Skip to main content
Skip to main content
MenuSearch & Directory
Close
People Finder Directory >

SLU-Madrid Hosts Symposium on Crusade Studies

by Isaiah Voss on 10/04/2024

10/04/2024

On Oct. 3-5 the Madrid campus hosted scholars from 24 countries to promote research on crusading and the Latin East.

Saint Louis University — Madrid opened its doors to experts and faculty members from 56 institutions spread across the globe for the Fifth Quadrennial Symposium on Crusade Studies with the involvement of the Saint Louis University Center for Iberian Historical Studies (CIHS).

Harvard University, Peking University, Stanford University, University of Zurich and Yale University were among the most prestigious universities represented on campus during the three-day event. Others include University of California, Berkeley; University of Michigan; University of Chicago; and University of Cambridge. 

The symposium's 83 participants represented 24 countries. Those being Austria, Canada, China, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Man points to presentation on a screen while addressing audience in a small auditorium.

Kelly DeVries, Ph.D., from Loyola University Maryland presenting "Was there an Indian Ocean Crusade? The Portuguese vs. Suleyman the Magnificent" in the San Ignacio Hall Auditorium on Oct. 4. Photo by Fernando Béjar.

 

Historians Thomas Asbridge, Ph.D. of Queen Mary University of London and Helen Nicholson, Ph.D., of Cardiff University spoke during the conference's plenary sessions.

Topics covered include crusading warfare, Christian and Islamic Art in the West, papal approaches to the Crusades and cultural interactions in the Latin East.

Saint Louis University's Crusade Studies Forum chose SLU-Madrid as its international venue this year to allow scholars to approach the Crusades from numerous perspectives. SLU-St. Louis historian Thomas Madden, Ph.D., and SLU-Madrid Vice Rector Francisco (Paco) García-Serrano served as the symposium's academic organizers.

"The symposium was successful with high-quality papers," said García Serrano. "And it was a great opportunity to showcase research done by Saint Louis University in both St. Louis and Madrid." He then thanked SLU-Madrid vice rector Victoria "Viki" Villarreal and Teresa Harvey for overseeing the event's logistics.

Learn More About SLU's Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies