Perceptions of Justice in the Christian and Islamic Mediterranean (500-1200)
Call for papers Conference
14-15 March 2024, Madrid
Deadline 15/11/2023
The main aim of the conference, awarded with the Simon Barton Conference Prize (Society for the Medieval Mediterranean), will be to analyse the different theoretical perceptions that developed around the notion of justice in the Mediterranean between 500-1200. To this end, a number of case studies will be selected from diverse thematic, chronological, geographical and cultural backgrounds, while making a general distinction between Christian and Islamic horizons. In this way, it aims to bring together senior scholars and early career scholars on the same platform for discussion and dialogue. A comparative and intercultural analysis of justice in the first centuries of the Middle Ages will also allow to see the margins of transculturality, i.e. of mutual influence, between cultural spheres that are, a priori, very different. Particularly interesting in this respect will be the case studies in contexts where there was interaction and coexistence between Christians and Muslims, as in the case of the Iberian Peninsula or Sicily, but also in those where Islam imposed itself on a previously Christian cultural climate, as in the case of the Byzantine East or North Africa. In order to complete the comparative panorama, genuinely Christian case studies, such as the Carolingian case, will also be offered. Difference between the secular and ecclesiastical/religious fields will also be addressed, thus offering a more complete overview of the unequal –or perhaps not so unequal– incidence that religion could have in each sphere of action.
From the organization, Early Career Researchers (pre or post-doctoral scholars) are invited to submit paper proposals. Submissions that address issues surrounding the various theoretical notions of justice that occurred in any geographical scenario in the Christian and Islamic Mediterranean between 500-1200 will be considered. Some of the specific issues welcomed are:
- Religion, theology and justice.
- Justice and political culture.
- Discourses and literature on justice.
- Cross-cultural influences on justice.