IMC 2026: Sessions

These sessions explore the ways in which noble families used urban space to represent their lineage, propagate the legitimate continuation of their authority and consolidate their seigneurial rule. It builds upon scholars such as Henri Lefebvre, who have shown that space is never a fixed given but is constantly being reshaped by an interplay of physical characteristics, conceptual visions, and subjective experiences. These sessions explore the strategic use of urban space in Medieval Europa. It focuses on how the noble families' commissions and building practices physically shaped and redefined public space, in relation to underlying visions and ideas that were inextricably linked to an awareness of time. We are bringing together historians, architectural and art historians working on case studies in different European regions, with a variety of sources and in an interdisciplinary context. We will engage with questions of memorial culture, female agency in commemorative practices and foundations, representation of noble identity, seigneurial rule and dynastic continuity, and in particular urban space as a site of political performance.