The early thinkers and historians of the church have exercised a perennial influence on Christian thought, but the period between 1470 and 1650 was especially remarkable in this respect. In these years, forgotten texts of ancient Christian authors were rediscovered in monastic and cathedral libraries, disseminated to a broad audience through the newly-invented medium of print, and critically studied to answer questions of Church history and doctrine which had been made pressing by the Renaissance and Reformation. The result was nothing less than a complete revolution of the early modern sense of the ancient Christian past, and so too of early modern Christian identity.
This one-day workshop aims to gather scholars from different nationalities and disciplines to present the latest research into early modern patristic scholarship, concluding with a keynote lecture by Jean-Louis Quantin (Sorbonne, Paris). The organisers now invite applications from scholars at any stage of their career working on early modern patristic scholarship, including graduate students, to deliver papers at this event alongside a group of invited speakers. Papers that explore the reception of the church fathers in times, places, texts and themes that have fallen outside the focus of existing historiography are particularly encouraged.
If you wish to present a twenty-five minute paper at this event, please send a proposal (of no more than 300 words) and a short bio/CV to receptionofthefathers2016@gmail.com by 1st June 2016. General registration will open in July 2016.