On April 20, 2023, our subproject in Medieval History, „Martyrdom and Voluntariness,” welcomes historians Sara M. Butler (Ohio State University) and Steffen Hope (University of Oslo) to Erfurt for a workshop entitled “Dying voluntarily in the Middle Ages”. Together, we will explore various forms of voluntary death and their medieval discourses.
Steffen Hope’s talk “Willingness and Unwillingness in the Death of Holy Kings – Examples from Latin Hagiography” will address Northern European royal saints’ special relationship with violence, both inflicted on others and endured by themselves during martyrdom.
Sara M. Butler will introduce us to legal cases wherein the accused specifically chose a certain execution method through “rock crushing” to attain a form of martyrdom instead of dying as a convicted felon. Her talk is entitled “Choosing Peine Forte et Dure: Silent Martyrdom in Late Medieval England.”
Together with Markus from our martyrdom subproject, they will discuss how medieval discourses of voluntary death relate to voluntariness as an ethical category and the research unit’s larger themes. The workshop will take place from 12 to 5:30 pm at the International Meeting Center Erfurt (IBZ; Michaelisstraße 38, 99084 Erfurt). Please send an email to markus.dolinsky@uni-erfurt.de to register for the event.
