CONFERENCE – Princes of the Church and their Palaces

Posted On: March 27th, 2015

  Princes of the Church and their Palaces

30 JUNE – 4 JULY 2015

An international conference and series of public lectures exploring bishops’ and popes’ palaces across Britain and Europe, with a particular focus on the redevelopments at Auckland Castle in County Durham.

Important developments in research, conservation, and public presentation are currently taking place at Auckland Castle, the Bishop of Durham’s former residence.

In association with them, this conference will consider bishops’ and popes’ palaces from across Britain and Europe, and will stimulate discussion on:

• how bishops’ palaces and houses differed from the palaces and houses of secular magnates, in their layout, design, furnishings and functions;
• the relationship between bishops’ palaces and houses and their political and cultural context;
• their relationship to the landscapes and towns and cities in which they were set, and their relationship to the parks, forests and towns which were planned and designed around them;
• the architectural form of bishops’ palaces and houses, and how far they shared common architectural features across England, Wales, Scotland, and indeed across Europe.

Anyone with an interest in Auckland Castle itself or in historical monuments in general is warmly invited to attend and take part in discussions. The conference will be the fullest treatment of bishops’ and popes’ palaces ever undertaken.

Keynote speakers:

• Simon Thurley– English Heritage
  What is special about bishops’ palaces? (Domestic performance of liturgy, private chapels, cloisters).
• Maureen C. Miller– University of California Berkley
  Political and cultural significance of the Bishop’s Palace in Medieval Italy
• Malcolm Thurlby– York University, Toronto
  Bishop Puiset’s Hall at Auckland Castle in relation to later Twelfth-Century episcopal halls in England.

A full programme may be found here, and a booking form can be downloaded here.