CFP from the International Society for the Study of Medieval Theology

IGTM-Sessions at IMC Leeds 2024: Call for Papers
From Crisis to Crisis Management – Perspectives in Medieval Theology and Spirituality

Since the 16th century up to the 20th century, e.g. in Johan Huizinga's influential study on the The Harvest of Medieval Theology, the 14th and 15th centuries were condemned to decay and rigidity. Research in the history of theology since the middle of the 20th century, on the other hand, has concentrated on renewal phenomena of the late Middle Ages and suggested overcoming a sharp dichotomy of decay/reform in transformation thinking. However, the tension between decay/reform always presupposes that in the late Middle Ages—and also in the centuries before—there were generally recognized crisis phenomena and a crisis consciousness that led to renewal movements, e.g. in the attempts at church reform at the Councils of Constance and Basel, in the observance movements of the religious orders or in new forms of piety such as the Devotio Moderna.

With our theme “From Crisis to Crisis Management - Perspectives in Medieval Theology and Spirituality” we would like to go back a step behind the scheme of decay and reform and ask anew about the perception and processing of crises in theology and spirituality.

Themes to be addressed may include, but are not limited to:

• What is a crisis in theology? How is it expressed, also linguistically, who states it and what strategies can be found to overcome it? To what extent were these crises genuinely theological or to what extent did theology only attempt to respond and react to crises?

• What forms of crises and crisis management can be found in medieval theology and how are these reflected theologically and dealt with in literature?

• Was there, for example, a crisis of scholasticism, a crisis of biblical interpretation, a crisis of clerus?

• How are (extra-theological) crisis phenomena and theological and spiritual coping strategies connected? (To what extent) are such crises interpreted in historical-theological terms?

• Which spiritual resources are activated to process (perceived) crises? Are new forms of spirituality emerging to deal with crises?

• How do theological crises find expression in the art and literature of the time?

Practical Matters

• The organizers welcome paper proposals submitted in English. Abstracts should be kept as close to 100 words as possible. (Each paper should last 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of discussion.)

• Please provide the following details: Title, abstract of no more than 100 words, if

  wished: index terms for your paper; your name, institutional affiliation, email, and postal address.

• Papers will probably be published (in an Archa Verbi – Subsidia volume).

• Please note: The congress will take place in person in Leeds. Travel and accommodation of speakers cannot be covered.

  Paper proposals must be submitted by 12 September 2023 to

  Jonathan Reinert jonathan.reinert@th-reutlingen.de
  and
  Ulrike Treusch treusch@fthgiessen.de

Prof. Dr. Ulrike Treusch
Lehrstuhl für Historische Theologie Freie Theologische Hochschule Gießen
Germany

Prof. Dr. Jonathan Reinert
Lehrstuhl für Kirchengeschichte und Ökumenik Theologische Hochschule Reutlingen
Germany