Cities were conspicuous in the Medieval landscape not only for being great concentrations of humanity, but also for their built-up areas.  Buildings served various functions: military, religious, political-administrative, economic, and residential.  Further, not all cities had the same buildings whilst, from neighbourhood to neighbourhood and from street to street, building characteristics could differ according to an assortment of factors including the financial and material resources available, the type of labour-force employed in the building, the technical know-how applied, the length of the construction period, and the interests of those commissioning the work. 

In moments of convulsion such as wars and rebellions, urban buildings could be destroyed requiring works of rebuilding and/or renovation that were not always easily affordable. In these present times of reconstruction, the Institute of Medieval Studies of NOVA-FCSH and the Municipality of Castelo de Vide have come together to organize the VII International Conference of the Middle Ages which will be held from 6th to 8th October 2022 under the theme: Construction and Reconstruction in Medieval Urban Europe. 

A principal focus will be on Christian and Islamic Medieval Europe, embracing varied angles of approach.  Researchers from any scientific discipline (including, History, Archaeology, Art History, Literature, Law, etc) with an interest in the foregoing, are invited to submit proposals for panels and/or individual papers within the following thematic groupings: 

  1. Current construction 
  1. Prestigious housing 
  1. Military buildings 
  1. Religious buildings 
  1. Buildings serving urban utilities and facilities/infrastructure 
  1. Financing construction and reconstruction 
  1. Construction techniques 
  1. Supply of construction raw materials 
  1. Reuse of construction materials 
  1. Construction regulations 
  1. The faces of construction: salaried workers, masters and others 
  1. Destruction and Reconstruction in “crisis” periods 
  1. Archeology of Architecture 
  1. Construction and reconstruction in urban space: representations in literature and art 
  1. The construction and reconstruction of Castelo de Vide during the Middle Ages 

The Conference will comprise 4 plenary sessions featuring researchers invited by the organizing committee, along with separate thematic panels. Each panel will be made up of three paper presentations and will be 60 minutes long. Researchers wishing to participate are requested to submit proposals for whole panels and/or individual papers, the latter being arranged by the organizing committee into coherent panels. The Conference includes a full cultural program with guided tours, Conference Dinner, and a public Book Launch to present the published volume which brings together a selection of articles gathered from the VI International Conference of the Middle Ages and the Autumn School of October 2021. 

Conference languages: Portuguese, Spanish, French and English.