**CALL FOR PAPERS--Please Post**
Syncretism and its discontents: interfaith prayer and ritual in the Middle
Ages.
A series of panels for the International Medieval Congress
at the University of Leeds (England), 13-16 July 1998
While many scholars have studied the polemical conflicts between
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the Middle Ages, less attention has
been paid to syncretic ideas and practice between the three religions.
Evidence for these phenomena is scarcer than the evidence for conflict and
disputation, and it is often negative: the practices are known to us
because they are condemned. Many early Church fathers decried "Judaizers":
Christian who worshipped in synagogues and celebrated holidays (especially
Passover) with Jews. Several Andalusian fatwas of the eleventh and twelfth
centuries condemn Muslims who join in Christian celebrations of Christmas.
Pedro Pascual, thirteenth-century Bishop of Jaén, lambastes Christians who
fete the birth of their children according to Muslim traditions. There are
occasional positive sources as well: Burchard of Mount Zion, thirteenth
century pilgrim to the Holy Land, presents Islam as just another (and
apparently equally valid) eastern Christian sect. Palestinian and Egyptian
texts tell of Christians and Muslims worshipping together at holy places.
Submissions are invited for papers on this theme. Please send a
one-page abstract of your communication to John Tolan, before 1 September
1997, at the address below, or by email ([log in to unmask]).
Submissions (and communications) will be accepted in English, French,
Spanish, German, or Italian. Communications will be strictly limited to
twenty minutes. Some funds may be available from the International
Medieval Congress to help defray costs of students, of unemployed, and of
scholars from Eastern and Central Europe; all other participants will need
to make their own arrangements for funding.
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JOHN V. TOLAN, MAITRE DE CONFERENCES
DEPARTEMENT D'HISTOIRE
UNIVERSITE DE NANTES
B.P. 81227
44312 NANTES
FRANCE
TELEPHONE (33) 2 40 14 11 03---FAX (33) 2 40 14 10 05
email: [log in to unmask]
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