Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Trebuchet to Cannon: Military Technology 1000-1600

Call for Papers:

Trebuchet to Cannon: Military Technology 1000-1600

A conference and workshop to be held at the Danish Medieval Centre, Nykøbing, Falster, Denmark,

26-29 July 2010

www.middelaldercentret.dk/

For the last two decades the Middelaldercentret in Denmark has carried out research into the construction and performance of medieval military technologies. Since 2001, the Ho Group (dedicated to the study of early gunpowder and gunpowder weapons) has met to experiment with gunpowder recipes and reconstructed artillery. The tenth meeting of the Ho Group will be an international conference to discuss all aspects of medieval military technology, including artillery, siege engines, gunpowder and cannon, and other weapons. The Organizing Committee extends an invitation to all those interested in this area—textual scholars, experimental archaeologists, curators and historians—to attend and present their work and discuss solutions to, and further problems in, the understanding of military technologies in the Middle Ages. The conference will include a series of workshops and hands-on demonstrations by the Ho Group of medieval technologies, including trebuchets, gunpowder and incendiary weapons, and reconstructions of cannon.

The conference will be four days in length, with three days of papers and workshops, one day-long excursion, and a closing banquet with Renaissance fireworks. The venue will be the Middelaldercentret (Danish Medieval Centre) and the adjacent Femern Link Hotel & Conference Centre. The primary language will be English. Presented papers will be considered for publication.

The organizers request a brief abstract for a paper proposal or an expression of interest to attend without presenting a paper by 15 November 2009. Full details of the conference and accommodation fees will be finalized by the end of 2009, with a registration deadline of 15 May 2010.

For more information or to submit your proposal (200 words, along with a brief CV), please contact Robert Smith at <HoX@basiliscoe.fsnet.co.uk>.