medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture It would be difficult to exaggerate the centrality of the Psalms within medieval monastic life and thought. As the wellspring of the liturgy and the most intensively studied book of the Bible, the Psalter's language powerfully shaped monastic understandings of salvific history, prayer and penance, and mankind's relationship to God. While a great deal of work has been done on the place of the Psalms in pre-modern Christianity, much of this has focused on a relatively small number of subjects and texts (e.g., richly illuminated 'presentation' Psalters), and on Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. The role of the Psalms in shaping monastic ideals during the later Middle Ages remains a rich area for scholarly inquiry. Possible topics for papers include, but are not limited to: monastic exegesis of the Psalter or individual Psalms; the psalmody of particular orders or religious communities; the reception of patristic commentaries in later medieval monasteries; the language of the Psalms (or invocations of a particular Psalm or verse) in monastic sermons, letters, and/or works of hagiography; iconographic traditions related to the Psalter or to particular Psalms; and the recitation of the Psalter as a meditative, ascetic, or penitential practice. Interdisciplinary approaches that engage with some combination of history, literature, liturgy and musicology, manuscript studies and art history are especially welcome. Submission Details: Submit one-page abstracts and contact information to Katherine Smith at [log in to unmask] no later than September 15, 2009. ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html