CALL FOR PAPERS ANNOUNCEMENT: Migration and the Early Modern Spanish Empire June 10th–12th, 2026 Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland __________________ Confirmed Keynote Speakers: Thomas O’Connor Professor (History) Maynooth University Mayte Green-Mercado Associate Professor (History) Rutgers University-Newark Leonardo Velloso-Lyons Assistant Professor (Spanish and Portuguese) Emory University _________________ Exile, diaspora, displacement, multilingualism. Although recent events have brought current issues of migration into sharp relief, the existential dilemmas arising from globalisation, cultural homogenisation, and territorial expansion are anything but new. These dilemmas are deeply rooted in the imperial projects of the early modern period in many ways — and especially so for migrants caught in the ever-shifting dynamics of the Spanish empire as it expanded across the world. In the early 1600s, for example, the Spanish Crown welcomed thousands of Irish refugees who would use their newfound positions and language skills to aid fellow migrants in some cases (such as converso communities facing persecution in Mexico or their own kin facing often violent political subjugation in Ireland) even as they assisted in upholding the status quo in others (such as morisco communities facing expulsion in Iberia). This conference aims to spark innovative conversations on the way such crosscurrents contributed to emerging conceptions of identity and belonging at the time. What roles did migrants, whose movements were shaped by varying degrees of coercion and agency, play in sustaining, resisting, or remaking community structures in local as well as global contexts? And how did this complicate their representation amid power and precarity? [not all information will fit here, so please contact laura.francis@mu.ie for a full text document!]

Proposals are thus encouraged, but not limited to, the following topics on the early modern Spanish empire: Migration & Community Migration & Naturalisation Migration & Solidarity Migration & Diplomacy Migration & Dissent Migration & Memory Migration & Multiculturalism Migration & Multilingualism Migration & Translation Migration & Book History Migration & Archives Migration & Materiality Migration & Racialization Migration & Religion Migration & Gender The conference also specifically aims to cultivate interdisciplinary debates and welcomes work from across fields, such as history, literature, philosophy, etc. Perspectives on understudied relations among multiple migrant communities and/or contact zones are especially desired. Application Information For consideration, those interested are invited submit a paper title (15 words max.), abstract (200 words max.), and brief biographical note (50 words max.) to this form by December 19th, 2025: https://forms.office.com/e/yzcmdrraee. Scholars at all career stages are highly encouraged to apply, and all applicants will be informed of acceptance by the end of January. [not all information will fit here, so please contact laura.francis@mu.ie for a full text document!]

After a short posting hiatus, I'm very excited to share this CFP...

📢 Migration and the Early Modern Spanish Empire
📆 Conference dates: June 10–12, 2026
📝 Application deadline: December 19, 2025

Submissions very welcome from all #earlymodern disciplines — please do consider applying and sharing!

What exactly did 100 ‘reales’ get newly trained students returning to Ireland in the 1600s? According to Cristina Bravo Lozano in Spain and the Irish Mission: sea passage, liturgical books, and civilian clothing to hide from hostile English authorities (80).

#SkyStorians #EarlyModern #IrishHistory

How much were migrants given to return home on the Irish Mission? In a letter from 1642, a rector requests 100 reales for two newly trained students [‘a cada qual ciento’] who he described as virtuous and good-natured [‘gente virtuosa y sonrrada’].

#Archives #Skystorians #EarlyModern #IrishHistory

Looking back on my own recent travels as I read more about early modern migrants who made their way back to Ireland, and I can see why Malin Head was picked as a Star Wars filming spot. Still struck by the mood of the sea even on a quiet drizzly day…

#Films #Coast #Travel #Nature #Ireland #StarWars

Many Irish migrants answered the call to return from Iberia and promote Catholicism in Ireland. From the early 1600s, as Cristina Bravo Lozano details in Spain and the Irish Mission, over a thousand clergy applied for travel funds to this end [‘viatica’].

#SkyStorians #EarlyModern #IrishHistory

What exactly was the religious work of Irish migrants in Iberia? According to a
papal note from 1623, they were training for the Irish Mission [‘missionis in
Hiberniam’] — a duty to return home and preach Catholicism amid expanding
Protestant rule.

#Archives #Skystorians #EarlyModern #IrishHistory

Castle atop a small hill on a rugged coast at the golden hour of sunset, with the rocky beach and bright green grass in the foreground.

Grateful for a fascinating trip up to Donegal! Especially interesting to learn about Sir Cahir O'Doherty — last Gaelic lord of Inishowen and English ally-turned-rebel from the early 1600s — after this epic view of Carrickabraghy Castle.

#Castles #Coasts #Skystorians #EarlyModern #IrishHistory

Irish migrants used Spanish to reject English stereotypes in the 1610s. When English edicts called them a pestilence in the land [‘pestilencia de la tierra’], the Irish took pride in the incredible fruits of their religious work [‘increible fruto’].

#Archives #Skystorians #EarlyModern #IrishHistory

Even high-ranking English leaders made the Irish-Moor-Morisco connection. As Barbara Fuchs notes in ‘Spanish Lessons’, Sir Arthur Chichester linked ‘desperate and rebellious courses’ with the ‘white [O’]Moores’ and the elided Celtic ‘O’ in a 1609 report (50).

#Skystorians #EarlyModern #IrishHistory

Purple flowers with a yellow center in the sun in an urban garden.

Can’t resist a last summer photo after spotting these lovely flowers in north Dublin… The sun is offering some clarity as I think through more surprising Irish (dis)connections with groups like the Moriscos, i.e., Muslim-Christian converts in Iberia.

#Nature #AmReading #EarlyModern #BloomScrolling

Irish refugees may have felt pressure to define themselves against Muslim-Christian converts in Iberia. As Ciaran O’Scea writes in Surviving Kinsale, English writers linked them via slurs — ‘barbarousness, and brutishness’ — to justify persecution (212).

#Skystorians #EarlyModern #IrishHistory

Early Irish migrants sometimes defined themselves against other persecuted groups. In 1610, an altar marked one college's founding as the year Muslim-Christian converts were expelled from Iberia as so-called enemies of the faith [‘enemigos de la fe’].

#Migration #Archives #EarlyModern #IrishHistory

A mix of bright yellow and purple flowers in soft sunlight, against a backdrop of other greenery.

More happy Friday flowers! Taking a bit of a break from Irish materials today to prep for teaching, especially excited about some multilingual medieval ‘jarchas’ and ‘moaxajas’ in Arabic, Hebrew, and the first traces of Romance languages in Iberia…

#Lit #Nature #Medieval #AmReading #BloomScrolling

Efforts to fight corruption and protect the persecuted weren’t always rewarded. In 1659, for example, the Inquisition dealt a death blow to the former Irish-Iberian student Lamport — a “tragically unsurprising” fate according to O’Connor’s book (115).

#Migration #Archives #EarlyModern #IrishHistory

Some practiced ideals taught in Irish-Iberian colleges. As Thomas O’Connor writes in Irish Voices from the Spanish Inquisition, former student William Lamport defended Jewish-Christian converts and drafted plans for “the liberation of slaves” (105–8).

#Migration #Archives #EarlyModern #IrishHistory

Light fuchsia pink flowers and greenery lit in the afternoon sun.

Great to be back in Ireland and catching the last bits of summer! Sending these lovely flowers I spotted into the world for the weekend as I mull over my archival finds from the months away.

#Nature #Walking #Dublin #LoveIrishResearch

p.s. Anyone know their name? (Seems to be some kind of rose?)

Early Irish exiles also learned to treat strangers as friends and friends as strangers in Iberia. That way, says one manual, friends would return to the faith and strangers wouldn’t leave it [“para que estos se le buevan, y aquellos no se le vayan”].

#Migration #Archives #EarlyModern #IrishHistory

Early Irish exiles were taught a wide range of approaches to the world in their new Iberian colleges. In a book by Luis de León from 1603, for instance, the author highlights that one cannot live without loving: “no se puede vivir sin amar”.

#Migration #Archives #EarlyModern #IrishHistory

For now, summer research wrapped! Looking forward to my first proper vacation in a long time, but one last find before I go... always thought medievalists had the best animal illustrations, but I love this dog who is just not having any of the epic drama here.

#Art #Engraving #Archives #EarlyModern

Early Irish-Iberian students also met other communities facing exile. From encounters with moriscos (Muslim converts to Christianity) to conversos (Jewish converts to Christianity), more to come on intersections with purity laws and the Inquisition…

#Migration #Archives #EarlyModern #IrishHistory

Irish-Iberian migrants did meet strong everyday women. Despite silence in early college records, traces surface in property notes (“la dicha Doña Elvira”), legal debts (41,854 maravedís to Antonia de Céspedes), and printed books (by Antonia Ramírez).

#Migration #Archives #EarlyModern #IrishHistory

Photograph of running and cycling path by the river, with trees and other greenery along the sides.

Going to miss running here! Such a good spot to think through all the reading lately... For my last full week with the early Irish-Iberian migrant book collection: Saint Patrick stories, Middle Eastern pilgrimages, and semi-censored Spanish miscellanea.

#Run #BookSky #AmReading #Nature #Salamanca

The first Irish-Iberian college book collection echoes gender views in its manuscripts. Some texts praise Biblical women with epic visions of their virtues, while others, like the 1603 treatise on “The Perfect Wife”, stress silence for everyday women.

#Migration #Archives #EarlyModern #IrishHistory

Female figures don’t always hold power in Irish-Iberian archives. Some texts show strong visions of Mary, but others exclude women from certain Irish waters and even warn of death upon entry: “… una que tuvo atrevimiento de tentarlo se avia ahogado…”

#Migration #Archives #EarlyModern #IrishHistory

View of the cathedral in Salamanca bathed in golden morning light.

Morning view from the University of Salamanca’s reading room. Grateful for a cool breeze after the heat wave as I dive into books owned by the first Irish-Iberian college exiles, including Marian devotions, Japanese geographies, and Greek tragedies.

#Art #Architecture #BookSky #AmReading #Salamanca

Fantastical stories of Ireland include rare mentions of female figures in Irish-Iberian college records. In 1609, someone allegedly tried to remove an image of the Virgin Mary from Kilkenny—and it fought back: a piece “leapt… and plucked out his eye.”

#Migration #Archives #EarlyModern #IrishHistory

Women left an uneven presence in early Irish-Iberian college records. While few manuscripts mention any women so far (13 out of 104), almost all the printed book paratexts do (21 out of 24). Both feisty and unfortunate examples to come…

#Migration #Archives #EarlyModern #IrishHistory #WomensHistory

Yes, absolutely! And unfortunately not very well known in the anglophone world from what I've noticed, even though it was translated into English along with Don Quixote multiple times in the 1600s...

Statue for the novella Lazarillo de Tormes by the river Tormes in Salamanca, showing the young rogue protagonist leading a blind man.

For the literature nerds like me! A statue for Lazarillo de Tormes — an early first-person novella about a wily rogue working his way up the social ladder out of poverty that’s seen as a precursor to modern fiction and the likes of Don Quixote.

#Books #BookSky #Literature #FamousAuthors #Salamanca

Early Irish exiles didn’t always form cohesive communities abroad. According to the first Irish-Iberian college history, some suspected bias for student intake [“the great majority were Munstermen… to the great prejudice… of Connaught and of Ulster”].

#Migration #Archives #EarlyModern #IrishHistory