Conference – “Language and Identity in Medieval Origin Stories”

April 3, 2023, 1:30 p.m. - April 4, 2023, 5:15 p.m.

The Laboratoire Langages, Littératures, Sociétés, Etudes Transfrontalières et Internationales (LLSETI) at the University of Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB) is organizing a conference titled “Language and Identity in Medieval Origin Stories.”

These events will take place from Monday, April 3, to Tuesday, April 4, on the Jacob-Bellecombette campus:

  • April 3 in Room 504 from 1:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.,
  • and on April 4 in Room 20020 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.

For more information about these workshops, download the full program.

Schedule for April 3

  • 2:00–2:30 p.m.: Introduction, Marcin Kurdyka (University of Savoie Mont Blanc / University of Warsaw)
  • 2:30–3:15 p.m.: “Rodrigo Ximenez de Rada (c. 1170–1247), historian of languages,” Anne Grondeux (CNRS — Université Paris Cité – Université Sorbonne Nouvelle)
  • 3:15–4:00 p.m.: “The Languages of Five Peoples: Ethnolinguistic Unity and Diversity in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,” Arnaud Lestremau (University of Paris Nanterre)
  • 4:00–4:30 p.m.: Break
  • 4:30–5:15 p.m.: “The Languages of the Dalimil Chronicle: From Original Concept to Reception and Appropriation,” Eloïse Adde (Central European University, Vienna)
  • 5:15–6:00 p.m.: “Language, Civilization, and Authority: Giraud de Barri on the Welsh and Irish Languages,” Fabrizio de Falco (University of Bologna)

Schedule for April 4

  • 9:00–9:45 a.m.: “The Ancestral Language of the Franks,” Magali Coumert (University of Tours)
  • 9:45–10:30 a.m.: “Vernacular Terms in Latin Origin Myths (British Isles, 6th–9th Centuries),” Alban Gautier (University of Caen-Normandy)
  • 10:30–11:00 a.m.: Break
  • 11:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.: “The Names ‘Germans’ and ‘Poles’ as a Weapon in the Conflict Between the Lords and Knights and the Bourgeoisie of Kraków at the Turn of the 13th and 14th Centuries,” Paweł Żmudzki (University of Warsaw)
  • 11:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: “The Slavs are called by the name of the language they speak. Slavic Language and Identity in 14th-Century Origin Myths,” Marcin Kurdyka (University of Savoie Mont Blanc / University of Warsaw)
  • 12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.: Lunch break
  • 2:00–2:45 p.m.: “At the Other End of the Middle Ages: Language and the Origins of Peoples in Humanist Chronicles, with a Focus on the Commentaries of Pius II (Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini),” Benoît Grévin (CNRS – Center for Historical Research)
  • 2:45–3:30 p.m.: “Between ‘Latinity’ and ‘Francity’ in the Kingdom of Jerusalem (c. 1100–1192): Linguistic and Cultural Aspects of Group Identity in the Overseas Territories,” Tomasz Pełech (University of Warsaw)
  • 3:30–4:00 p.m.: Break
  • 4:00–4:45 p.m.: “… per ydioma alienigenarum Hungarii et in sua lingua propria Mogerii vocantur… The Etymology of Terms Used to Designate Hungarians in the Earliest Narrative Sources of That Country,” Adrien Quéret-Podesta (Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznań)
  • 4:45–5:15 p.m.: Conclusion, Jean-Yves Tilliette (University of Geneva)

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

The purpose of this conference is to examine the role of language—as it appears in origin narratives—as a defining factor of ethnic or national identity. While the association between a people and a language appears natural in the Middle Ages—following Isidore of Seville—it is not always present in the chronicles. We will therefore examine the political and intellectual context that allowed this theme to develop, as well as the ways in which chroniclers incorporated it into their narratives.

 Follow the study days via videoconference

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