Taking as its starting point commemorations of the 800th anniversary of the General Census ordered by King Afonso II of Portugal, this international conference aims to promote reflection on the importance and significance of this survey in the context of the medieval West and the processes of construction and political affirmation of the monarchies and the powers ruling the main territorial units.

The increasingly systematic publication of these surveys and the multiplication of studies that adopt them as their core or privileged source have led to a renewal of the issues surrounding their preparation, implementation processes, the actors involved, the recording and (re)use of the information collected. However, the approaches have also multiplied which, for other purposes, recognise the importance and richness of such testimonies as the documentary memory of a territory, of the powers that dominate it and the people who inhabit it.

Therefore, this departs from the broadest European context to study and question the Portuguese medieval censuses, both in terms of their close relationship with the political contexts surrounding their implementation and the testimonies and memories of the Portuguese kingdom in medieval times.

 

Location and Date: Lisbon, Academy of Sciences – National Archives of Torre do Tombo, 19-20 October 2020

Organisation: Institute of Medieval Studies (NOVA FCSH); History Centre of the University of Lisbon (CH-ULisbon)

Coordination: Amélia Aguiar Andrade (NOVA FCSH – IEM), José Augusto de Sottomayor-Pizarro (ACL; FLUP; CEPESE), Filipa Roldão (CH-ULisbon), João Luís Fontes (NOVA FCSH – IEM)

Support: Lisbon Academy of Sciences; National Archives of Torre do Tombo.

 

Registration:
General public: €20
Students: €10
IEM and CH-UL researchers: free, subject to registration
Registration until 9 October, subject to the number of places available.

You may access the registration form here.