Conference 4 May 2017

The first is to launch and to present the website project www.unive.it/itnun , and the database MedItaNunC, which has been put together by the project PI and Researcher, and whose use will be introduced and explained by them, and by the technical support team of Ca’Foscari. Ultimately, it is hoped that both the data and the connections which have been entered will be of use to all scholars working in the field of medieval monastic studies; social, political and cultural history; and the historical anthropology of family, memory, power and gender.

The second part of the workshop is made up of papers given by specialists of each one of the five monasteries studied during the project, two from the Lombard tradition (S. Salvatore/Sta Giulia of Brescia, S. Sofia in Benevento), two from the Byzantine tradition (S. Zaccaria in Venice, Sant’Andrea Maggiore in Ravenna), and one in Rome (SS Ciriaco e Nicola in Via Lata). The purpose is to approach the history of each monastery over the period 700-1100 by addressing various issues, and by assessing the similarities and the differences between the way in which these monasteries, among the most powerful and rich female ones in Italy, responded to similar challenges and interests. There will be one paper each for four of the five monasteries, and three on S. Salvatore/S. Giulia, which has by far the largest corpus of evidence, and survival in archaeological and artistic terms. The papers will deal with the sources, the nuns and their families, the wealth and status of the monasteries, their art and archaeology, and their role in the development of family and dynastic memory, foundation myths, relics and saints’ cults.

The workshop is open to all, staff and graduate students, of both Ca’Foscari and other universities.