IMC 2026: Sessions
Session 1149: The Social Impact of the Bible in Medieval Christendom: Latin and Ethiopian Communities, 12th-15th Centuries
Wednesday 8 July 2026, 11:15-12:45
| Sponsor: | Maison Européenne des Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société (MESHS) |
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| Organiser: | Amélie De Las Heras, Centre de Recherche et d'Études Histoire et Sociétés (CREHS), Université d'Artois |
| Moderator/Chair: | Amélie De Las Heras, Centre de Recherche et d'Études Histoire et Sociétés (CREHS), Université d'Artois |
| Paper 1149-a | The Use of the Bible in the Legal Formalisation of the Oath (Language: English) Index terms: Biblical Studies, Canon Law, Social History, Theology |
| Paper 1149-b | Moralised Bibles as a 'Wide Social Spectrum': Exegesis and Analogical Thinking in the 13th and 15th Centuries (Language: English) Index terms: Biblical Studies, Manuscripts and Palaeography, Social History, Theology |
| Paper 1149-c | Copying and Reading the Bible within a Dissident Monastic Community, Ethiopia, Late Middle Ages (Language: English) Index terms: Biblical Studies, Manuscripts and Palaeography, Monasticism, Politics and Diplomacy |
| Paper 1149-d | Combining the Holy Scriptures and the Management of Goods and Persons within a Single Codex: A Strategy of Preservation? - Iberian Peninsula, 12th Century (Language: English) Index terms: Biblical Studies, Charters and Diplomatics, Economics - General, Manuscripts and Palaeography |
| Abstract | This session aims to consolidate research perspectives on the role assigned by both clergy and lay people to the Bible within the repertoires of practices that organise and structure societies (such as oath-taking, conception of the ordinatio mundi, resistance to a king, and even the management of goods and persons), as well as within normative systems, once communities had undergone a profound process of Christianization. Despite the substantial progress achieved in studies on the medieval ‘uses of the Bible’, this role continues to be apprehended chiefly either within doxa, or in practices directly associated with religious belief or scholarly production. It therefore remains necessary to broaden the range of approaches and to move beyond this quite narrow focus. Besides, the scope of the inquiry encompasses both Western and Ethiopian Christian communities, with a view to fostering dialogue between studies centred on these different societies. Taken as a whole, such an approach should make it possible to shed clearer light on how the Bible was appropriated not only within social models but also in political, economic, and communal practices throughout the medieval world. |