This conference explores the central question: How do the senses—understood as the full range of sensorial experiences—constitute the sacred at court as an active and creative process? Bringing together scholars from different disciplines, it examines how sacred space in early modern courts was produced, perceived, and transformed through inter-sensorial experience and performative practice.
Particular attention will be given to the ways ritual sought to overwhelm the senses, and how visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, and spatial dimensions interacted to create powerful sacred atmospheres. The conference also investigates how liturgical practices at court permeated and reshaped spaces beyond the strictly defined sacred area, generating “trans-religious” environments. By considering the differing sensory experiences of various courtly audiences, participants will reflect on how the sacred was seen, heard, smelled, and embodied in distinct ways.
A concluding round table will address the methodological and epistemological challenges of studying sensory experience and sacred space within an interdisciplinary framework.
Date: 21-23 September 2026
Location: Slovak University of Technology (STU), Bratislava
Organizers: Andrea Vargová (STU), Monika Rychtáriková (KU Leuven/STU), Magdaléna Kvasnicová (STU), Vojtech Chmelík (STU)
