1027 – 2027: The world where Guillaume is born

Conference in Caen and Cerisy-la-Salle

The world where the future William the Conqueror is born, between mid-1027 and mid-1028, is characterized by relationships and dynamics that interact with one another. Inspired by "connected history," the project aims to emphasize mobilities and their consequences, connections and transfers between different human communities in the early decades of the 11th century.

A global approach has been chosen, which does not exclude any field of knowledge to explore the world where William is born (history, art history, archaeology, philology…) from various entry points: knowing and navigating the world; places, genres, and ways of living or dying; ways of believing, thinking, and creating; the Normans and Norman women of the 1020s in Normandy, in the kingdom of France, in the European space, and on the routes that connect them to other horizons.

The project includes an international conference that will be held at the Auditorium of the Château de Caen and at the International Cultural Centre of Cerisy-la-Salle.

This meeting is part of the "Medieval Normandy" series of conferences in Cerisy.

Various activities aimed at a diverse audience are related to the conference: a public book on the theme of the conference in the "A vue d'œil" collection produced with the help of students from the Master’s program "Book and Publishing Professions" at the University of Caen, a public lecture, an educational session involving the Cerisy-la-Salle college, visits to Caen and Coutances, a play performed at the CCIC, and a concert at the Coutances Cathedral.

Conference co-organized by Pierre Bauduin, Alban Gautier, and Marie-Agnès Lucas-Avenel (CRAHAM, University of Caen)

Open to all
Free in Caen
Paid in Cerisy (depending on the length of stay)

Partnerships: International Cultural Centre of Cerisy, CRAHAM UMR 6273, University of Caen Normandy, City of Caen