Religious transformations in the Middle Ages: towards a new archaeological agenda

Thomas, G. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0311-8218, Pluskowski, A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4494-7664, Gilchrist, R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1967-2558, Ruiz, G. G.-C., Andrén, A., Augenti, A., Astill, G., Staecker, J. and Valk, H. (2017) Religious transformations in the Middle Ages: towards a new archaeological agenda. Medieval Archaeology, 61 (2). pp. 300-329. ISSN 0076-6097 doi: 10.1080/00766097.2017.1374764

Abstract/Summary

The study of religious change in Europe between the collapse of the Roman Empire and the Reformation forms one of the cornerstones of medieval archaeology but has been riven by period, denominational and geographical divisions. This paper lays the groundwork for a fundamental rethink of archaeological approaches to medieval religions, by adopting a holistic framework that places Christian, pagan, Islamic and Jewish case studies of religious transformation in a long-term, comparative perspective. Focused around the analytical themes of ‘hybridity and resilience’ and ‘tempo and trajectories’, our approach shifts attention away from the singularities of national narratives of religious conversion towards a deeper understanding of how religious beliefs, practices and identity were renegotiated by medieval people in their daily lives.