Dr. Carme Font-Paz, Associate Professor of English Literature at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and director of WINK (Women’s Invisible Ink), is giving a lecture where she’ll be presenting the WINK project and her paper on ‘Intellectual Freedom in Early Modern Women’s Spiritual Writings: Practice, Methods, and Identities’.
The essence and manifestation of God’s love has been a major concern for men and women of faith over the centuries, and the object of mystical, fictional and analytical approaches to understanding the relationship between human and divine nature. This presentation will briefly examine the methodological challenges posed by narratives of faith and grace that seek to represent subjective reality as an experience of universal truth.
By paying special attention to four seventeenth-century women writers from different Christian backgrounds, we shall see in what ways their notion of intellectual freedom was constructed and invoked as the primary reason for writing and speaking in public against pastoral misconduct, social ills and domestic abuse within their congregations and communities of faith. Their arguments point at their own freedom of conscience, as well as the “hypocrisie” and superficiality of the alleged “liberty of conscience and freedom” of their own communities. They claim to be intellectually freer in their obedience to God.
This paper will bring to light Maria Jesus de Ágreda manuscript Leyes de la esposa (1637) for the first time, Arcangela Tarabotti’s La semplicità ingannata (1654), Susanna Parr’s Apologie against the Elders (1659), and Anne Wentworth’s A Vindication (1670). We will look at the discourse of divine love and personal conscience as a common feature of female spirituality and intellectuality within a European context, markedly influenced by Teresa de Ávila’s program for mental prayer. We shall discuss the relationship between literary genre and theological tradition, the limits of reason and the imagination as sources of knowledge, and the faint borderlines between obedience and freedom of conscience as paths for intellectual inquiry.
Dr. Carme Font-Paz is Associate Professor of English Literature at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. She is also an ICREA Academia fellow and director of the European ERC Starting Grant project WINK “Women’s Invisible Ink: Trans-Genre Writing and the Gendering of Intellectual Value in Early Modernity”. A specialist in prophetic genres and early modern women’s writing, her latest books are Women’s Prophetic Writings in Seventeenth-Century Britain (Routledge, 2017) and, with Nina Geerdink, Economic Imperatives for Women’s Writing in Early Modern Europe (Brill, 2018). She is now preparing her forthcoming monograph Women Writing on Social Change in Early Modern Europe (Brepols).
VANDENHOVE (Centre for Architecture and Art at Ghent University) is hosting a conference on ‘Performing theatricality and imaging religious ceremonies in early modern Western Europe’ 15-16-17 May
2023 marks the 300th anniversary of the publication of the early eighteenth-century book series Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde, a work on all the world’s religions known to Europe at that time and originally published in seven volumes between 1723 and 1737 in Amsterdam. Edited by the exiled French Huguenot Jean Frederic Bernard, the original seven volumes of the Cérémonies knew a vast distribution across European readers in the Netherlands, France, England, and the Holy Roman Empire, among other countries. Its popularity was at least partly due to the impressive set of prints included within the books. After all, the engravings were for the most part manufactured by the exiled Parisian artist, Bernard Picart, who was known as one of Europe’s most distinguished engravers at that time.
More than ten years after the publication of some pioneering studies on the project – Religionsbilder der frühen Aufklärung (2006), The Book That Changed Europe (2010) and The First Global Vision of Religion (2010) – the intriguing ceremonies and customs of the various religions depicted in the books still capture the imagination. This is not only caused by their ingenuity regarding the comparative method of inquiry into religion in general, as earlier research widely acknowledged, but also because of their importance as an early modern compendium of imaging religious ceremonies. After all, as the title already indicates, the Cérémonies discusses global religious ceremonies and customs. It focusses on performing religion, instead of on religion as such.
In line with Picart and Bernard’s project, this conference aims to focus on the ways in which early modern Europeans related to religious ceremonies of all kinds, ranging from customs that were familiar to Western Europe’s everyday religious life, to rituals from peoples across the globe that were still rather alien to early modern Europeans. How did early modern Europeans perceive religious rituals practiced in other parts of the world, particularly those in overseas territories? To what extent did early modern knowledge production on religious customs contribute to the development of early anthropology and ethnography in the latter half of the eighteenth century? How did representations of religious rituals either endorse or challenge existing knowledge on various religious practices? In what ways did the early modern period witness a shift toward a more encyclopedic approach to representing the ceremonies and customs of various religions, and how did this reflect broader intellectual trends of the Enlightenment era?
Join GEMS on the 22nd of April for the Young Researcher’s Day, a work-in-progress session by MA students where they will be presenting their research through a short poster presentation, with ample time for questions. The presentations aim to help students fine-tune their research and are a great opportunity to get feedback from their peers and other researchers in the field of early modern cultural history and literature.
Location: Library Lab, Magnel Wing – 11am-3pm
Presentations:
Widow Immolation (Sati) as a Religious Practice: Crystallisation of a European Image of India in the 18th Century
The Late Medieval and Early Modern in Macbeth: The Transgressive Power of Blood, the Body and the Supernatural
European Science Theories in 18th Century Latin America: The Almanacs of Cosme Bueno
Early Modern Death: The Function and Form of Death in Everyman, The Faerie Queene, “Death Be Not Proud”, Paradise Lost and The Pilgrim’s Progress
Trauma and Cognition in 20th Century Fiction
Asexuality in Media
We encourage researchers who are interested to attend and register through this form by the 17th of April. Lunch and refreshments will be provided. If you have any further questions, feel free to contact Eru.Fevery@UGent.be and Caroline.Baetens@UGent.be
Renaissance authors tended to fall back on classical literary models, which they wanted to equal or even surpass. In the case of theater, Terence’s Eunuchus was one of the most popular model texts. In the city of Vicenza, near Venice, Giovanni Battista Calderari began to translate this comedy into Italian, but not only that: he also began to rework it. The result is a fascinating rewrite, in which, for example, the secondary character of the ‘Other’ becomes a Moorish woman. In this lecture we place Calderari’s text next to the original, and highlight current issues such as gender, ethnicity and performance in a play text from the Renaissance – which is not so far removed from our own time.
Tuesday January 23, 2024, 7:30 PM
Followed by reception
Rozier Building, Classroom 2.1 Rozier 44 – 9000 Ghent
Group for Early Modern Studies (GEMS) is convening a new Reading Group. This group welcomes BA students, MA students, doctoral students, postdocs, and colleagues from any field to read an early modern text together and discuss it. This year, for the very the first edition, we shall be reading Machiavelli’s play The Mandrake (La Mandragola).
We will meet biweekly in the spring semester (i.e. from February to May), most likely from 5-6.30pm on Thursdays. We will read the text aloud, stopping periodically to discuss in depth any aspect of the text participants like––all the while enjoying some drinks and snacks. We read in English and there is absolutely no background or prior knowledge of Machiavelli and/or Italian required.
Indeed, participants are expressly forbidden to do any reading in advance! In other words: this reading group does not require you to do any work or reading beyond what we do together in the sessions. You do not have to attend all sessions: participants will receive an email with what will be read each session, so that you can read up and re-join if you wish.
The GEMS Reading Group is thus a low-stakes, fun way of engaging with early modern texts you might otherwise never read; and of getting to know & learning from colleagues and students from other disciplines with fresh perspectives.
If this appeals to you, please send an email to geertje.bol@ugent.be to be added to the mailing list.
GEMS is hosting a work-in-progress session for MA students working on early modern (broadly defined) literature and cultural history. We want to create a low threshold and open setting for students to present their work and get feedback on it.
In this session, students will give a poster presentation (in English) on their current research. The presentation aims to help students fine-tune their research and is a great opportunity to get feedback from your peers in the field of early modern cultural history and literature. The presentation can be about a specific chapter or methodology in your research, or an outline of your thesis. We don’t expect your research to be in a finalized stage, feel free to come with drafts and invite your peers to think along with you.
The seminar will take place on Monday 22 April 2024. We aim for seven-minute presentations with ample time for questions. GEMS will finance the print costs for the posters. Refreshments (food and drinks) will be provided.
Landscape History & Ecology – Ghent, 27-31 May 2024
This Spring School is organised by Ghent University (Doctoral Schools), University of Groningen, the Huizinga Institute and the Dutch Research School for Medieval Studies to stimulate contacts and exchange between PhD candidates and ReMa students in the field of cultural history, art history, historical geography, urban history, archaeology, early modern history, medieval history, literary studies, environmental psychology, environmental design and engineering, sustainability studies and environmental education. The course will mainly focus on the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period, but students working on Antiquity or the Modern Period can attend as well.
Topic
Climate change, depletion of natural resources, loss of natural and cultural landscapes, and many other (ecological) sustainability challenges urge us to (re)evaluate human interaction with the natural world. This renewed environmental consciousness has invigorated not only scientists working on effects in the present and solutions for the future, but also those who study the (distant) past. It has become clear that we need to take the story back(much) further than the industrialisation of the second half of the eighteenth century. Specifically in medieval and early modern studies, scholars have uncovered the deep historical backgrounds of the anthropogenic ecological challenges, including (over)exploitation of natural landscapes, diminishment of open space, deforestation, food production, use of energy and water, fauna and flora extinctions et cetera. Over the past decades, ever more research has been conducted into the ecological impact and implications of practices in different landscapes. Also the traces of environmental mentalities in art and the cultural representation of human interactions with the environment is a flourishing field, strongly influenced by ecocritical approaches. The Spring School will therefore pay attention to a wide range of ecological issues in history related to the landscape of city, country and colony and their mediation in cultural production, most notablyliterature and art. It combines a focus on the medieval and early modern period with an multidisciplinary perspective, attending to the theoretical and methodological background of landscape and cultural history, ecocriticism and archaeology.
Approaches
This course takes four topics and methodologies related to historical landscape and ecology as a starting point:
(A) History of the city and the country,
(B) Archaeology and landscape history,
(C) Artistic representation and ecocriticism,
(D) Ecology and economy.
Ten specialists will reflect from their scholarly background (landscape history, archaeology, literary studies, cultural history) on ecological issues in their own research. An accompanying reading list gives rise to further reflection and discussion with the participants. This will offer students a framework to think theoretical concepts and methodologies through in relation to their own work. Through short pitches the attending PhD students will reflect on the possibilities and difficulties of working with the same concepts and methodologies in their own research projects. A guided bike tour on the ecology of the city Ghent and its surroundings will be part of the programme, as well as an excursion to the Zwin-region and Zeeland Flanders, with presentations and discussions ‘in the field’.
Programme
Session I: Visit Exhibition ‘Ghent’s Lands’ & Bike Tour – Guide: Esther Beeckaert (Ghent Museum for Urban History STAM)
Session II & III: History of the City and the Country- Lecturers: Tim Soens & Iason Jongepier (UAntwerpen)
Session IV: Archaeology and Landscape History – Lecturer: Wim De Clercq (UGent)
Session V: Landscape History and Garden Culture – Lecturer: Willemieke Ottens (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen)
Session VII: Artistic Representation & Ecocriticism – Lecturer: Joana van de Löcht (Universität Freiburg)
Session VIII & IX: Ecology and Economy – Lecturers: Marrigje Paijmans (University of Amsterdam), Charlotte Kießling (University of Cologne) & Thijs Lambrecht (Ghent University)
Registration
PhD students and ReMa students are invited to register for this course before 12 January 2024 through the following link: https://forms.gle/hQUuu4SVfs4wTRsq9 Please note that there is a limited number of places available for this course. After your registration you will soon receive more information about whether your registration can be confirmed or not. Some of the participating graduate/doctoral schools will cover tuition and lodging for their participating members (please wait for more information after your registration).
Organising institutions and partners
This Spring School is organised by Ghent University (Doctoral Schools), the University of Groningen, the Huizinga Institute and the Research School for Medieval Studies in cooperation with the following research groups: the Group for Early Modern Studies (UGent), the Henri Pirenne Institute for Medieval Studies (UGent), the Amsterdam Centre for Studies in Early Modernity (UvA), the Groningen Research Institute for the Study of Culture (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen), the Centre for Urban History(UAntwerpen), the Institute for Early Modern History (UGent-VUB) and the Onderzoeksgroep Nieuwe Tijd (KU Leuven). The Spring School was also made possible by the Rudolf Agricola School for Sustainable Development (University Groningen).
Organising committee
Caroline Baetens, MA (UGent, Group for Early Modern Studies), Dr. Femke Kramer (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Research Institute for the Study ofCulture), Dr. Stefan Meysman (UGent, Pirenne Institute for Medieval Studies), Dr. Marrigje Paijmans (UvA, Amsterdam Centre for Studies in Early Modernity), Prof. Jeroen Puttevils (UAntwerpen,Centre for Urban History), Prof. Hanneke Ronnes (UvA / Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Landscape History), Prof. Kornee van der Haven (UGent, Group for Early Modern Studies)
GEMS members might be interested in this call for papers!
The Yearbook for Dutch Book History publishes Dutch and English-language articles on the book history of the Low Countries in all time periods. For the 31st edition of the Yearbook, to be published in 2024, we welcome in particular contributions concerning the theme ‘Controversy’. Scandals, provocations and ethical problems: some are shocked by them, some delight in them, others use them to change the world. Our current society may seem more divided than ever, but is that truly the case? To explore this issue, the editorial board of the Yearbook for Dutch Book History seeks articles on the role of controversy in the book history of the Low Countries. Contributions might study books that caused controversy in the past, or those that do so in our own age, because of their outdated content or illustrations, or even ethical issues concerning anthropodermic book bindings.
We welcome articles focussing on any of the following subject areas:
Controversial authors, collectors or publications;
Ethical issues in the book trade, publishing industry or the materiality of the book;
Books that shocked society and set in motion broader societal changes;
The use of satire in text and image;
The book and pamphlet as means of protest;
Readers’ reactions to controversial books;
Disinformation and fake news.
Send your proposal or article summary to the editorial board before 1 March 2023 (jaarboeknbv@gmail.com or via one of our editors). The deadline for contributions to the 2024 edition of the Yearbook is 1 November 2023.
GEMS 
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