Bifolium

International conference, Bruges, 12-14 May 2009, in the framework of the exhibition ‘Charles the Bold. The splendour of Burgundy’ (27 March – 21 July 2009, Bruges, Groeninge Museum and Church of Our Lady; in cooperation with Historisches Museum Bern and Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna).

In the course of the fifteenth century, the reputation of the Burgundian court rose to an unprecedented level, catapulted forward by ever growing territorial ambitions and accumulation of wealth. This reached a climax during the reign of Charles the Bold (1433-1477), the living embodiment of the pomp and pageantry of the Burgundian court and a generous patron of the fine arts.
Rather than focusing on a single domain, the conference aims to shed light on Burgundian court culture as an organic whole, between the start of the reign of Philip the Good (1419) and the death of Mary of Burgundy (1482). It is intended to provide a forum for new research from the fields of History, History of Art, Literature and Musicology. To this end, two plenary assemblies will present a multidisciplinary approach to the topics of ‘Power of/and representation’ and ‘Feast culture’, while a number of specialised sessions will allow in-depth exploration and discussion of more specific aspects of the conference theme.

Proposals for both panel sessions and individual papers in the form of an abstract not exceeding 300 words should be sent as an e-mail attachment to symposium@brugge.be by 15 December 2008. Notification of acceptance will be given by 30 January 2008. The conference language is English.