Following on the success of the first Medieval Hunting Meeting, organised by the Institute for Medieval Studies at NOVA University (IEM) and the Network for the Environment in Medieval Usages and Society (NEMUS) in 2024, the call for papers is out for the second edition. Under the moniker ‘Setting up the Chase: Where and When?’, we seek to explore time and place in medieval hunting practices.

Argument

Following on the success of the first Medieval Hunting Meeting, organised by the Institute for Medieval Studies at NOVA University (IEM) and the Network for the Environment in Medieval Usages and Society (NEMUS) in 2024, the call for papers is out for the second edition.

Under the moniker ‘Setting up the Chase: Where and When?’, we seek to explore time and place in medieval hunting practices. Throughout the middle ages, many kinds of hunting grounds were used, and these were characterised by the surrounding nature, including endemic fauna and flora. At the same time, practices of hunting were always cyclical, as they depended on the natural rhythm of seasons and the weather. Simultaneously, they were influenced by man-induced conditions and could take place in various ways, in times of peace but also in times of war and on festive occasions with an international dimension, such as royal matrimonies. However, hunting was still carried out on the most ordinary of days. 

The interactive dynamics of time and space thus provides our motto for thinking about medieval hunting. We accept contributions from archaeology, biology, history, literature, geography, art history and any other areas that allow for fresh, interdisciplinary debate. Topics are unrestricted, but the following are suggested: 

• Hunting parks (location and evolution in time)
• Access to game and hunting grounds
• Seasonality of hunting practices
• Anthropic rhythms: hunting in peace, war and times of need
• Physical and environmental conditions 
• Influence of specific fauna and flora on local hunting practices
• Recreational and subsistence hunting spaces
• Hunting in rivers and the ocean 

Submission guidelines

Send your proposal in english, containing a 400-word abstract and short CV (up to 150 words), to medhunting@fcsh.unl.pt

by 15th may of 2025.

We look forward to your proposals!

Organising Committee

• Afonso Soares de Sousa (IEM NOVA/FCSH; FLUC) 
• Diana Martins (IEM NOVA/FCSH) 
• Tiago Viúla de Faria (IEM NOVA/FCSH) 

Scientific Committee

• Fabrice Guizard (Institut Sociétés & Humanités, Université Polytechnique Hauts-de-France)
• Isabel Drumond Braga (Universidade de Lisboa)
• José Manuel Fradejas Rueda (Universidad de Valladolid)
• Leontina Domingos Ventura (Universidade de Coimbra)
• Maria Helena da Cruz Coelho (Universidade de Coimbra)
• Paulo Catarino Lopes (IEM NOVA/FCSH)
• Rémy Cordonnier (Institut de Recherches Historiques du Septentrion, Lille III - CNRS)
• Rita Costa Gomes (Towson University)
• Rolando Volzone (DINÂMIA'CET-Iscte; ISCTE-IUL)
• Saul António Gomes (Universidade de Coimbra)