Parishes and Councils in Europe and Beyond
Twenty-Fifth Warwick Symposium on Parish Research
Anniversary Meeting, FBK-ISIG Trento, 13-14/15 May 2027
Co-hosted by Trento, Roma Tre & My-Parish Warwick
Waere Afbeeldinghe der sittinge der Vaderen des vermaerden Consiliums in de stadt Trenten
[A true depiction of the meetings of the Fathers of the renowned Council in the city of Trent]
(Dutch Chalcography; 252x322 mm, c. 1600). (Public Domain).
To celebrate its silver anniversary, the Warwick Symposium is moving abroad! My-Parish has teamed up with partners FBK-ISIG and MISGLOB to hold the next gathering at the Italian-German Historical Institute in Trento / north-eastern Italy. This location has inspired the 2027 theme.
From Lateran IV in 1215 via Trent in the sixteenth century to Vatican II in the 1960s, councils and their decrees have played key roles in the doctrinal and organizational evolution of the Catholic Church and its constituent parts. Similar gatherings like the Marburg Colloquy or the Synod of Dort shaped Protestantism and the same holds true for other denominational groups. Alongside, town and village councils dealt with parish affairs on a regular basis, be it regarding financial support, matters of communal representation or other issues. We plan to invite proposals for 15-minute papers which address the relationship between local ecclesiastical communities and the participants / proceedings / outcomes of such meetings held to negotiate beliefs, practices and power structures. We hope to feature examples of 鈥榗ouncils鈥� (very broadly conceived) at any hierarchical level of Church and secular government from the Middle Ages to the present, both in and beyond Europe. Speakers might wish to address topics like the hosting of events, sending of delegations, submission of petitions, communication structures, contested issues, the implementation of / resistance to council decrees, unintended consequences and written / visual / material legacies, to name but a few possible lines of investigation. Preferred attendance mode will be in-person, but virtual presentations can also be accommodated.
WE EXPECT THE CALL FOR PAPERS TO LAUNCH IN DECEMBER 2026 - in the meantime, feel free to contact one of the co-organisers:
(FBK-ISIG), (My-Parish) and (MISGLOB).
The conference is an output of the project MISGLOB, funded by he Italian Ministry of Education and Research (MUR)
under the 鈥�' scheme [Prot. R20AZLX5Z8; CUP F83C20006390001].
We also gratefully acknowledge the support of at Trento as well as
Warwick's Department of History, Parish Network & Humanities Research Centre.
