How Christian was the West?
24. October 2008
The notion of the "Christian Occident" is one of the dominant historical notions we have of medieval Europe. In her inaugural lecture, "Beyond the ‘Christian Occident’: Boundary Lines in the Religious History of the Middle Ages," on Friday, 24 October, Prof. Dorothea Weltecke interrogates this idea. She chronicles the history of Christians outside the Christian West. Yet, in the Christian Occident, there were also non-Christians and Christians who rejected the authority of the Roman Church. The presence of religious minorities was not at all unusual and our world today is in this sense not so dissimilar. Just how Christian the West was during the Middle Ages is thus an open question rather than a fact, as the historian will explain. Her inaugural lecture is open to the public and begins at 5:00 pm. It takes place in lecture hall A 703 instead.
Dorothea Weltecke has been Professor of History of Religions and of Religion in Europe since last winter semester at the University of Konstanz. This professorship, which is linked to the Konstanz Center of Excellence "Cultural Foundations of Integration,” represents an approach to the history of religions and religion that is transcultural, comparative and integrative.