SESSION 6 | MARCH 3 | 11:00-12:45

Chair Maria João Branco (IEM)

Evidence of reversibility in Evora? Some issues around the Sé

11:00-11:30 | Hermínia Vilar (UÉ - CIDEHUS) 

Given the city's early conquest in the framework of the urban centres beyond the River Tagus, less than two decades after Lisbon and Santarém, Évora constitutes a relevant case for interrogating the phenomenon of the reversibility of sacred spaces. The process of creation of the diocese, and the consequent presence of a bishop, should be included in this equation, but also the foundation of an order of knights that occupies the former aulic area. The proximity to the ancient sacred area of the forum, as well as the construction of the cathedral constitute a basis for questioning the scarce written sources from the period and the recent data from archaeology.

12:00-12:30 | Hermenegildo Fernandes (CH-ULisboa); Jacinta Bugalhão (UNIARQ) e Manuel Fialho Silva (GEO-CML)

The recent archaeological discoveries in the Cloister of the Sé of Lisbon have relaunched the debate on a subject central to the study and knowledge of Ushbuna. Where was the Islamic city's 'aljama' mosque located in the mid-12th century when it was taken over by the Christians? We argue in favour of the hypothesis of the reversibility of the sacred space, from mosque to cathedral seat. This proposal is based on the analysis and characterisation of the territory in which the city is implanted, the evolution of the urban structure over a long diachronic period, the urban and architectural solutions for modelling the topography and the evaluation of the investment that the urban community was putting in the central place, where today we find the Lisbon cathedral and its cloister. The second part examines parallels considered not only as analogies but as a source of plausibility that the comparative method allows. The inventory, necessarily limited and centred on al-Andalus, allows us to reconstitute a general context of the reversibility of sacred spaces in Iberian cities between the 11th and 13th centuries. The crossing of the two previous dimensions, characterisation of the urban structure of Islamic Lisbon, its spaces, functions and dynamics of functioning, and parallels of other territories in which reversals of use of sacred spaces were recorded, results in a plausible analysis of the possibilities of the location of the 'aljama' mosque of al-Ushbuna in the final period of its history. These hypotheses will be desirably developed through some lines of investigation which, to conclude, are presented.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

Hermínia Vilar. Aggregate (title) in Medieval History in 2007/04/17 at the University of Évora, PhD in History in 1998 at the University of Évora, MA degree in Medieval History in 1990 at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa - Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas and BA Degree in History in 1984 at the Universidade de Lisboa - Faculdade de Letras. She is an associate professor at the University of Évora, a member of the General Council at the University of Évora and director of CIDEHUS at the University of Évora. She has published 31 articles in peer-reviewed journals. She has published 42 book chapters and ten books, has organised two scientific events, and has participated in 12 events; supervised six PhD theses and co-supervised three. She has supervised eight Master's dissertations and co-supervised two. She participates and has participated as a researcher in 11 projects; and as a principal researcher in three projects. She acts in the areas of humanities with emphasis on history and archaeology with emphasis on history. In her professional activities, she has interacted with 46 collaborators in co-authorship of scientific papers. In his curriculum Vitae Cience Vitae , the most frequent terms to contextualize her scientific, technological and artistic-cultural production are: Royal Power; Religious History; Diocese; Legislation; Portugal; Middle Ages; Medieval History; History; Royal Power.

Hermenegildo Fernandes. Full Professor at the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon, where he teach and research in Medieval History since 1987. He has devoted himself mainly to the research on Hispanic Border Societies, observing the interaction between al-Andalus and the Christian kingdoms and, more recently, to the History of Universities. His publications focus on these fields. Among them, his biography of Sancho II stands out. He has supervised, or is now supervising, a dozen PhD dissertations and around twenty Master theses. He has been Sub-Director of the FLUL, Director of the History Centre of ULisboa and is currently Director of the History Area of the FLUL.

Jacinta Bugalhão. BA degree in History from the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon (1989), MA degree in Archaeology from the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Porto (1997), and PhD in Archaeology from the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon (2021). She has been an archaeologist since 1989 in IPPC, IPPAR, IPA, IGESPAR and DGPC. She has directed several archaeological interventions in Lisbon, dedicating herself to the study of the ancient urbanism of the city, namely in the Roman, Islamic, medieval-Christian and modern periods, researching in particular on topics about the production, consumption and trade of ceramics in the Middle Ages. Member of several research projects, namely "POILIX - Pottery Production in the Western Arrabalde of Islamic Lisbon" or "CIGA - Islamic Ceramics of the Garb al-Andalus". Author of one hundred and fifty bibliographical references, among monographs, chapters and articles, of which the works on Lisbon' archaeology and the history, management, and dissemination of archaeology, as well as opinion texts, stands out. She is also devoted to associative activity and civic intervention in subjects related to archaeology, defence and management of cultural heritage, and promotion of the archaeologist profession.  

Manuel Fialho Silva. Researcher at the  Gabinete de Estudos Olisiponenses, Lisbon City Hall. He is an integrated member of the Centre for History of the University of Lisbon where he is a member of the Research Group "Cultural Encounters and Intersecting Societies". BA degree in Classical Languages and Literature and received his MA degree in Classical Studies from the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon in 2009. In 2017, he defended his PhD thesis in Medieval History at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon, entitled "A Mutação Urbana na Lisboa Medieval: das Taifas a D. Dinis". He is currently dedicated to several topics such as the history of the Jews of Portugal and medieval archaeology.