SESSION: Mundane and Profane Uses of Medieval Sacred Spaces II: Synagogue, Mosque and Shrine in the Central and Late Middle Ages

I am looking for proposals dealing with mundane/profane uses of mosques in the later Middle Ages. The accepted paper, which will replace one that has been withdrawn, will be part of a session exploring the following topics:

1. "The Synagogue in Provencia as a Social Institution during the High Middle Ages"

2. "Sanctified Space: Thaumaturgy and Carnival at the Shrines of the Saints"

The original call for papers follows.

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Organized Session Proposal: "Mundane and Profane Uses of Medieval Sacred Spaces"

Although technically reserved for worship, medieval sacred spaces accommodated numerous mundane and profane activities that included wine hawking, ball playing, hearing legal cases and sexual encounters. This session will explore the mundane and profane uses of medieval sacred spaces and investigate the larger significance of such uses. Papers may discuss any mundane activity that took place in ritual spaces. They may also look at violent explosions that sometimes occurred in them (such as the twelfth-century murders of Charles the Good in the castral church of Saint Donatian and of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral). If accepted, this session which hopes to benefit from papers drawing on a variety of relevant disciplines might include presentations on Jewish, Christian (eastern and western) and Muslim sacred spaces; inter- and intra-cultural comparative discussions are also welcome.

If you are interested in participating in this session, please e-mail me directly at dmhayes@iona.edu. The deadline for submission of abstracts is March 1, 2001.

Dawn Marie Hayes, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of European History
Department of History and Political Science
Iona College
715 North Avenue
New Rochelle, New York 10801
Phone: (914) 633-2519
Fax: (914) 633-2019
Email: dmhayes@iona.edu