Call for Papers IMC LEEDS – Staging nobility in urban space

This session explores the ways in which noble families used urban space to represent their lineage, propagate the legitimate continuation of their authority and consolidate their seigneurial rule. It builds upon scholars such as Henri Lefebvre, who have shown that space is never a fixed given but is constantly being reshaped by an interplay of physical characteristics, conceptual visions, and subjective experiences. This session explores the strategic use of urban space in Medieval Europe. It focuses on how the noble families’ commissions and building practices physically shaped and redefined public space, in relation to underlying visions and ideas that were inextricably linked to an awareness of time.