[AAC] The Other Part of the Town. Poor and Marginal Population Groups in Medieval Cities – Aix-la-Chapelle – 4-5 septembre 2025 – DL 15 mars
Call for papers for a conference on urban poverty and marginalization in the Middle Ages to be held at RWTH Aachen, 4-5 September 2025, organised by the Junior Research Group “The Laboring Poor and their Networks in the Middle Ages”. Submission deadline: 15th of March 2025
The Other Part of the Town. Poor and Marginal Population Groups in Medieval Cities
With the urbanization in the 11th and 12th centuries, a new, highly differentiated urban society emerged. For a long time, urban history focused on the upper and middle social classes, such as merchants and craftsmen. Due to the challenging source material, the poorer inhabitants of medieval towns received little attention in medieval studies for a long time. When they did, it was mostly in the context of social policies. Socio-historical studies centered on the organization of urban welfare, charity or disciplining mechanisms concerning foreign and deviant people. This is due to the fact that until the early modern period, normative, administrative and private sources were predominantly produced from the socio-economically leading, literate population groups in the cities. This also means that the male perspective on socially and economically disadvantaged people was predominantly analysed.
In recent years, however, German and international research has shown that on the grounds of diverse source material, the perspective of poor and marginalised people as well as their reality of life and possibilities for action can be examined. To further explore the complexity of the living and working conditions of the lower social groups, more studies are necessary.
The workshop aims to deepen the research on these groups, which were marginalized by their contemporaries and partially by modern historical scholarship, and to discuss the possibilities and limitations of investigating medieval poverty and marginalization. Thus, the focus will be on the living and working conditions of unskilled labourers such as male and female servants, members of dishonourable professions, travelling people, as well as those reliant on external support, such as beggars, widows, and orphans. The further stratification and differentiation of this medieval population group, which is often perceived as a unit but was effectively heterogeneous, will be analysed. This raises a range of questions and thematic complexes, which, although not exclusively, could address the following topics:
– Lived realities and scope of action for the lower social groups
– Negotiation processes within social groups and in interaction with local authorities
– Development and access to own networks, and possibilities of network analysis
– Conflict potential and hierarchies within and outside the social group
– Gender-specific studies
– Opportunities for social mobility and decline, as well as poverty at different life stages
– Foreigners in the city, as well as regional and supra-regional mobility
In dealing with these questions, the workshop intends to specify our understanding of the socially and legally disadvantaged population groups of medieval towns, their composition and organisation in all its heterogeneity.
Sessions are planned around specific questions, each featuring three 10- to 15-minute presentations, followed by group discussions. Applications, including an abstract (max. 500 words) and a short CV, should be submitted to Matthias Wesseling (wesseling[at]histinst.rwth-aachen.de) by the 15th of March 2025. We also plan on publishing an edited collection. Upon consultation, speakers will have their travel costs to Aachen reimbursed and will be provided with accommodation. Attendance online is also possible including speakers and non-speakers (hybrid format).
Kontakt
Matthias Wesseling
wesseling[at]histinst.rwth-aachen.de
OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
Simon Rozanès (27 janvier 2025). [AAC] The Other Part of the Town. Poor and Marginal Population Groups in Medieval Cities – Aix-la-Chapelle – 4-5 septembre 2025 – DL 15 mars. Doc-Ciham. Consulté le 19 avril 2025 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/13686
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