Christian Belief and Practice in the Alps (ca. 250-ca. 600) In Search of a Topography of Faith

The Alpine arch was a vital area for the Roman empire. While the mountains were seen as the Italian peninsula’s natural barrier, the regions just south of them were a nexus of commercial routes. In past decades, an important number of studies was dedicated to the ways in which Christianities arrived and disseminated in the area. Drawing on textual and archaeological sources, these scholarly efforts indicate that the new religion spread following the Roman network of settlements and, in particular, the commercial routes across the Alps. This overlapping invited associations with the earlier process of Romanisation, which had also been shaped by the topography that directed human presence towards specific alpine passes and valleys. This two-days conference brings together historians, archeologists, and art historians to discuss the latest finds regarding the spread of the new religion in the Alpine area, inviting them to consider how the natural component influenced the process. By placing the topography at the basis of the phenomenon, the present initiative changes the approach usually taken in past decades, which saw scholars document the process by province. Thus, the religion’s spread in Ticino, Trentino-Alto Adige, Lombardy, and Piedmont was studied separately, despite the fact that these considerations were often published in volumes that announced a panoptic view of the process. In order to take a step forward, towards a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon, researchers working on the specific areas are here invited to identify and discuss the relevance of recurrent patterns. The speakers will present the status quo of research on the various areas, with a focus on the latest finds. To this end, both historians and archaeologists were invited, along with art historians and epigraphists who will help place the material culture related to the phenomenon in the wider cultural context. A particular structure was adopted in order to stimulate scholarly exchange and help identify new features of the process, with ample space for discussion after each paper as well as a round table section in conclusion. The current state of research and the proposed methodology indicate that the conference will represent a landmark in scholarly understanding of both the relation between geography and knowledge transfer, and of the dissemination of Christianities in this specific area.