Call for Papers

Gender, Violence and the Early Moderns

European University Institute, Florence

22 May 2026

Organiser: Dr Giada Pizzoni

Keynote Speaker: Dr Jonathan Davies (Warwick)

Violence puts the gender roles in a society firmly on records. Although we can never fully grasp the motives behind past acts of violence, through them we can gauge what was tolerated or sanctioned in any given society. Historical violence can suggest which meaning early modern people had of assault and abuse, whether physical, verbal or psychological. This brings us to the fundamental methodological question of how modern categories can capture past social realities. In this regard, the aim of the workshop is to offer a more precise picture of gender violence, with a quantitative study on survivors, their witnesses, and the negotiating process.

This gathering aims to promote a discussion on how to defy certain stereotypes around gender-based violence by investigating how women and men in the past viewed and talked about their roles within the abusive act. While some treated the violence suffered as an intimate matter, charged with shame and danger and therefore difficult to articulate, others saw it as a matter to be publicly outed and put into words.

This workshop invites proposals for short papers (4,000-5,000 words) on any aspect of gender and violence in early modernity. Papers that investigate the possibility to offer significant input for the study of what we would regard as psychological/physical trauma; dynamics of power; for understanding responses to assault; to investigate the status and forms of victims and perpetrators. The past can share its feelings as violent acts are always initially expressed through language and shaped by specific social and cultural norms.

Proposals are due by 20 December 2025. Please send an abstract of no more than 300 words to giada.pizzoni@eui.eu

Accepted abstracts will be notified by 1 February 2026.

We look forward to hearing from you.