(Urbanization): Session at the European Association for Urban History Conference: Cities in Motion 2020
The purpose of the session is to study the urban innovation, social and economic consequences that the arrival of the Mendicant Orders involved in the European cities of the Middle Ages; the aim is to explore the aspects of the role of convents in the Medieval and Early Modern city, considered as a place of interchange between cultures - even artistic- and people, in an international perspective.
The purpose of the session is to study the urban, architectural, social and economic consequences that the arrival of the Mendicant Orders involved in the European cities of the Middle Ages. The development of the city, in fact, is profoundly influenced by the establishment of convents in the suburbs, where the new “borghi” develop. The “crown” of convents around the center of the city forms a “belt” of urban hub from which new neighborhoods develop, but also a place for the exchange of ideas and people. In fact, the friar moves from one city to another, importing ideas, styles of preaching, social issues. For this reason, the convent is an important place of passage. Moreover, the convent is an open space that functions as a place of study, but also as a place of welcome for the masses of the poor who come from their companions and for the pilgrims who use it as a stop on their journey.
The session proposes to explore all these aspects of the role of convents in the Medieval and Early Modern city, considered as a place of interchange between cultures - even artistic- and people, in a multidisciplinary and international perspective. They are invited to present proposals of different historical disciplines (topics on built environment, on artistic and architectural history, on religious, economic, social subjects connect to urban history) aimed at investigating the theme proposed in the session.
In particular, we believe it is useful to start a debate regarding some urban phenomena triggered by the convents of the mendicant orders and verify their actual consequences on the urban structure and architectural solutions adopted, starting from some specific cases. In this way, we aim to verify how a phenomenon on a European scale can interact with individual local cases, both in big cities and in small villages.
- Spokesperson: Silvia Beltramo, Politecnico di Torino
- Co-organizer(s): Catarina Almeida Marado, University of Coimbra | Gianmario Guidarelli, Università di Padova
- Keywords: Friars’ cities | Mendicant settlements | History of the medieval and modern cities
- Time period: Premodern period (covering more than one period)
- Topic(s): Architecture and urbanism | Heritage
- Study area: Europe