IMMLleida 2026

XIV International Medieval Meeting Lleida

The 14th International Medieval Meeting Lleida will be held in June 3-5 2026. 

The Organizing Team of IMMLleida invites you to participate in this new edition. There you will find strands focused on leading aspects of Medieval Studies, the special strand: "Medieval Landscape" and the invited strand "The Iberian Crossroads: Networks of Exchange, Mobility, and Influence in the Medieval World". 

 

Submit your paper and session proposal from 12th January to 22nd March 2026.

 

Special strand 2026

Medieval Landscape

The lives of men and women in the medieval period unfold in close proximity to nature, which they fear due to its wilderness and consider full of significance. Yet, at the same time, they do not hesitate to transform it through their agricultural labour or to alter it with urban activities and the first polluting industries, always mantaining an interpretation in accordance to religious teachings.

The living space, whether domestic, local or regional, results from the sum of these different aspects and shapes a specific and rich landscape, like a palimpsest formed by the layers of human reality. It is for this reason that, over the past few decades, researching the Middle Ages has meant delving into the understanding of its landscape. The International Medieval Meeting Lleida 2026 constitutes a space to reflect on the different perspectives, methods and approaches to the landscape sorrounding the men and the women of the Middle Ages.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Urban and agrarian landscapes
  • Historical landscapes 
  • Conquered landscapes 
  • Landscapes of pilgrimages, migrations, exile.
  • Spiritual landscapes 
  • Settlement
  • Architecture and agrarian parcels

 

Keynote speakers: 

Wednesday 3rd-June

09:00h. Sam Turner (Newcastle University), Medieval terraced landscapes as sustainable agricultural environments.

10:45h. Imma Ollich (Universitat de Barcelona) and Maria Ocaña (Museu de l'Esquerda), La fortalesa visigòtico-carolíngia de Roda Ciutat i el seu territori.

12:00h. Luigi A. Berto (University of West Michigan), Spazio e popolo nella Venezia altomedievale.

Invited strand

The Iberian Crossroads: Networks of Exchange, Mobility, and Influence in the Medieval World

The Iberian Peninsula occupied a unique position in the medieval Mediterranean and European worlds –a space of encounter, translation, and circulation where diverse cultures, religions, and political powers intersected. This strand explores the dynamic networks that connected Iberia to broader medieval contexts, examining how people, ideas, objects, texts, and practices moved across geographical, linguistic, and confessional boundaries.

Moving beyond static notions of cultural contact, we emphasize movement and agency: the circulation of knowledge through translation and intellectual exchange; the mobility of religious communities, pilgrims, hagiographic traditions and the cult of saints across borders, and Jewish-Christian-Muslim dialogues; the flow of goods, technologies, and artistic forms through trade networks; and the transfer of political ideas and diplomatic practices. We welcome papers that examine these connections from multiple perspectives –whether focusing on Christian, Jewish, or Islamic contexts, or exploring the spaces where these traditions overlapped and interacted.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Intellectual networks and the translation of knowledge
  • Religious mobility: pilgrimage, mission, hagiographic traditions and the cult of saints across borders and interreligious debates
  • Economic exchange and the circulation of material culture
  • Diplomatic relations and political networks
  • Manuscript circulation and textual transmission
  • Scientific and medical knowledge transfer
  • Artistic and architectural influences
  • Migration, exile, and diaspora communities
  • Cross-confessional interactions and coexistence

Coordinators: Isaac Lampurlanés and Clara Renedo (Universitat de Lleida).

 

Keynote Speakers: 

Thursday 4th June

09:00h. Nikolas Jaspert (Universität Heidelberg), 'Jo vos contaré largament tot les miracles que aure vist' – viatgers peninsulars al centre d'Europa

12:00h. Matthias M. Tischler (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), Unity and Diversity: How Euro-Mediterranean Knowledge Networks Transformed the Post-Visigothic World (800–1200 CE)