LXXII Settimana di studio

It is well known that, in the societas christiana of the Early Middle Ages, the Bible represented a universally present point of reference within the paradigms of collective certainties and in numerous spheres of praxis and lived experience. It is no coincidence that, as early as 1962, the CISAM dedicated a Week of Studies to this very subject. Since then, over the course of more than sixty years, the progress made in biblical studies has been immense—not only with regard to certain fundamental themes already addressed during that Week in the last century, but above all because social and cultural transformations have prompted new approaches to the Bible.

The 72nd Week of Studies aims, on the one hand, to update, with a perspective that also encompasses the Byzantine East, essential themes already explored in the previous Week—such as the role of the Bible in doctrine and the exercise of political power, in legislation, in canon law collections, in liturgical celebrations, in hagiography, in both religious and secular spiritual life, and in the visual arts. On the other hand, the Week particularly seeks to broaden its scope to include new themes—some of which were inconceivable in 1962 but have now become imperative due to the various research directions and findings that have emerged between the late twentieth century and our own time.

One may consider, for instance, biblical studies concerning different textual typologies, codicological and graphic techniques of manuscripts in Greek, Latin, or bilingual formats, as well as hermeneutics and exegesis in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Arabic. Furthermore, attention may be drawn to philosophical speculation, literary production—particularly poetry—within the Western, Byzantine, and Germanic spheres, or to public and private documentation, inscriptions (whether engraved, scratched, or painted) that referenced the Bible, and, lastly, to its role in gender studies and thus in its relationship with women.

Ultimately, by re-examining past scholarship, the 72nd Week aims to engage with the new frontiers of biblical research in order to reconstruct a picture which, while making no claim to completeness, can nevertheless convey the pervasive presence of the Bible in the Early Middle Ages—as the paramount book, in its concrete applications, in its manifold cultural manifestations, and in the world of representations.