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 traversed by relationships and dynamics that interact with each other. 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, and it does not exclude any field of knowledge to explore this world where William is born (history, art history, archaeology, philology...) from several entry points: knowing and navigating the world; the places, genres, and ways of living or dying; the 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 take place at the Auditorium of the Caen Castle and the International Cultural Center of Cerisy-la-Salle (June 9-13, 2027). This meeting is part of the "Medieval Normandy" series of conferences at Cerisy.

Various activities aimed at a diverse audience will be associated with the conference: a popular 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 middle school of Cerisy-la-Salle, visits to Caen and Coutances, a play performed at the CCIC, as well as a concert at the Cathedral of Coutances.

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 Center of Cerisy, CRAHAM UMR 6273, University of Caen Normandy, City of Caen