Conflicts of all kinds are inevitably accompanied by polemical and hostile communication. Under favourable circumstances and where necessary resources were found, such communication could grow to a veritable media campaign even in pre-modern times. The September School on "Communicating Discord: The Media of Polemic in the Late Middle Ages and Early Reformation" suggests to analyse how disapproval and abuse were communicated not only in various social contexts, but also through various channels and media (written, oral, pictorial). The focus will be on the Holy Roman Empire from the fourteenth to early sixteenth centuries, and thus on a space and time that witnessed a number of social upheavals, military conflicts and religious novelties, including the emergence of Hussite and Lutheran Reformation. In this way, the Summer School attempts to overcome the traditional separate treatments of national histories and historical eras. The relevance of the epochal divide between the Middle Ages and the Reformation should be tested against the development of communication media, with due attention given to both the revolutionary potential of technological progress and the long-term stability of cultural and communicative practice.

This intensive five-day course for PhD students in medieval studies will introduce the participants to the topic through working with sources and discussing the relevant historiography from all three mentioned fields of political, social and religious conflicts. Our participants will learn about the existing approaches to polemical discourse, rhetorical strategies, invectivity and media change. Based on their own reading and interpretation of the sources, followed by joint discussion, they will gain a deeper understanding
of the methodological possibilities of investigating controversial communication of the Late Middle Ages and Early Reformation. Furthermore, we plan to visit selected locations in Prague, Wittenberg and Leipzig related to the examined phenomena.

ELIGIBILITY
The participants should be PhD students working on the Middle Ages and Early Modem Period from various disciplinary perspectives. The language of the school is English (knowledge of Latin, German and Czech is welcome but not necessary). Applicants should send an abstract of their thesis and a short CV before 30 April 2024 to: zurek@flu.cas.cz (selection and response before 1 June 2024)

COSTS
The school is free of charge. The organising institutions will cover accommodation in Prague and Leipzig and the transfer in between. We are aiming for a moderate reimbursement of travel expenses to Prague and from Leipzig.