The Social Church In The Medieval City: Laity, Clergy And Community
La iglesia social en la ciudad medieval: laicos, clérigos y comunidad
Abstract
The 23rd edition focuses on the concept of the Social Church, a historiographical perspective that understands the medieval Church as a total social institution, articulated through networks of practices, norms and relationships that structured urban life. This approach highlights the interdependence between clerics and laypeople in the economic, administrative, judicial and ritual management of parishes, churches and communities. Studying the Church as a community network makes it possible to analyse both everyday cooperation —in building works, rents, festivities or moral regulation— and the production of legitimacy, reputation and local hierarchies
Announcement
Argument
The Social Church is a recent historiographical concept that redefines the medieval Church as a total social institution, that is, as the network of practices, norms and relationships that structured the daily life of European cities. Advances in historical sociology, microhistory and network analysis have shown that its role went far beyond doctrine, liturgy or pastoral care : it also regulated behaviour, organised communal life, administered resources, managed the local economy, shaped historical memory and produced public truth through rituals, certifications and mechanisms of moral control.
This approach highlights the relational dimension of the Church, understood as a dense network of ties between clerics and laypeople, patrons and communities, families and ecclesiastical agents. In practice, bishops, parish priests and abbots depended structurally on lay participation to sustain the daily functioning of parishes, churches and monasteries. The Church lacked the human and material resources to manage its property and places of worship on its own, and therefore delegated to laypeople the economic administration, supervision of building works, collection of rents and management of assets. This collaboration also extended to judicial and disciplinary matters, where witnesses, trustworthy men and mediators were essential for enforcing moral norms, resolving conflicts and legitimising decisions before the community.
The ritual and festive organisation of urban and rural life likewise rested in lay hands : confraternities, wardenships and neighbourhood groups financed altars, processions, patronal feasts and maintenance works, thereby shaping the rhythms and priorities of local religiosity. The Church thus functioned as a community network in which clerics and laypeople shared responsibilities, negotiated norms and articulated forms of religious sociability that structured collective life.
The concept of the Social Church also makes it possible to analyse how the institution contributed to reproducing inequalities of status, gender or access to power, while simultaneously generating legitimacy through the selection of authorised voices and the construction of local hierarchies. Ecclesiastical authority relied on reputation, faith and moral regulation, creating spaces of inclusion and exclusion within urban communities.
In contrast to approaches focused exclusively on hierarchy, ecclesiastical politics or pastoral activity, the Social Church integrates these spheres from the perspective of daily life and community interaction. It offers a particularly fertile framework for microhistory, prosopography, network analysis and studies on the circulation of information and the construction of local identities. This CFP invites scholars to explore the medieval Church as a complex, relational and dynamic social system, open to new methodologies and to comparative perspectives that may shed further light on its role in shaping medieval urban societies.
Thematic Axes of the CFP
1. Lay Participation in Ecclesiastical Administration
The involvement of laypeople in the economic and material management of dioceses, parishes and confraternities ; the organisation of worship ; the administration of alms and charity ; and the direction of hospitals and charitable institutions.
2. Inequality and Hierarchies in the Medieval Church
Access to the clergy ; status dynamics within the Church ; social mobility ; and processes of exclusion within ecclesiastical structures and their urban environments.
3. The Church Beyond the Pulpit : Social Functions and Community Networks
The Church as a vehicle of social mobility and an agent of social cohesion ; its role in community organisation, conflict mediation, the articulation of networks between clerics and laypeople, and participation in judicial and disciplinary processes.
4. Social Networks, Community Bonds and the Circulation of Information
Interactions among clerics, laypeople, families, confraternities and local elites ; networks of religious sociability ; mechanisms for transmitting news, rumours, certifications and historical memory.
5. Justice, Discipline and Moral Control
The role of the Church in regulating behaviour, resolving conflicts and producing public truth ; lay witnesses, guarantors and mediators ; reputation, trust and legitimacy.
6. Ecclesiastical Economy and Social Assistance
Rents, taxation, charity, welfare and forms of redistribution managed by ecclesiastical institutions.
7. The Church as a Source of Employment in the Medieval City
The Church as a generator of urban employment and an economic engine for artisans, scribes, builders and workers linked to religious institutions.
8. Daily Life, Rituality and Christian Sociability
Devotional practices, rituals, community memory and local identities articulated around ecclesiastical institutions and spaces.
9. Education, Literacy and the Production of Knowledge
Parish and monastic schools ; the training of clerics and laypeople ; the circulation of knowledge ; documentary writing ; and the construction of institutional memory.
10. Gender, Female Agency and Participation in the Social Church
The role of women as administrators, donors, patrons, managers of hospitals, mediators and witnesses in legal proceedings ; and as agents of cohesion within ecclesiastical and community dynamics.
Submission guidelines
The deadline for submitting free paper proposals is 15 September 2026. Participants must send their proposal including the following information : full name, email address, thematic axis, an abstract of no more than 250 words (including objectives, sources, methodology and contribution), and a short CV (250 words). Submission address : neim@unican.es
The Direction of the International Medieval Studies Meetings of Nájera adheres to the Helsinki Initiative (2019) on Multilingualism in Scholarly Communication. The scholarly languages of the Meetings are Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian and English.
The Meetings will be held in person. Important : the virtual presentation format will be reserved exclusively for participants residing outside the European Union who lack the means to attend in person.
Each presenter will have 20 minutes for their paper, and the PowerPoint presentation must be written in English.
Evaluation
The criteria for selecting proposals will be quality, originality, and in person participation. Papers approved by external reviewers will be published in a monographic volume.
Practical information
Registration And Attendance
Registration for attendees (except presenters) must be completed before 24 November, by sending full name, address and email to : neim@unican.es
In‑person attendance entitles participants to receive a certificate of attendance, which may be recognised as 1 ECTS credit (25 hours) depending on each university’s regulations.
Virtual attendance is reserved for participants from outside the European Union who lack the means to attend in person.
Meetings Secretariat
University of Cantabria, Department of Historical Sciences, Office 160, Av. de los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Cantabria, Spain
- Email : neim@unican.es
- More information : http://www.neim.unican.es
- Facebook : @najeramedieval
- Twitter : @NajeraNeim
- Instagram : @najeraencuentros
Organising committee and international scientific committee
Chairs
- Jesús Ángel Solórzano Telechea. Universidad de Cantabria
- Juan Francisco Jiménez Alcázar. Universidad de Murcia
- Miloš Živković. Belgrade Institute for Literature and Arts
Organising Committee
- Fernando Martín Pérez. Dr. Universidad de Cantabria
- Idoia Areizaga Llorente. Universidad de Cantabria
- Iñaki Bazán Díaz, Universidad de País Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
- Fernando Martín Pérez. Dr. Universidad de Cantabria
- Ángel Martínez Abascal. Universidad de Cantabria
- Paloma Romero Gómez. Universidad de Cantabria
International Scientific Committee
- Abdeldjabar Seddiki, University Centre of Nour El Bachir
- Amélia Aguiar Andrade. Universidade Nova de Lisboa
- María Asenjo González. Universidad Complutense de Madrid
- Iñaki Bazán Díaz. Universidad del País Vasco/ Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
- Michel Bochaca. Université de La Rochelle
- Roman Czaja. Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu / University Nicolaus Copernicus in Torun
- David Ditchburn. Trinity College Dublin
- Ariel Guiance. CONICET-Universidad de Córdoba de Argentina
- Jelle Haemers. UK Leuven
- Philippe Höhn. Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
- Ignacio Iñarrea Las Heras. Universidad de La Rioja.
- Christian Liddy. University of Durham
- Jorge Lirola Delgado – Universidad de Almería
- Gladys Lizabe. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo
- Óscar López Gómez. Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
- Mário Paulo Martins Viana. Universidade dos Açores
- Gisela Naegle. Dr. Universität Gießen
- Germán Navarro Espinach. Universidad de Zaragoza
- Marcelo Pereira Lima. Universidade Federal de Bahía
- Giuliano Pinto. Universitá degli studi di Firenze
- Sarah Rees Jones. University of York
- Ana María Rivera Medina. Universidad Nacional a Distancia UNED
- Teófilo F. Ruiz. University of California-Los Ángeles
- Vicente Salvatierra Cuenca. Universidad de Jaén
- Louis Sicking. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam/ Universiteit Leiden
- Urszula Sowina. Polska Akademia Nauk /Polish Academy of Sciences. Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology
- Mª Isabel del Val Valdivieso. Universidad de Valladolid
- Hermínia Vilar. Universidade de Evora
- Andrea Zorzi. Universitá degli studi di Firenze
Places
- Escuela de Patrimonio Histórico. Plaza de Santa María
Nájera, Kingdom of Spain (26300)
Event attendance modalities
Hybrid event (on site and online)
Attached files
Keywords
- Medieval, Church, laity,community, Ecclesiastical Economy, Social Assistance
Contact(s)
- Jesús Ángel Solórzano Telechea
courriel : neim [at] unican [dot] es
Reference Urls
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« The Social Church In The Medieval City: Laity, Clergy And Community », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, https://doi.org/10.58079/16ga6
Google Calendar
iCal