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Call for Posters – International Conference “Epigraphy and Latinity in the Middle Ages”

The international conference “Epigraphy and Latinity in the Middle Ages,” which will take place at CESCM in Poitiers from May 18 to 22, 2026, offers an opportunity for PhD students or post-doctoral researchers to present their research related to the themes of the event (see the conference description below).

Posters will be displayed throughout the conference and will also be presented orally in five-minute sessions. Thus, they will constitute an interactive means of presenting the key aspect of ongoing research. The posters can be written and presented in either French or English.

To submit your poster, please send a title and an abstract (400 words), and your CV to the following email address: maison.epigraphie@univ-poitiers.fr  by December 15, 2025.

Proposals will be reviewed by the scientific committee, and responses will be given in early 2026. Selected candidates will be required to submit the digital PDF version of their poster by April 15, 2026, at the latest.

The posters will be printed by the organizers of the conference, and travel and accommodation expenses will also be covered by the conference.

Appel_à_poster_FR-EN_colloque_épigraphie

Conference Description:

Concluding the ERC GRAPH-EAST and IUF CARMECA research projects, the international conference ‘Epigraphy and Latinity in the Middle Ages’, organised by the CESCM with the support of Equipex+ Biblissima+, aims to do more than just provide a historiographical review of medieval epigraphy (covering theoretical reflections, disciplinary foundations and developments, and recent applications). This conference will explore medieval inscriptions within the broader context of Latin culture and its geographical and cultural margins through thematic summaries and case studies. The goal is to assess the significance of written expression in shaping identities.

Latinitas,’ both a historical concept and historiographical notion, is particularly well-suited for this exploration. Beyond its original rhetorical use, the concept of Latinitas, in its broadest sense, allows for an examination of very different epigraphic fields. The Latin alphabet brings up the question of writing itself. The Latin language, meanwhile, addresses not only linguistic issues but also literary and stylistic ones.

From a cultural, social, or geographical perspective, Latinitas can refer to those in the West or East who, through a multilingual Christianity, used Latin as their liturgical language and were subject to the primacy of the Roman Church. In the East, Latinitas also defined a collective ‘identity’ – that of the ‘Latins’ – which could even encompass a particular habitus (manners, customs, clothing, etc.). Finally, discussing medieval Latinitas requires situating it in time, between the Romanitas of classical or late Antiquity and the ‘neo-Latinitas’ of the Renaissance and the humanists.

The Poitiers conference seeks to explore how inscriptions contributed to the formation, development, understanding, and presentation of the concept of ‘Latinitas’ across diverse contexts. It will provide an opportunity to analyze the varied manifestations of medieval Latinitas through epigraphic media and their creators, promoting a ‘connected’ historical perspective and a dynamic approach to interactions with other epigraphic cultures, spanning the Mediterranean and further north. This allows for comparison of ‘Latinitas’ with other group identities, whose nuances are only partially captured by neologisms like ‘Francité,’ ‘Grecité,’ or ‘Arabité.’

Epigraphic documentation thus offers a unique and important lens for re-evaluating medieval Latinitas. Building on studies initiated in the 1990s concerning social writing practices and literacy, contemporary research in medieval epigraphy now views the inscribed object as a true ‘text in context.’ Its spatial, visual, and material dimensions—even its iconic and symbolic aspects—can be remarkably intricate. This broader perspective, which can be termed as ‘holistic’ or ‘ecological’, enables us to understand inscriptions by examining their text, graphic and material forms, the circumstances in which they were created, and reception within specific contexts. It also provides an opportunity to break down traditional disciplinary barriers, allowing for a broad definition of epigraphy that encompasses inscriptions on seals, coins, and even graffiti, which often resembles cursive handwriting.

To foster lively exchange and discussion, the conference is structured around five key themes:

1. Writing. In epigraphy, writing is undeniably the most instantly recognizable visual element, making it the most effective means of expressing and identifying Latin culture. We will consider: How has epigraphic writing, through its forms, visuality, and iconicity, shaped the graphic landscape of the West? What connection do the creators of inscriptions—patrons, editors, artists, and craftsmen—have with Latin culture? Does the choice of materials and techniques influence the production and perception of Latin letters? From this viewpoint, how can we interpret ‘images of writing’ (e.g., pseudo-Latin writing, more or less skilled imitations of foreign scripts) and graphic ‘otherness’?

2. Questions of Style. While epigraphic language frequently appears highly standardised, we can also investigate the role of inscriptions in shaping a particular type of Latin culture. Could the long-term circulation and transmission of common linguistic features (e.g., formulas) have contributed to the formation of specific textual networks in both the West and the East? Might so-called epigraphic poetry—a vast and multifaceted domain, previously overlooked by historians yet ubiquitous in both manuscripts and material inscriptions—have played a similar role?

3. Latin and Vernacular Languages. Inscriptions also illuminate the relationships between languages within societies or on a broader scale. This includes the various registers and layers of Latin from late Antiquity through the Middle Ages, followed by the emergence of vernacular writing during the Middle Ages, and ultimately, a renewed interest in Latin culture during the Renaissance. These dynamic, non-dichotomous relationships will be central to our discussion, approached from linguistic, sociolinguistic, and socio-semiotic perspectives. We will pay particular attention to epigraphic texts in medieval French, encompassing their diverse dialectal forms from Ireland to Cyprus and the Latin states of the Holy Land.

4. Latinity in contact. Whether in the East or the West, cosmopolitan and multicultural societies present a complex and intertwined epigraphic landscape in which the concept of Latinity can serve either as a catalyst or a lens of revelation. This invites us to explore forms of permeability, cross-fertilisation, and even hybridity evident in both the content and presentation of epigraphic messages—manifested through choices in letterforms, visual composition, graphic aesthetics, or specific techniques employed. While not excluding northern traditions such as runes or Ogham script, the Mediterranean context will be prioritized, given its rich opportunities for comparative analysis between Latin and other scripts and languages, including Greek, Arabic, Syriac, Armenian, Georgian, Hebrew, Cyrillic, and more. Particular emphasis will be placed on instances of bilingualism or digraphism within individual inscriptions or sites, enabling an examination of diverse issues: similarity or difference in textual relationships—whether translation or adaptation—between different examples; the bilingual cultural backgrounds of patrons, artisans, or intended audiences; and, more broadly, the significant identity dynamics reflected in these epigraphic choices.

5. Latinity as seen by others. The final segment of the conference will focus on how Latin inscriptions have been perceived by other cultures from the Middle Ages to the present day, including within the frameworks of modern scholarship and Orientalist perspectives. How are inscriptions rendered in Latin characters viewed from an external standpoint? Can we identify instances of ‘Latinisation,’ that is, the appropriation of identity through the incorporation of monumental Latin inscriptions on architecture, or, conversely, negative responses manifesting as erasure or destruction? What socio-cultural, ideological, and political meanings are attached to these languages and scripts when displayed?

Speakers:  

  • BONNIN Rémi (CESCM – CNRS)
  • CALVELLI Lorenzo (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia)
  • DE RUBEIS Flavia (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia)
  • DEBIAIS Vincent (EHESS – CNRS)
  • DUSSART Clément (CESCM – CNRS)
  • FAVREAU Robert (CESCM)
  • FORSYTH Katherine (University of Glasgow)
  • FORTIN Léontine (CESCM – CNRS)
  • GREGOR Thierry (CESCM)
  • GREVIN Benoît (EHESS – CNRS)
  • HARUTUNYAN Khachik (Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts  Matenadaran)
  • HERBERT DE LA PORTBARRE-VIARD Gaëlle (Aix-Marseille Université)
  • IMBERT Frédéric (Aix-Marseille Université)
  • INGRAND-VARENNE Estelle (CESCM – CNRS)
  • LAGARON Anna (IFAO Le Caire)
  • LAMBERT Chiara  (Università degli studi di Salerno)
  • MAVROMATIDIS Savvas (University of Cyprus)
  • MEYER-FERNANDEZ Geoffrey (Aix-Marseille Université)
  • MIKHEEV Savva (Universität Heidelberg)
  • MOCELLA Paola (Università di Siena)
  • PALUMBO Alessandro (University of Oslo)
  • PARANI Maria (University of Cyprus)
  • PLOTON François (École nationale des chartres)
  • RHOBY Andreas (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften)
  • ROUQUETTE Enimie (Sorbonne Université)
  • SAGLAM Sercan (Koç University)
  • SMITH Marc (École nationale des chartres)
  • STELLA Francesco (Università di Siena)
  • STREZELECKI Damien (CESCM – CNRS)
  • TEDESCHI Carlo (Università degli Studi “G. d’Annunzio” Chieti Pescara)
  • TOTH Ida (University of Oxford)
  • TREFFORT Cécile (CESCM – Université de Poitiers)
  • VERBAAL Wim (Universiteit Gent)
  • VILLANO Maria (CESCM – CNRS)
  • ZAJIC Andreas (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften)    

The Columns of the Ciborium of the Basilica of San Marco in Venice, by Maria Villano

Between iconography and epigraphy, East and West… Maria Aimé Villano just published the book Les colonnes du ciborium de San Marco à Venise (Turnhout, Brepols, 2025), 496 p. It is based on her doctoral dissertation in Italian “Le colonne del ciborio della Basilica di San Marco a Venezia”, submitted in 2020 to the University of Venice, in cooperation with the University of Poitiers in France (supervised by prof. Stefano Riccioni, prof. Fabio Coden and Vincent Debiais).

To see the table of contentsBrepols

Entirely covered with 92 sculpted stories about the infancy of the Virgin Mary and the life of Christ – displayed over 36 strips and 324 nichettes –, the columns have been the object of a long-standing scholar controversy regarding their dating, which has been placed both as early as the 6th century, due to iconography and style, and as late as the 13th, due to the palaeographical features of the inscriptions carved as tituli above the scenes. Although what seems more plausible is that the columns were sculpted in Late Antiquity and taken to Venice – where the Latin inscriptions were carved – as part of the booty of the sack of Constantinople in 1204, the complex entanglements of this whole operation were yet to be explored. Deeply connected to the problem of dating are in fact the series of relationships between the parts of the work (image-text), between the columns and the artistic context, namely the Late Antique art and the Venetian art (influences and exchanges), and between the columns and the architectural frame of the St. Mark’s Basilica. Not secondary is the problem of the symbolic implications linked to the sack of Constantinople and the practices of reutilizations of the booty in the St. Mark’s Basilica, the church that best embodies the political aspirations of the Venetian Republic. In order to analyse this complex net of relationships I was compelled to carry out interdisciplinary strategies, whose core were, however, the images. It was necessary to master the vast literature regarding the columns of the St. Mark’s Basilica, from their first mention in 1581 until today. Being conscious of the lack of neutrality of the Historian due to their position in time and space, the review of the literature was accompanied by a consistent effort of understanding the influences and the currents of thought that crossed our discipline throughout history and how these were reflected in the analysis of the columns. The methodology of analysis employed for the scenes (style, composition, content) was also applied to the inscriptions, in an attempt of breaking the boundaries between text and image. Also the form of letters convey a message, namely the message of who thought the four columns of the ciborium were worthy of occupying the most prestigious area of St. Mark’s Basilica. The elegant and well-ordered capitals, the infrequent use of abbreviations and ligatures tell of a careful and thoughtful execution, probably during the 12th century. They also bear witness of the issues at labelling the sculpted parts since not always do the inscriptions match the scenes they intend to explain. This is especially truth for those scenes often depicted in Late Antiquity or in Eastern art which were not in use during Middle Ages in Western Europe. Finally, the architectonical framing made of small shelled niches, small columns and capitals could be treated as an image bearing significance. The use of the arches, the shell and the columns recall the composition of Late Antique sarcophagi, while the small capitals, which do not belong to any classical order and depict a form resembling a lily, might be connected to the description of Solomon’s Temple. The study of a complex work of art, with an intricate history placed in a stratified context, such as the columns of the ciborium of St. Mark’s Basilica required the application of various strategies aiming to evoke – as much as possible – the almost infinite messages they bear. Such an approximation was only possible through the analysis of every single part and their re-composition in a coherent net of reciprocal relationships.

Summer School in Medieval Epigraphy

In a few days, the Summer School in Medieval Epigraphy will start at the CESCM of Poitiers (8-12 July 2024). The staff and the participants had already an online meeting to prepare this intensive week. The participants are now finishing their poster explaining their research.

The aims of the course are to provide theoretical and practical training inepigraphy so that medieval inscriptions and graffiti can be identified, read, used, and preserved, to advance the knowledge of Medieval Latin inscriptional culture and its contributions to the overall heritage of Europe and the Mediterranean world, and to create a network of young researchers in medieval epigraphy.

The programme was designed in different sequences, following the same pattern each day:

Staff

  • DEBIAIS Vincent (CNRS-EHESS)
  • DUSSART Clément (CNRS-CESCM, GRAPH-EAST)
  • EVINA Marie (CNRS-CESCM, GRAPH-EAST)
  • GREGOR Thierry  (University of Poitiers/CESCM)
  • INGRAND-VARENNE Estelle (CNRS-CESCM, GRAPH-EAST)
  • MAVROMATIDIS Savvas (University of Cyprus)
  • TEDESCHI Carlo (University of Chieti-Pascara, ERC Graff-IT)
  • TREFFORT Cécile (University of Poitiers/CESCM)
  • VILLANO Maria (CNRS-CESCM, GRAPH-EAST)

Participants

  • AZZI Amal 
  • BASTERO Marina 
  • BOURGUIGNON Claire
  • DI PIERRO Nadia Giulia
  • KOUKOUNIS Ioanna
  • LUCI Béatrice
  • MARTINET Camille
  • MEYER-FERNANDEZ Geoffrey
  • MIKHALCHUK Anna
  • NIEDERDÖCKL Elisabeth
  • PRETEUX Délia
  • STRZELECKI Damien
  • STADNICHENKO Yaroslav
  • VAKONDIOU Maria
  • YITZHAKY Maya Lutz

Download the programme. Poster-Summer-School_240701-DP

L’Elucidatio élucidée, une enquête typographique dans les archives du musée Plantin-Moretus

Les yeux rebondissent du pavé glissant et détrempé à l’écran du téléphone indiquant le chemin à emprunter dans le dédale de ruelles organiques. Il faut suivre les embranchements d’une topographie lointaine, tissu urbain depuis le VIIe siècle, lever haut le regard sur le prestige de la façade flamande, pignons à gradins sur patience de cariatide et empilement de fenêtres en ogives élancées sur la hauteur. Elle est étroite et haute, elle est inconnue. Grand berceau de l’humanisme, encore glorieuse de son rôle international au XVIe siècle que répercute joueur le diamant clinquant du coin de la rue en sortant de la gare. Elle cache des maisons de maîtres, peintres virtuoses, génies avenants des conquêtes muséales dont l’œuvre renverse le cou du touriste de passage. Il faut un peu repousser la ville pour trouver l’eau, escorter les siècles calfeutrés pour découvrir le ciel plus grand, sculpté par les portiques et les éoliennes, les chemins de halage en marge de mer, le grand port, embouchure sur le monde. 

Je suis arrivée à Anvers il est 9h27. Je marche vers le musée Plantin-Moretus. 

La salle de lecture est située sur le côté droit de l’entrée du musée sur Heilige Geeststraat qui s’éloigne de la place du vendredi en direction de l’Escaut. Accolée aux bâtisses d’origine acquises par Christophe Plantin en 1576, elle se situe dans un agrandissement récent, boisé, mécanique de cadres, d’arêtes larges pour former bais, façades, cloisons, étendre à l’échelle du bâti la métaphore de la casse de caractères. Au-dessus du pas de la porte, l’enseigne en métal sombre est suspendue discrète. On lit dans la matière extrudée ‘Laborare et constantia’

Les exemplaires de l’Historica, theologica et moralis Terræ Sanctæ elucidatio patientent, ouverts en leur centre sur des coussins recouverts de feutrine grise pour préserver la reliure. Les archives du musée conservent à ce jour trois exemplaires de l’Elucidatio, six livres, chaque édition admettant deux volumes, le premier comptant 1064 pages et le second 1140. Le livre est un ouvrage de valeur mais n’est pas rare et d’autres bibliothèques en Belgique, en France, à la Custodie de Jérusalem et ailleurs conservent des exemplaires. La bibliothèque Hendrick Conscience, bibliothèque patrimoniale et dépositaire de la ville d’Anvers, possède par exemple une édition avec une reliure précieuse et une dorure à chaud, don de l’imprimerie à la ville d’Anvers. 

Continue reading “L’Elucidatio élucidée, une enquête typographique dans les archives du musée Plantin-Moretus”

Call for application: Summer School in Medieval Epigraphy 2024

The Summer School in Medieval Epigraphy organized by the ERC GRAPH-EAST is pleased to offer a training programme to doctoral and early-career scholars who wish to gain experience using epigraphic materials for research. The aims of the course are to provide theoretical and practical training in epigraphy so that medieval inscriptions and graffiti can be identified, read, used, and preserved, to advance the knowledge of Medieval Latin inscriptional culture and its contributions to the overall heritage of Europe and the Mediterranean world, and to create a network of young researchers in medieval epigraphy.

It will be held at the Centre d’études supérieures de civilisation medieval in Poitiers (France) from Monday, July 8 to Friday, July 12 2024. The course language will be English.

During the week-long gathering, sessions will deal with the functions and techniques, writings and languages – particularly in cosmopolitan and multicultural contexts – and the afterlives of the inscribed artefacts. They will also focus on relevant methods, such as protocols for field observation, the analysis of tool marks and stone cutting, photographic survey and photogrammetry, and digital editions, all with practical exercises in the monuments and museums of Poitiers.

Each participant will also prepare a poster to present their research, explaining their main goals and how they may use inscribed artefacts.

The Summer School will cover candidates’ travel expenses, accommodation and some meals. To apply, candidates must submit the following documents (in English or in French) by January 15, 2024 to this email address: estelle.ingrand.varenne@univ-poitiers.fr  

  • A cover letter describing their ongoing research and the links with epigraphy,
  • A one-page CV,
  • A presentation of the project for the poster (500 words max.).

The application will be reviewed by the Scientific Committee and candidates will be notified of the results by March 1st, 2024.

CFA_Summer_School_Epigraphy_Medieval_2024

Organizers:

  • Clément Dussart
  • Estelle Ingrand-Varenne
  • Savvas Mavromatidis
  • Maria Villano

Speakers:

  • Vincent Debiais (CNRS/EHESS)
  • Carlo Tedeschi (University of Chieti/ERC Graff-IT)
  • Cécile Treffort (University of Poitiers/CESCM)
  • ERC GRAPH-EAST Team