SESSION 1 | MARCH 2 | 9:30-10:45

Chair Carlos Fabião (UNIARQ)

Results of the archaeological excavations carried out at the Cloister of the Cathedral of Lisbon and its contribution to the study of cult spaces

9:30-10:00 |  Ana Gomes and Alexandra Gaspar (DGPC)

The archaeological excavations carried out in the Cloister of the Sé of Lisbon allowed a diachronic reading from the Iron Age to the construction of the cloister in the late 13th century, beginning of the 14th century. As part of the Recovery and Enhancement Project of the Lisbon Patriarchal Cathedral (underway since 2018), it was possible to carry out an archaeological intervention in the southern area, and two new floors were identified, which may integrate the complex of the Lisbon aljama mosque – which covers a total area of about 200 m2 –, whose chronology of occupation dates back to the beginning of the 12th century, being in operation until the conquest of Lisbon in 1147, and the progressive transformation of the whole area into the courtyard and cloister of the Cathedral. We aim to present these new structures, based on archaeological analysis and some sources, to propose their integration into the main mosque complex of the Muslim Lisbon of the Almoravid era and to analyze the transformation of this area into a Christian space.

Spaces of institutionalization of power: cathedrals and mosques in medieval Iberia (11th-13th centuries)

9:30-10:30 | Maria João Branco (IEM NOVA) and Hermenegildo Fernandes (CH-ULisboa)

From a comparative perspective, we present a study of the processes of institutionalisation in cathedrals and mosques in medieval Hispania, with a particular focus on the kingdom of Portugal and the part of the Gharb al-Andalus that it incorporates. The common thread is based on the analogies generated by contexts of change and instability regarding the forms of institutionalization of sacred spaces, considering the ritual practices and processes through which the spaces are activated. The heuristic base is always documental, with particular relevance for narrative and normative texts. In the De Expugnatione, we first consider the reconfiguration of the 'aljama' of al-Ushbuna in Sé, through a purification ritual that institutionalises reversion and which may echo the reversion practised by the then emir 'Abd al-Rahman III in Bobastro. In the context of Christian political domination, we then examine the political and social forms of activation of the sites. We are particularly interested in their social use and the construction of a fiction about the institution, based on the roles it plays in the communities and the royal power. This network of relationships unfolds over an urban landscape and is particularly suited to examining it in motion.

Alexandra Gaspar. Master in Urban Archaeology by the University of Minho. She works at the Divisão de Salvaguarda do Património Arquitectónico e Arqueológico, of the Direcção-Geral do Património Cultural since 1995. She has done scientific in the urban archaeology field since since 1982, having directed archaeological excavations, and coordinated teams and projects in Braga (1982-86) and Lisbon (since 1995). Among her research interests are urbanism and Roman and medieval archaeological ceramics. Among others, she has coordinated the project of archaeological excavations at Castelo de São Jorge and at the Sé of Lisbon. She participated in the musealization projects of the archaeological ruins and the museological nucleus of Castelo de São Jorge and the Sé of Lisbon (in progress). She has published on urbanism, archaeological ceramics and musealization of archaeological sites.

Ana Gomes. Master's degree in Urban Archaeology from the University of Minho, and a Bachelor's degree in Archaeology from the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon. Senior technician at DGPC, she has been responsible for coordinating and directing a number of major archaeological interventions in monuments, classified sites, and protected zones in Lisbon, particularly in the Castelo de São Jorge and Sé de Lisboa. This work has been complemented with the coordination of projects for the recovery, valorization, and elaboration of musealization programs, already executed, namely: Praça Nova do Castelo de São Jorge, musealization program of the archaeological area of Cais de Santarém Hotel (Lisbon); basic program for the musealization of the archaeological ruins of Rua do Arsenal Hotel (Lisbon); and project for the musealization of the archaeological structures of the Cloister of the Sé of Lisbon (in execution). Her main areas of scientific interest include urbanism studies, ceramics studies, and the application of new technologies to enhance the archaeological heritage and management of archaeological sites. She has published several papers in national and international journals on a variety of subjects related to her expertise, including urban studies, ceramics studies, and musealization of archaeological sites.

Maria João Branco. I am currently Associate Professor of Medieval History at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities - NOVA University of Lisbon. From 1991 to 2011 I taught at Universidade Aberta, where I have been Director of the Department of Human and Social Sciences (2006- 2009). Between October 2001 and October 2003, I became the first Director of the Camões Centre for Portuguese Language and Culture in Oxford, where I was also a Fellow of St. John's College and a Lecturer in the History Department. I joined the NOVA FCSH in August 2011. I have been Director of the Institute of Medieval Studies, (2016 to 2021), after having been executive secretary and deputy director of the same RU between 2011 and 2016. I concluded my MA degree in 1990 at the NOVA FCSH, with a thesis on Esgueira, a medieval village of central Portugal  in the 15th century, and I received my PhD  in 2000, at the Universidade Aberta, with a thesis on the construction of the royal power in Portugal (12th -13th centuries). My work explores the construction of royal power and the political culture of 12th-13th centuries Portugal, in its internal policies and its relations with other Western Medieval polities, a field in which the role of jurists and ecclesiastics is fundamental. In this context, I also study the relationship between Portugal and the Papacy. I published more than 50 chapters and articles in national and international books and journals. I authored three books as an individual author, four in collaboration with other colleagues and five as co-editor of collaborative volumes. I am a member of the Portuguese Academy of History in the category of Correspondent Academic and of the Portuguese Society of Medieval Studies.