Call For Papers: Leeds, 2015

Wyclif, Hus, and the Impact of Reform
Series of sessions for the IMC, Leeds, 6-9 July 2015

Sponsors: Lollard Society, CMS Prague, OEAW Vienna
Organisers: Mishtooni Bose, Michael Van Dussen, Pavlína Rychterová, Pavel Soukup

The general theme of the 2015 International Medieval Congress in Leeds is “Reform and Renewal”, and we believe that this theme cannot be realized without an important number of papers in Wycliffite and Hussite studies. We envisage a series of sessions, each of three papers and a response by the chair, which would bring together scholars working on Wycliffism and Hussitism. The sessions will be co-sponsored by the Lollard Society, the Centre for Medieval Studies in Prague and the OVERMODE project in Vienna.

Abstract

The Wycliffite and Hussite projects of Church reform represent the most thorough attempts in late-medieval Europe to reshape religious and political ideologies and practices. In both cases, an academic controversy was immediately followed by a long-lasting ecclesiastical-political conflict. Despite the achievements of research into the Bohemian reception of Wyclif’s writings, new comparative approaches need to be adopted in order to better understand the preconditions, realities and developments in England and Bohemia, as well as the Hussites’ bold experiment aimed at implementing some of the most radical Wycliffite ideas. The set of four sessions brings together specialists from Wycliffite and Hussite studies who will discuss their research into these late-medieval religious and political reform programs.

SESSION 1

Wyclif, Hus, and the Impact of Reform (I): The Puzzle of Transmission
In this session, the modalities of reception of the key writings of Wyclif and Hus will be discussed, focusing on their manuscript transmission and cultural contexts.

 SESSION 2

Wyclif, Hus, and the Impact of Reform (II): The Pitfalls of Learned Debate
In this session, focus will be on the intellectual settings in which Wycliffite and Hussite ideas took shape, especially at the universities of Oxford and Prague and the Council of Constance.

SESSION 3

Wyclif, Hus, and the Impact of Reform (III): The Struggle for Simple Minds?
In this session, the focus will be on the social impact of reform ideas, the strategies of the chief ideologists to get broader support, and the various responses to reform agendas.

SESSION 4

Wyclif, Hus, and the Impact of Reform (IV): Battle of Words – Battle of Swords
In this session, the focus will be on the reaction of power centers to reform ideas and on the formation of Wycliffite and Hussite movements.

Please send an abstract of no more than 150 words to Mishtooni Bose (mishtooni[dot]bose[at]chch[dot]ox[dot]ac[dot]uk) no later than 5 Sept. 2014.