The interdisciplinary academic symposium will explore some of the historical, literary and cultural aspects of medieval France.
Among these are its power as part of the 9th-century Carolingian Empire, its dismantling into a largely independent collection of duchies, counties and fiefdoms in the 10th and 11th centuries, the subsequent growth of a sense of French national cultural identity in the 13th century, and the region’s astonishing cultural and artistic richness of the 15th century.
Presentations and discussion sessions will deal with the culture of chivalry, the art of the troubadour, the impact of trade and economic growth, and popular culture that envisioned medieval France as a society of three feudal orders: those who pray, those who fight and those who work. Scholars from France and the United States will discuss how these building blocks continue to influence contemporary France.
The presentations are free and open to the public.
The symposium also will feature a musical performance, “In the Chamber of the Harpers: Late Medieval Music from the Iberian Peninsula,” by musical trio Trefoil, 8 p.m. Friday, March 26, in the Carousel Theatre. The performance is free and open to the public. Free parking for the performance is available in Staff Lot 23 next to the Clarence Brown Theatre. Enter lot 23 from Pat Head Summit Street next to the Music Building.
Sponsors of the symposium include the Marco Institute, the UT Cultural Attractions Committee, the Department of History, the Hodges Better English Fund, the Humanities Institute, the Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures, the Ready for the World Initiative, the School of Music and the Department of Religious Studies.
For more information on the symposium or the concert, visit http://web.utk.edu/~marco/symposiums/symposium10.shtml
Source: University of Tennessee
