Society for Court Studies, org. by the European Branch Committee and the Department of History at the University of Helsinki (Web)

Time: 01.-03.09.2022
Venue: University of Helsinki and Turku Castle
Registration by: 15.08.2022

Recent years have seen increased attention paid to the individual bodies that made up premodern royal and princely courts, and how the courtly environment shaped the corporal experiences of everyone involved, from the ruler down to the servants. This interdisciplinary conference will explore the physicality of the court in four key contexts from across the lifecycle: bodies being born and giving birth; bodies as sexual actors or objects; bodies in courtly lifestyles; and dead and dying bodies. These common experiences were not one-size-fits-all, but took on particular political, social, and cultural consequence in the charged atmosphere of the court (which they in turn helped define).

Programme (Web)

Keynote speakers

• Helen Watanabe-O’Kelly (Oxford) | Svante Norrhem (Lund) | Anu Lahtinen (Helsinki)

Panels with a gender-history-focus e.g.:

• Representing female bodies | Pregnancy on display | Giving birth (or not) | Gendering high fashion

Early bird registration closes 15 July, and normal registration closes 15 August. Source: HSozuKult