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The Prague Branch of the German Historical Institute Warsaw (part of the Max Weber Foundation), together with Collegium Carolinum and the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO), in cooperation with the Czech Academy of Sciences through the joint Czech-German Research and Mediation Platform (GWZOPragueFLÚ) at its Institute of Philosophy, invites you to a public lecture hosted by the Faculty of Arts, Charles University.The lecture is part of the Prague Histories Forum, a public lecture series bringing international scholars into dialogue with students, researchers, and the wider public. The winter semester 2026/27 program explores Gender & Queer in East Central Europe.
RETHINKING MEDIEVAL POWER: GENDER, SOCIAL CAPITAL, AND RELATIONAL HISTORY
Christina Lutter (University of Vienna)
How does studying medieval women reshape our understanding of power, agency, and social relations? Moving beyond the recovery of exceptional individuals, Christina Lutter proposes a relational approach to medieval gender history, examining how gender intersected with status, kinship, education, religion, and other forms of social belonging.
Combining gender history with prosopography and historical network analysis, the lecture explores how individuals mobilized social capital through family ties, friendship, office, property, and neighborhood connections. Examples from medieval Central Europe reveal how courts, cities, and religious communities sustained networks of patronage and political cooperation. This perspective brings women’s agency into view while showing how power was produced through relationships within and across institutions.
Christina Lutter is Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History at the University of Vienna and a Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Her research focuses on gender, social networks, and community formation in medieval and early modern Central Europe.
Tuesday, 20 October 2026 | 15:50–17:20 CEST
Špork Palace, Faculty of Arts, Charles University
Hybernská 3, Prague 1 | Room 303, attic floor
The lecture will be held in English. Students, researchers, and members of the public are welcome to attend in person or online.
For information on online participation, please visit the Prague Histories Forum webpage: https://www.dhi.waw.pl/en/news/detail/prague-histories-forum-gender-and-queer-history-in-east-central-europe/
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Event venue
Hybernská 1036/3, 110 00 Praha, Česko, Hybernská 1036/3, 110 00 Praha, Česko, Prague, Czech Republic
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