‘Early Modern Catholics in the British Isles and Europe: Integration or Separation?’

1-3 July 2015, Ushaw College, Durham

Speakers include: Peter Marshall (Warwick), Susannah Monta (Notre Dame), Stefania Tutino (UCSB)

Call for Papers

The aim of this interdisciplinary conference is to explore the degree to which Catholics in the British Isles were integrated with or separated from institutions, people and movements in Europe. We would also encourage proposals that address the relationships between Catholics in Europe and those in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Were Catholics in the British Isles unique and isolated in their archipelagic experiences? How much were they influenced by wider European religious and intellectual movements? To what extent were British and Irish Catholics part of wider continental phenomena?  Building on recent work on Catholic exiles, this conference will position Catholics from the British Isles within wider European movements, such as, for example, the Counter-Reformation, Gallicanism, Jansenism or the Enlightenment. The relationships and networks considered are to be explored in the widest possible framework. The timeframe is being understood in the broadest sense, from c.1530 to 1800.

Papers might explore:

·         Engagement with early modern intellectual, literary, artistic, cultural, political, theological and devotional trends.

·         Institutional relationships, for instance between local church figures or authorities.

·         The role of British and Irish Catholic exiles in the development of European Counter-Reformation culture, and their role in transporting it to their homelands.

·         The reaction of British and Irish Catholics to European Protestant developments.

·         European interactions with Catholics from or in the British Isles.

We invite proposals for 20 minute communications on any related theme from any field. The organziers plan to publish a volume of essays drawn from the conference papers.

Please send proposals (c. 200 words) by email to James Kelly (james.kelly3@durham.ac.uk) by 16 January 2015 at the latest.