Medieval Conceptualizations of Europe from a continent to a cultural interpretation

On Tuesday, the 5th of March, LTAH is thrilled to welcome Prof. Klaus Oschema (Ruhr-Universität Bochum) as a featured guest speaker on the subject Europe in the Middle Ages – between continent and idea. Whereas our contemporary perception of Europe is heavily influenced by the modern political landscape, medieval concepts of Europe shed a different light on the subject. Contrary to the belief that the term Europa was not frequently used in the Middle Ages, it has been recently shown that this notion did indeed carry a broader meaning and has been connected to the idea of Christianity.

Prof. Oschema’s talk will not only focus on different interpretations of Europe in the Middle Ages, but also show how we can utilize those older concepts to improve our critical understanding of current European debates. 

Liber floridus, Map of Europe, 11th to 12th century. Source: WikiCommons

Klaus Oschema holds a professorship for medieval history at the Ruhr University Bochum. Following his dissertation at the Technical University Dresden and EPHE Paris, he took on a teaching post at the universities Bern and Heidelberg. In 2016/2017, he became a member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. His research focuses on late-medieval Burgundy and the knightly court culture of the late Middle Ages. Furthermore, he is interested in medieval concepts of the world in texts and cartography, as well as the expert role of medieval astrologists. Regarding the subject of medieval notions of Europe, he has published the monography Bilder von Europa im Mittelalter in 2013.

Register here. The event will be held in German, questions can also be answered in English.

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