Conference „The Mission of John Capistran in Central and Eastern Europe (1451-1456). The Transfer of Ideas and the Strategy of Communication in the Late Middle Ages”

On 16-17 November 2017 the Institute of History, Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, will host the international conference on The Mission of John Capistran in Central and Eastern Europe  (1451-1456). The Transfer of Ideas and the Strategy of Communication in the Late Middle Ages. The conference is an important part of the research project aimed at a critical edition of the entire epistolary of John Capistran from the years 1451-1456. In May 1451 John Capistran 1(386-1456) crossed the Alps and arrived to Austria, starting his six year mission that took him to the territories of the Holy Roman Empire, Bohemia, Poland and Hungary. His main purpose was to confront Bohemian Hussites and to promote Observant reform within the Franciscan Order. In his activities Capistran faced various religious and political problems of the countries he visited.  Alongside his busy preaching he acted a papal diplomat who attempted to strengthen unity of Latin Christendom, and a reformer whose activities gave stimulus to the installment of new friaries of Franciscan Observants. Capistran was a charismatic preacher whose sermons attracted crowds of people; dozens of towns endeavored to invite him, and numerous individuals, both ecclesiastical and lay, attempted to get in touch with him. The literary output of Capistran’s mission is well-reflected by hundreds of letters sent to him in 1451-1456; some of them are still preserved in original in Capestrano. A few years ago an international team of historians and philologists from Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, France and Poland headed by Professor Letizia Pellegrini started cooperation that should allow a publication of the entire epistolary of John Capistran from 1451-1456.  The Polish section of this project is carried out at the Institute of History, Polish Academy of Sciences, by a group of scholars headed by Professor Paweł Kras.

The conference will be attended by 14 international and 5 Polish speakers who will present their research findings related to Capistran’s mission, its background, organization, and effects.