Medieval Europe and Beyond

Convenors: Marian Coman (University of Bucharest) and Ionuț Epurescu-Pascovici (ICUB Humanities)

The Middle Ages today: grand narratives and their alternatives

As historians who have come of age in late modernity we are instinctively suspicious of grand narratives and their totalizing claims. That grand narratives still hold a place in our historical imagination points to their enduring – if diminished – relevance: we banish them from our research but reluctantly resurrect them in our teaching as serviceable approximations. (The ‘Middle Ages’ is itself one such meta-narrative, and more intractable because of medievalists’ investment in it as part of a defence of professional turf.) But what are the alternatives – exemplary microhistories, ‘thick descriptions’, and comparative studies of centre and periphery? And which parts of the medieval grand narrative retain more explanatory power than the others? From ‘feudalism’ to medievalists’ fascination with the state, we will discuss the periodization, key concepts, and explanatory schemes through which we make sense of Europe between 800 and 1550. In addition to roundtables and discussions of the scholarly literature, there will be a number of individual presentations by guest speakers.

Unless otherwise indicated, meetings take place at ICUB, Str. Dimitrie Brândză nr. 1.

Thursday, 12 December 2019, 5 pm – The state: medieval / modern

• Readings: R. Davies, ‘The medieval state: the tyrrany of a concept?’, Journal of Historical Sociology 16 (2003)
• Optional reading: A. Harding, Medieval law and the foundations of the state, ch. 8