João Luís Fontes

Assistant Professor in Medieval History at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of the New University of Lisbon, where he made his PhD with a dissertation entitled “From “Poor Life” to the Religious Congregation of Serra de Ossa. Genesis and institutionalisation of an eremitic experience (1366-1510)”. Researcher of the Institute of Medieval Studies of the same Faculty and of the Centre for Religious History Studies of the Catholic University of Portugal.  

Between 2013 and 2019, he was a post-doctoral fellow by the Foundation for Science and Technology, with the project “The desert in the city: women’s religious experiences in Portugal in the late Middle Ages (1350-1525)”. Researcher in the projects “Franciscan Landscapes: the Observance between Italy, Portugal and Spain (F-ATLAS), financed by the JPI Cultural Heritage – European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement; “Monastic Landscapes. Representations and virtualisations of Medieval spiritual and material realities in the Western Mediterranean (6th-16th centuries)”, directed by Marta Sancho Planas and Núria Jornet Benito (since January 2019); “Castilla y Portugal en la Baja Edad Media: contactos sociales, cultuales y espirituales entre dos monarquias rivals (s. XIII-XV) (LUSO)”, directed by César Olivera Serrano (IH-CSIC) and Pablo Martín Prieto (UCM). 

His current research interests are Hermitism, Lay Spirituality, Hagiographic Literature, Courtly and Noble Culture and Piety, Social Elites, Geography and Heritage of Religious Institutions, Rituals and Liturgical Worship, History of Spirituality, History of Women. 

E-mail
joaolfontes@hotmail.com