Mendicant Networks and Mobility in the Global Medieval and Early Modern Worlds
A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Humanities/Philosophies".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 23
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue invites original contributions on the role of mendicant orders—particularly Franciscans and Dominicans—in shaping religious, intellectual, and cultural connectivity across the medieval and early modern worlds. From their emergence in the thirteenth century to their expansion across Asia, the Islamic world, and the Americas in the early modern period, mendicant friars developed extensive and adaptable networks of mobility that linked local communities to transregional and transcontinental spaces.
The Special Issue is situated at the intersection of mendicant studies and broader historiographical debates on mobility, expansion, and global connectivity. It builds on foundational scholarship on medieval expansion and cultural transformation, on connected histories across the Mediterranean and Eurasia, and on research into missionary mobility and the globalization of knowledge in the early modern world, including the circulation of objects, images, relics, and material practices that mediated cultural and religious exchange. Together, these approaches provide a shared conceptual framework for understanding mendicant orders as key agents in processes of religious expansion, cultural mediation, and the circulation of knowledge across premodern global contexts.
The Special Issue welcomes contributions that examine mendicant mobility in its multiple dimensions, including missionary activity, diplomatic and political encounters, the circulation of texts and knowledge, the mobility of objects and material culture (such as relics, images, books, ritual items, or gifts), and cross-cultural or interreligious interactions. Articles may address mendicant experiences and networks in Europe and the Mediterranean, in Asia—including China, Japan, and the Islamic world—and in the Americas, as well as the connections linking these regions.
By adopting a long-term perspective that bridges medieval and early modern historiographies, this Special Issue aims to reassess mendicant orders as central actors in the making of a connected premodern world. Interdisciplinary approaches and comparative case studies are particularly encouraged.
We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor, Dr. Anna Busquets Alemany (abusquetsa@uoc.edu), or to the Assistant Editor of Religions, Dr. Ana Vujković Šakanović (vujkovic.sakanovic@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editor for the purpose of ensuring their proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Prof. Dr. Anna Busquets Alemany
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- mendicant orders
- Franciscans
- Dominicans
- missionary activity
- mobility networks
- medieval history
- early modern history
- material culture
- knowledge circulation
- cross-cultural interaction
- religious exchange
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