Medieval and Early Modern Spaces and Places

Theoretical approaches have informed new ways of thinking about the social production of space (from Henri Lefebvre to David Harvey) and recent research networks have also stimulated novel approaches to early modern spaces (PALATIUM). Early Modern spaces were mutable and permeable, and new technologies, objects, and social formations played a role in defining spaces as well as identities. The expansion of trade routes and economic networks, the development of the printing press, struggles for territorial power and religious wars, and new diplomatic frameworks, all contributed to new ways of conceptualising geographies and spaces.

Drawing upon the research interests of the OU's Medieval and Early Modern Research Group, from 2017 to 2021 we hosted an annual event on the theme of spaces and places, examining life in buildings, institutions and broader geographical areas from a variety of perspectives. 

Details of the Spaces and Places events that took place from 2017 to 2021 can be found here.