On January 15th at the Istituto Storico Italiano per il Medioevo, in Rome (Piazza dell’Orologio, 4) at 4pm, there is the official book launch of the recently published “Através do olhar do Outro. Reflexões acerca da sociedade medieval europeia (sécs. XII-XV) – À travers le regard de l’Autre Réflexions sur la société médiévale européenne (XIIe-XVe siècles) “(Through the Glance of the Other. Reflections on Medieval European society (12th-15th centuries), an edition by Instituto Politecnico de Tomar that counted on the support of the Institute of Medieval Studies, the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, NOVA University (IEM-NOVA FCSH).

The volume stems from the conference of the same name organised at the Convent of Christ in November 2016 by the Polytechnic Institute of Tomar, the IEM-NOVA FCSH, and the Centre of Fine Arts Research and Studies of the University of Lisbon (CIEBA, FBAUL).

The book explores the theme of the Other, understood as culturally structured on other bases, dominant or subjected, or simply close, neighbouring or different from oneself, belonging to a different religious, ethnic group or social category. The perception, reception and representation of the Other is analysed through concrete cases, sometimes atypical, expressed via literary texts, legal texts or works of art.

This is a collective and multidisciplinary volume, under the scientific curatorship of José Albuquerque Carreiras, Giulia Rossi Vairo, Kristjan Toomaspoeg, which brings together the contributions of ten specialists from Portugal, Spain, Italy, France and Estonia.

The book will be presented by H.E. Msgr Carlos de Azevedo, Apostolic Delegate of the Pontifical Council for Culture at the Vatican, Professor Luigi Russo, Professor of Medieval History at the Università Europea di Roma and Prof. Dr. Pierre Savy, Director of Medieval Studies at the Ecole française de Rome, and with the editors all in attendance.

You may consult the book index and its presentation here.