In recent years, the materiality of objects has received increasing attention in medieval studies. Even though material aspects of manuscripts had always been part of scholarship, materiality can offer new perspectives. The material turn has led to new avenues of theoretical and methodological approaches.
Heidelberg University’s Centre for Collaborative Research (SFB) 933 Material Text Cultures focuses on material artefacts in proto-typographical societies. Within the framework of the Heidelberg SFB Material Text Cultures, the project B10 Rolls for the King looks at rolls in royal administration and historiography in France and England in the later Middle Ages (1200-1500).
Rolls, however, were not limited to the royal sphere. The clergy and laity also used the roll format for their administrative, financial, military and judicial records, as well as religious and literary texts. The conference seeks to explore the materiality of rolls from all provenances, whether royal, princely, monastic or municipal, in their socio-political, cultural and administrative context in late medieval Europe (1200-¬1500). We invite proposals for 30 minute papers that deal with questions such as:
- What was the purpose and function of the rolls?
- What were the advantages and disadvantages of the roll in contrast to other formats such as the codex?
- To what extent was there a connection between a roll’s form, material and content?
Presentations can be given in English, French or German. The proposals should include the title, an abstract (up to 350 words) and a brief CV. Please send proposals to Stefan Holz: stefan.holz@zegk.uni-heidelberg.de before 30 March 2017. If accepted, speakers will have their travel and accommodation funded by SFB Material Text Cultures. A registration fee will not be charged. It is intended to publish the conference proceedings in the SFB series MTK (Material Text Cultures).