In the beginning of October, representatives of the Centre for Medieval Studies visited Madrid for a conference on crusading history. Professor Kurt Villads Jensen has shared a report on an inspiring conference.
Crusading in Madrid
Knights on display at the Royal Castle, Segovia. Photo: private.
Templar Church, Segovia. Photo: private.
Pål Berg Svennungen, Western Norway University, Francesco D’Angelo, La Sapienza University, Rome, Wilhelm Ljungar, Medieval Centre, Sini Kangas, Tampere University, Serpil Cilgin, Medieval Centre, Kurt Villads Jensen, Medieval Centre. Photo: private.
October began well, with intensive conferencing in Madrid. The theme was crusading history, and the conference had been arranged by St. Louis University, which is actually in Missouri but also has a campus in Madrid. Traditional topics were strongly represented among the circa 75 papers read, such as military aspects, beginning and definition of crusading, social life in the Middle East, and Iberian and Northern crusades. More recent topics included social network theories and also crusading in Eastern Europe.
The quality of the presentations was generally high and inspiring, but equally important was the meeting with other academic cultures and getting an impression of how universities, humanities, and crusading studies are faring in other countries.
The day before the conference, there was an excursion to Segovia with Roman aqueduct, Templar church with copy of the Holy Grave in Jerusalem, and royal castle.
The Centre for Medieval Studies here in Stockholm had arranged two sessions with 6 papers, on Nordic crusaders and on the First Crusade.
