{"id":21462,"date":"2026-05-03T04:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T04:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/?page_id=21462"},"modified":"2026-05-03T04:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T04:42:08","slug":"puca-2026-congress","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/abstracts\/puca-2026-congress\/","title":{"rendered":"Puca (2026 Congress)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Angela Puca<br \/>\n(<em>Leeds Trinity University<\/em>)<\/h2>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">Abstract of Paper<br \/>\npresented at the 61st International Congress on Medieval Studies<br \/>\n(Kalamazoo, 2026)<\/h3>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/2026-international-congress-on-medieval-studies-program\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2026 International Congress on Medieval Studies: Program<\/a><\/h4>\n<h3>Session on<br \/>\n&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/icms.confex.com\/icms\/2026\/prelim.cgi\/Session\/7200\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Alchemy of Learning:<br \/>\nMagic, Pedagogy, and Public Engagement<\/a>&#8220;<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sponsored by <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Societas Magica<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Research Group on Manuscript Evidence<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Organized by<\/h4>\n<h4>Veronica Menaldi (<em>Independent Scholar \/ Societas Magica<\/em>)<\/h4>\n<h3>Paper Title:<\/h3>\n<h2>&#8220;From Inquisition Records to Public Humanities:<br \/>\nTeaching The Medieval Roots<br \/>\nof Italian Witchcraft and Vernacular Healing&#8221;<\/h2>\n<h3>Abstract:<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div>This paper examines how the medieval history of the Italian <em>segnatura<\/em>, a vernacular healing practice combining traced signs and spoken formulas, can serve as both a research subject and a pedagogical tool for connecting medieval sources with contemporary audiences. Drawing on inquisitorial records from sixteenth-century Modena, Bologna, and Parma, I explore how women\u2019s ritual gestures, often involving the sign of the cross accompanied by biblical fragments and local incantations, occupied a liminal position between orthodox blessing and illicit superstition. The analysis situates these practices within the broader context of late medieval concerns over sacramental authority, domestic care, and gendered access to sacred power. I then trace the <em>segnatura<\/em>\u2019s survival into the early modern period and its reframing in modern ethnography, highlighting its value for teaching archival interpretation, reading silences in the record, and understanding the politics of categorisation in religious history.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>In my academic work on esotericism and Italian witchcraft, these medieval sources become the basis for research projects that blend historical method with reflexive analysis, while my public work through Angela\u2019s Symposium adapts them for a broader audience through digital media. The <em>segnatura<\/em> thus offers a case study in how medievalists can bridge specialist research, critical pedagogy, and public engagement while addressing questions of authenticity, appropriation, and the resilience of vernacular religious traditions.<\/div>\n<p>*********<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Angela Puca (Leeds Trinity University) Abstract of Paper presented at the 61st International Congress on Medieval Studies (Kalamazoo, 2026) 2026 International Congress on Medieval Studies: Program Session on &#8220;The Alchemy of Learning: Magic, Pedagogy, and Public Engagement&#8220; Sponsored by Societas Magica Research Group on Manuscript Evidence Organized by Veronica Menaldi (Independent Scholar \/ Societas Magica) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":1023,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21462"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21462"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21468,"href":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21462\/revisions\/21468"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}