Third Issue: Call for submissions
Religion and Religiosity
Religion and religious ideas have played a pivotal role in shaping Europe as a historical and cultural entity, profoundly influencing its spirituality and providing the primary framework for conceptualizing the relationship between humanity and the divine (Brown 2003· Geary 2002· Bartlett 1993). Specifically, since Late Antiquity—a period of intense ideological ferment, transformation, and conflict—the Christian religious and theological narrative transcended mere ritual practice, evolving into an institutionalized system of beliefs and practices that gradually came to define all aspects of human life (Brown 2003· Bossy 1985· Burke 1978). However, the imposition of a unified religious direction was often accompanied by divergences, disputes, and tensions, thus revealing the inherent complexity and internal contradictions within Europe’s spiritual life (Duffy 1992· Moore 1987· Rubin 1999).
The interconnection of religious and political ideology was articulated in the political theology of the Middle Ages and early modernity, leading to the formation of rigidly demarcated Christian societies (Bartlett, 1993; Delumeau, 1990), which marginalized the "dangerous other" (e.g., Muslims, Jews, witches, heretics, and others.) (Duffy 1992· Rubin 1999· Rustow 2008). Otherness, interpreted either as a religious minority or as a deviant worship practice, became a defining criterion of marginalization and systematic persecution, thereby revealing the power dynamics that shaped European communities. At the same time, however, it facilitated the emergence of new avenues for dialogue and intercultural coexistence, contributing to the formation of a mosaic of beliefs and spaces of interaction, as well as ongoing confrontations that persist to the present day (Brown 2003· Moore 1987· Geary 2002).
Undoubtedly, religiosity permeates various aspects of European history, extending beyond theological conflicts and doctrinal disputes to encompass a wide range of religious experiences, including performativity and symbolism (Bynum 1987· Burke 1978). In contemporary historiography, the integration of concepts such as embodied and lived religion (Katajala-Peltomaa & Toivo 2022∙ Reddy 2001∙ Dixon 2023), along with the employment of methodologies drawn from sociology, anthropology, and the history of emotions, has prompted a deeper examination of the expressions of religious faith in the daily lives of historical subjects, emphasising how they experienced and interpreted religious norms (Bynum 1987· Davis 1975· Ginzburg 1992· Delumeau 1990).
From the late 18th to the 20th century, European religiosity underwent significant changes and transformations. The processes of secularization, combined with national and social upheavals, alongside the challenges posed by modernity, redefined the role of religion within both the public and private spheres of European life (Chadwick, 1975; McLeod, 1981). Throughout this period, religion found itself negotiating its relationship with science, politics, art, and society, reflecting broader cultural and ideological processes (Vidler, 1961; Brown, 2001; Hastings, 2001). These developments were instrumental in the historical formation of Europe’s modern religious landscape, as documented by contemporary historiographical, sociological, and anthropological research (Duffy, 1992; Rustow, 2008; Rubin, 1999).
In its third issue, Mos Historicus: A Critical Review of European History, examines the subject of 'Religion and Religiosity' through the presentation of a duality that may initially appear conflictual but reveals points of convergence and agreement. By selecting this theme, we encourage a fruitful exploration of religion and religiosity, and invite you to submit articles falling within the following -but not limited to- categories:
- Historiographical and conceptual approaches, methodologies
- Religious otherness, heresies/minorities, interpretations/representations
- Spirituality and deviant experiences of faith, emotional regimes, embodied experiences, ritual practices
- Popular religiosity and magic, metaphysical concerns, millenarianism, afterlife
- Religion and technology, digital religious practices, the impact of technology on faith
Submissions should span from Late Antiquity to the early 21st century and focus on Europe, excluding the Balkan Peninsula. Comparative approaches, as well as studies addressing global history with Europe as the central focus, are also welcome.
- All submissions will undergo blind peer review.
- Articles should be between 5,000 and 8,000 words in length, excluding references and appendices.
- For citation and bibliography guidelines, please refer to the following link: https://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/mhist/about/submissions.
Articles should be submitted via email to moshistoricus@arch.uoa.gr or uploaded through the EKT platform.
The issue will be made available free of charge through the ePublishing platform of EKT.
Articles' submission deadline: until the 3rd of March 2025
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Bibliography
Bartlett, Robert, The Making of Europe: Conquest, Colonization and Cultural Change, 950–1350, Princeton University Press, Princeton 1993.
Bossy, John, Christianity in the West, 1400–1700, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1985.
Brown, Callum G., The Death of Christian Britain: Understanding Secularisation 1800–2000, Routledge, London 2001.
Brown, Peter, The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, A.D. 200–1000, MA: Blackwell, Malden 2001.
Burke, Peter, Popular Culture in Early Modern Europe, Ashgate, Farnham 31978.
Bynum, Caroline Walker, Holy Feast and Holy Fast: The Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women, University of California Press, Berkeley 1987.
Chadwick, Owen, The Secularization of the European Mind in the Nineteenth Century, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1975.
Davis, Natalie Zemon, Society and Culture in Early Modern France, Stanford University Press, Stanford 1975.
Delumeau, Jean, Sin and Fear: The Emergence of a Western Guilt Culture, 13th–18th Centuries, St. Martin’s Press, New York 1990.
Dixon, Tomas, The History of Emotions: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2023.
Duffy, Eamon, The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England, 1400–1580, Yale University Press, New Haven 1992.
Geary, Patrick J., The Myth of Nations: The Medieval Origins of Europe, Princeton University Press, Princeton 2002.
Ginzburg, Carlo, (1992), The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1992.
Hastings, Adrian, A History of English Christianity 1920–2000, SCM Press, London 2001.
Katajala-Peltomaa, Sari and Toivo, Raisa Maria (eds.), Histories of Experience in the World of Lived Religion, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham 2022.
McLeod, Hugh, Religion and the People of Western Europe 1789–1989, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1981.
Moore, R. I., The Formation of a Persecuting Society: Authority and Deviance in Western Europe, 950–1250, Blackwell, Oxford 1987.
Reddy, William Μ., The Navigation of Feeling: A framework for the history of emotions, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2001.
Rubin, Miri, Gentile Tales: The Narrative Assault on Late Medieval Jews, Yale University Press, New Haven 1999.
Rustow, Marina, Heresy and the Politics of Community: The Jews of the Fatimid Caliphate, Cornell University Press, Ithaca 2008.
Vidler, Alec R., The Church in an Age of Revolution (1789–1870), Penguin, London 1961.
