International conference “Bishops in the 12th-16th Century Baltic Zone. Between Ministry and Desire for Power”
On 20-22 October 2022, an international conference “Bishops in the 12th-16th Century Baltic Zone. Between Ministry and Desire for Power” took place at the MOBI in Kulice, organised by Prof. Nina Gallion (Historical Seminar of Late Medieval History and Comparative Regional History at the Jan Gutenberg University Mainz) and Dr. Rafał Simiński (Historical Institute of the University of Szczecin). Participants included historians, archaeologists and art historians representing the scientific centres of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Poland. This was the first conference to focus exclusively on ordinaries operating in the Baltic Sea area in the pre-Reformation period as a specific elite group of medieval society, combining characteristics of clerical and secular authority. The thematic scope of the papers covered various aspects of the activity of its representatives, which were presented in speeches that had the character of broader approaches (Danish, Livonian, Prussian, Mecklenburg, Schwerin bishops, Pomeranian, Kamień Pomorski and Wrocław) or studies of selected cases (Bishop Otto of Bamberg, Archbishop Eskil of Lund, Bishop Thomas of Finland, Bishops Melchior von Braunschweig-Lüneburg and Konrad Loste of Schwerin, and Bishops Nicholas and John Ambundi of Riga). The researchers presented the issues in the context of the opportunities and challenges faced by the hierarchs, taking into account issues such as their origins, their education, their path to episcopal dignity, their place in the Church, their relations with the secular authorities and subjects, and elements of representation (cathedral churches, entrances and episcopal residences). The individual papers were of great interest to the conference participants and the audience, resulting in numerous questions to the speakers and lively discussions. The conference concluded with a study tour to Kamień Pomorski and Wolin.
Rafał Simiński
Take a look at the photo report (photo: R. Simiński and P. Migdalski)