CfP: The Politics of Bodies at the Early Modern Court (DHI Paris)
The Politics of Bodies at the Early Modern Court
Organizers: Regine Maritz (Cambridge University, DHI/Paris), Eva Seemann (Unversität Zürich), Tom Tölle (Princeton University)
As
a space of elite sociability and cultural representation the early
modern court shaped and produced bodies that were as specific to their
environment as they were political. Life at court was constructed around
a vast variety of exercises and bodily activities, starting with meals
and other forms of everyday sociability, followed by riding, hunting,
games, dancing and a number of festivities in the annual court calendar.
Whereas the body of the prince was at the centre of most of these
practices, the ruler can also be seen to be standing on a continuum with
noble peers and other members of the court. Everywhere at court,
differences in status were produced, represented and mediated not only
by clothing and other status-related attributes, but also by means of
posture, beauty, health and physical appearance. Such bodily aspects
contributed to a new figure, the courtier, that increasingly gained
currency in early modern concepts of masculinity. At the same time, body
images such as that of the Landesmutter became more central to
political discourse. Well into the 18th century, preceptors,
confessors, doctors, barbers, apothecaries and valets were concerned
with the beautiful, healthy and sick bodies of the princely family, but
they also cared for some of the court staff.
How can we
write the history of the court as a history of the body? What implicit
and explicit corporeal knowledge was specific to the early modern court?
And in what ways did bodily practices at court differ from those
elsewhere?
Building on recent innovative contributions to a
renewed court history that point to the entanglement of politics and
cultural practices, the workshop seeks to shed new light on bodies and
bodily practices at the intersection of politics, medicine and gender.
We understand the workshop to be a forum for young researchers working
in the fields of court history, political history and the history of the
body. Participants are invited to discuss one or more of the following
aspects.
I. (Extra)ordinary Bodies: What was peculiar about the
healthy, beautiful, or the ideal body of a courtier? How did the
speaking about the ideal body affect and shape corporeal norms and
requirements? If standards with regard to the courtier exist, how can
their relation to the body of the prince be described? How did norms and
practices change over time? And how were people with unusual bodies
such as dwarfs, giants or hirsutes integrated in court society?
II.
Gendered Bodies: How were gendered bodies shaped and produced in court
life? What bodily practices were required from both men and women at
court, and which, if any, gendering aspects did they have? Does the
monarch or prince always have to perform his masculinity more
determinedly than other courtiers? To what extent can prince or princess
allow themselves occasions of gender non-conformity? Finally, in what
ways do constructions of gender and power intersect in and on the
courtly body?
III. Frail Bodies: What effects did life at court
have on the wellbeing of women and men and what body practices were seen
to promote or affect the health of court members? Could courts make
people sick, or, could proximity to the monarch and noble sociability
restore health? And when and how did court critique become more or less
medicalized? What discourses about healing and medicinal practices were
available at court? What roles did confessors, healers, physicians,
surgeons, midwives and apothecaries take on?
The workshop will be taking place at the DHI Paris on the 29th and 30th of May 2017.
Contact Info:
To apply please send an abstract of your presentation (20 min) of no more than 300 words to bodiesatcourt@gmail.com
by the end of January 2017. Please include a short CV as well as
information about the language you would like to present in
(French/English).
Organizers: Regine Maritz (Cambridge University, DHI/Paris), Eva Seemann (Unversität Zürich), Tom Tölle (Princeton University)
Contact Email: bodiesatcourt@gmail.com