Debating Religious Space and Place in the Early Medieval World (c. AD 300-1000)

Dr. Chantal Bielmann is Postgraduate Researcher Development Adviser at the University of Leicester. She completed her PhD in 2014 at Leicester on A Christianisation of Switzerland? Urban and Rural Transformations in a Time of Transition, AD 300-800. Her research interests include religious landscapes, including monastic archaeology, as well as alpine culture and archaeology. Chantal is currently working on a project looking at building techniques and architecture of medieval churches in Ticino, Switzerland. Her recent publications include:2017. 'Saintly' space and alpine towns in Rhaetia Secunda and Vallis Poenina. Conference Proceedings of Urban and Rural Landscapes between Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages (November 14-16 2012), University of Zaragoza (forthcoming).2016. Roaming bishops or local landowners? Exploring patronage and ownership of early medieval churches in Churrhaetia. Fana, aedes, ecclesiae. Forme e luoghi di culto nell'arco alpino occidentale dalla preistoria al medioevo. Milan Aligraphis Libri.

Dr. Brittany Thomas has recently completed her PhD at the University of Leicester, working on the late antique art and architecture of Ravenna under Dr Neil Christie. Her research interests include approaches to art in public spaces, public engagement with heritage spaces, and conceptions of 'the gaze' and 'the viewer' in historic periods. Her recent publications include:2016. Imperial Statues and Public Spaces in Late Antiquity: Conceptualising 'Constantine' at York as an Ancient Public Commission. TRAC 2015: Proceedings of the Twenty Fifth Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, Leicester 2015. Oxford: Oxbow Books.