Household and Court Society

The international conference is organized by the Centre for Research on Courts and Residences in the Middle Ages, Department of Medieval History, Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, in cooperation with the Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Vienna; the Research Team for the Study of Courts and Elites of Power, Institute of History, PAS; the Institute of History of the Slovak Academy of Sciences; Institute of History of the Faculty of Philosophy and Science, Silesian University in Opava, and the Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Archaeology, University of Hradec Králové. The conference will take place from 29th to 30th November 2023 at the Academic Conference Centre, Husova 4a, Prague 1.

Programme

This international conference will focus on research into the household, which has been mainly studied as the core of the monarch's court, with an emphasis on identifying individuals who were close to the monarch/sovereign on a daily basis. At the same time, the household has been defined by historians as a subsystem of the court. In conjunction with these conclusions, the challenge remains to understand the household in an interdisciplinary context so as to create space for comparing the results of historical scholarship, and particularly archaeological findings. In archaeology, we find the theme of the household immanently present in the investigations of human dwellings and activities. At the same time, the theme offers comparisons with several other disciplines and fields as the household not only formed a foundational space for its members, individuals, and families, but also provided a space for a range of activities and skills that primarily covered basic human needs. On the other hand, it shaped the future of the household's members, especially in terms of social or gender roles. Moreover, the sovereign's household included both the noble and the low-born, and various personal-social ties were formed not only between family members, but also between tutors, nannies, etc. Written sources from various genres were produced for the functioning of households, as well as everyday objects that were used for practical utility, comfort, or entertainment. The theme of the household in the directions of research not only clearly permeates the courtly environment, but also offers intersections with research on all social strata of society, both in the Middle Ages and in the modern period. Based on this concept and its interdisciplinary nature, the international conference will focus on four main topics:

•    The court and household as the intersection of social strata
•    Interdisciplinary research and possibilities for sources on the topic of the court household               (written, material, pictorial)
•    Archaeological research in relation to household research (especially spatial contexts and               objects)
•    Research into objects and items of everyday use in households

Presentation time limit: 25 min.
Conference languages: English and German
Venue: Conference Hall of the Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prosecká 809/76, Prague 9 and hybrid meeting format Zoom

Publication of the conference is planned.