St Mary’s Holds Symposium on Religious Conversion in the Early Modern Mediterranean

On Tuesday 4^th and Wednesday 5^th June, St Mary’s University College, Twickenham will be holding a two-day conference on religious conversion, ‘The Lure of the Other: Religious Conversion and Reversion in the Early Modern Mediterranean and Beyond’. Organised by St Mary’s School of Theology, Philosophy and History generously supported by The Society for Renaissance Studies, the conference will explore the topic of early modern religious conversion between Christianity and Islam in a Mediterranean context. Delegates will be able to analyse conversion as part of a cultural and psychological change that enabled converts to make sense of their surroundings, and encouraged a sense of belonging. It will also examine the idea of a convert as a mediator and translator between different cultures. Topics will include; Religious Conversion and Gender: Female Slaves and Captives, Trans-Imperial Politics and Conversion: Franks and Renegades in the Ottoman and Safavid Empires, Conversion in European Travel and Captivity Narratives, Fluid Conversion: Religion, Apostasy, and the Sea, and Towards a of Typology of Conversion. The symposium has been organised by Dr Claire Norton, Senior Lecturer in History at St Mary’s. For more information and to book your place, please see the website, or contact Dr Claire Norton by email at claire.norton@stmarys.ac.uk.