITCEM), Universidade do Porto
Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Historiography - Medieval, Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 1557-cHow to Rule?: Medieval Popes as Exemplars in Flavio Biondo's Decades
(Language: English)
Taneli Puputti, Department of Language & Communication Studies University of Jyväskylä
Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Historiography - Medieval, Political Thought
Abstract

The first of a series of sessions on the 'Medieval Papacy, c.500-1500'. The remit of these sessions is to break down traditional boundaries (for example, chronological) within the field of papal history. This session examines medieval and Renaissance historiography of the papacy, and how writers used it to promote their particular aims. Paper-a reframes the election of Pope Calixtus II through a comparison of the different accounts, focusing on how they were re-written during the Papal Schism of 1130. Paper-b also examines the effect of the 1130 Schism on accounts of a papal election: that of Gelasius II. Paper-c looks at how Flavio Biondo, the Italian humanist, used historical accounts of medieval popes as a pedagogical guide to his contemporary popes.