What really was a castle ? Tightening the borders of elusive interpretation (Leeds International Medieval Congress)
Leeds International Medieval Congress, 6-9 July 2020
Proposed session :
What really was a castle? : Tightening the borders of elusive interpretation
Scholars still debate the unresolved contemporary definition of ‘castle’, generally resorting to the ill-defined ‘private fortified residence of a lord’ for a variety of elite residences, fortified buildings and associated landscapes - including earthwork, timber and masonry fortifications, palaces, manor houses, crenellated church towers and hunting lodges.
By crossing both medieval geographical borders and current research disciplines, this session aims to tighten current unnuanced definitional boundaries. Through innovative research, new interpretations will be proposed for the contemporary meaning(s) of scribed words such as castrum, castellum, and domus defensibilis, all commonly translated by later international generations as simply ‘castle.’
To revive debate on this important subject, and to encourage discussion for future research, we invite papers covering any, some, or all of the following areas of discipline:
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History/Linguistics – written sources, including documentary and contemporary literature, examining etymology, terminology and phraseology
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Archaeology – including different purposes/definitions for successive builds on one site
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Landscape History/Archaeology – including place- and field-names
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Architecture – including borders and distinctions of, and within, ‘castle’ structures: old/new; upper/lower; bigger/smaller, and primary ‘castle’ builds/rebuilds
Your proposals should include: full title of paper, abstract (max 200 words), your name, institution (if applicable) or affiliation (if applicable), IT requirements, full postal and electronic contact details.
Please send abstracts for 20 minutes papers (in English or French) no later than 31st August 2019 to:
Dr Michał Rzepiela, The Institute of Polish Language, The Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków: michal.rzepiela@ijp.pan.pl
and
Dr Rachel Swallow, History & Archaeology Department, University of Chester: