Dining at court may have been a feast for the senses – but what kind of data do we have to understand and measure these feasts? Court studies has a strong interest in dining as a core part of court life. To understand dining at court we have used economic accounts, travel descriptions, printed ceremonials, and the very rooms used. Adding to this mix there are now new and exciting opportunities. Has new technological breakthroughs allowed new forms of data and measurements of data?
A key focus of this workshop will be the identification and feasibility of sensor-based data and other measurable proxies relevant to court dining (e.g., lighting conditions, room acoustics, circulation paths for serving, thermal and ventilation aspects, and spatial patterns of seating/order and visibility). The workshop will therefore explicitly aim to attract additional members and partners (heritage professionals, engineers, data specialists) who can advise on data acquisition and experimental designs that remain historically responsible. A second focus will be the definition of analytical approaches for statistics, dynamical-systems modelling, and AI-supported visualisation, in order to move from descriptive reconstructions toward new levels of analytical abstraction and comparison.
Date: 29-30 May 2026
Location: Vilnius, Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania (Lithuania)
Organizers: Rasa Leonavičiūtė-Gecevičienė (Vilnius)
