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Scholars from various disciplines have long discussed the role that rituals and ceremonies have played in the way monarchies, representative institutions, and state authorities function. This discussion has generated significant changes in the way these practices are perceived today. As a result, specific events (such as coronations, solemn entries or openings of parliaments, but also daily ceremonial routines of princely courts) are no longer approached merely in a descriptive way, but rather, analysed and interpreted as the primary means of communication between different participants in political and courtly life.Our conference, Rituals of Power, aims to address the subject of ceremonial and ritual in the sphere of politics from this perspective. We hope to bring together scholars from the fields of cultural, political, diplomatic and court history, as well as art historians and historians of literature, to discuss in a comparative fashion the results of their research on ceremonial and ritual ranging from the late medieval period to the mid-20th century.We would like especially to encourage proposals addressing:The communicative power of ceremonies and ritualsThe role of ceremonies and rituals as cultural/artistic eventsThe evolution and change of ceremonies and rituals over timeThe strengths and weaknesses of current scholarly approaches to the study of ceremony and rituals&#160;Please email proposals for 20 minute papers in English or Polish to: conference@zamek-krolewski.pl by 15 February 2016. They should include a title, an abstract of up to 300 words, a brief biography, contact information, and any institutional affiliations. The Organizing Committee will inform authors of the acceptance of their abstracts by 15 March 2016.