Session: #1148

Regular session

Monasteries from the Early Christian to the Early Modern period held a special place in the Christian world. They represented the realization of the greatest virtues, both for those who wanted to live a good Christian life and for those who wanted to secure a place for themselves in the afterlife. The popularity of monastic life in the period from the 4th to the 18th century is confirmed by the large number of religious communities that arose in Europe. The high status of monasteries was often shown through architectural forms, with monasteries setting trends in different building styles.
This high status of some monasteries can be visible not only in written records, but also through remains of material goods of everyday commodities, from exotic food and drinks to luxury objects used to consume them. In addition, monastic spaces appealed to all the social strata of medieval and post-medieval societies as final resting places. Before the creation of hospitals, as we know them today, the care and treatment of elderly, disabled and sick was provided primarily in monasteries.
We invite papers discussing the visibility of different social groups interacting in various monastic environments, through analysis of everyday objects, foodstuff, architectural development, burial practices, osteological and botanical remains, and spatial organization of monastic complexes and estates.

monastic spaces, archaeology of social status, bioarchaeology of care, sacred materiality, paleopathology, monastic estates

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Andrej Janeš (Croatia) ¹

Nataša Šarkić (Spain) ²