Military Orders VIII: In a Wider World

Nottingham Trent University (online) 8-16 September 2022

Call for Papers

This online conference encourages discussion on the military orders’ interactions with their broader environment whether political, spiritual, or economic etc. It also provides a forum for those wishing to pioneer new methodologies or to ask fundamentally new questions about either the military orders or the crusading movement in general. Key topics for discussion include:

§ The military orders’ place in the broader monastic world

§ cross-cultural dimensions

§ their activities beyond the cloister

(i.e. in courtly, commercial, or diplomatic contexts)

§ their broader significance both within Western Christendom and globally

§ their role in driving social, economic or technological change

§ 20th-21st century deployments of their memory

§ their theological ideas (and their origins)

§ new methodologies (esp. digital and interdisciplinary) and sources

Submission deadline: 1 March 2022 / Email: militaryorders8@gmail.com

Structure

This will be an online conference with a distinctive structure. Rather than giving their papers live, speakers will be invited to submit a video recording of their papers several months in advance (which can consist of them solely speaking to camera accompanied, should they wish, by a presentation). Delegates joining the conference will be invited to complete an online sign-up following which they will be given access to the recorded presentations, several weeks prior to the commencement of the conference, which they can then watch at their leisure. The live conference itself in September will consist primarily of daily 2hr discussion panels, each focused on specific clusters of papers, during which delegates can pose questions to the speakers via a mediator who will also lead a broader discussion on the questions raised by this cluster of papers. There will also be a single live plenary lecture on the first day of the conference.

The provisional timetable is as follows:

• 8 Sept 2022: Keynote Lecture
• 12-16 Sept 2022: Daily 2hr discussion sessions, each covering clusters of recorded papers.

Instructions for speakers

If you would like to apply to contribute a recorded paper to this conference then in the first instance please submit a title + 250-word abstract for your proposed talk by 1 March 2022. This should be emailed to the dedicated conference mailbox: militaryorders8@gmail.com. We will aim to give your our decision on your paper proposal soon afterwards, giving you time to complete your recorded paper over the following months.

Instructions for delegates

Whether you wish to give a paper or just to attend, you will be prompted by email to complete an online registration form which will give you access to an online platform containing the recorded lectures as well as the timetable and other conference details (to be circulated in April-May). We do not intend to levy any registration charge for attending this conference. If you are not already on the Military Orders VIII mailing list then please email us at the above address and we will add your name and contact details.

As previously we will aim to publish the conference proceedings in an edited collection of essays.

The full PDF of the Call for Papers can be viewed here: 
Military Orders VIII cfp.pdf