Welcome back to Trinity term.
There have been a substantial number of new additions to the booklet since the draft issued last week – please have a check through the updated booklet here for even more medieval events throughout the term. For some time-sensitive announcements (such as the call for actors for an experimental production of the Harrowing of Hell) read through to the end under ‘opportunities’! A reminder that if there are any changes to events such as rooms or times, we are always happy to update the weekly blog post and calendar of events which is integrated into theblog.
Monday
- French Palaeography Manuscript Reading Group – 10:30, Weston Library. If you are interested in joining the group or would like more information, please email the convenor Laure Miolo.
- Runic Germanic Inscriptions and Language Lectures – 2:00, room 30.445 of the Schwarzman Centre
- Medieval History Seminar: – 5:00, All Souls College. Ruth Mazo Karras (Trinity College, Dublin) will be speaking on ‘Parental control of women’s marriage in late medieval Paris’
- Italian Research Seminar – 5:15, Taylorian, Room 2. Geri Della Rocca de Candal (Sapienza) will be speaking on ‘Italian Incunabula in US Collections: Paths, Patterns, and Investigation Methods’
Tuesday
- Latin Palaeography Manuscript Reading Group – 2pm, Weston Library. Those who are interested can email the convenor Laure Miolo.
- Medieval French Research Seminar – 5:00, Maison Francaise. Benedetta Viscidi (Université de Fribourg) will be speaking on ‘Représentations et mythes du viol dans la littérature médiévale en français: le cas du roman’
Wednesday
- Methods in Arabic and Islamic Studies Class – 10:30, LMH Library.
- Medieval German Graduate Seminar – 11:15, Oriel College. The first week will be a shortish planning meeting. The topic for this term is the ‘Welsche Gast’ by Thomasin von Zerklaere.
- Old Norse Reading Group – 5:00, Merton College, Breakfast Room. This term we are reading Völsunga saga. If you are interested in joining the group, please contact one of the group convenors via email Brooklyn Arnot or Zeynep Kirca.
- The Medieval Latin Documentary Palaeography Reading Group – 4:00, online. To join and/or to find out more about this and the possibility of some hands-on experience of cataloguing such documents to develop further your research skills, please contact Michael Stansfield.
- Late Antique and Byzantine Seminar – 5:00, Late Antique and Byzantine Seminar, Ioannou Centre. The Oxford University Byzantine Society will discuss their Research Trip to Sicily.
- Medieval English Research Seminar – 5:15, The Schwarzman Centre, room 00.063. Emma Nuding (U of Birmingham) will be speaking on ‘Writing the early medieval Fens: place in the medieval and modern lives of St Guthlac’.
Thursday
- Middle English Reading Group (MERG) – 11:00, Lincoln College, Beckington Room. All are welcome as we finish Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Bring any edition of the original text! There will be tea and biscuits. For more information or to be added to the mailing list, please email Rebecca Menmuir.
- Old English Graduate Reading Group – 5:15. This term we will be reading some of the Exeter Riddles. Our Location is variable so please email Hattie (harriet.carter@lmh.ox.ac.uk) or James (james.titterington@stcatz.ox.ac.uk) if you’re interested.
- Heraldry Society – 5:30, Oriel College. Mark Scott (Somerset Herald) will be speaking on “Princely Heraldry in the United Kingdom”.
- Bede Reading Group (or, ‘Bede-ing Group’) – 6:00, Blackfriars. To sign up, email Maura McKeon. Don’t stop Bede-lieving.
Friday
- Medievalist Coffee Morning – Friday 10:30, Visiting Scholars Centre (Weston Library). All welcome, coffee and insight into special collections provided.
- Medieval Latin Reading Group – 5:30, Christ Church. This term, we will be reading the Cosmographia of Bernardus Silvestris in the original. For more information, please contact Clara Bykvist or Monty Powell.
Saturday (!)
- Workshop on Late Medieval German Drama -11:30, Taylorian Room 2. Everybody is invited to the workshops who is interested in creative dramatic translation, or pre-modern German, or liturgical music, or an intersection of these. Please register your interest with Henrike Lähnemann or Carlos Rodríguez Otero; free lunch included.
Opportunities (see Medieval Studies booklet for full details)
- The experimental production of the Harrowing of Hell is seeking performers. We will be performing our play in week 6 (2 to 6 June) at the Burton Taylor Studio, from 9:30 to 10:30pm and in week 7 (9 to 11 June, tbc) in the crypt of St-Peter-in-the-East (St Edmund Hall), from 8 to 9pm. We are still missing three roles (Adam, Eve, and a demon; all backgrounds welcome, aged 18+). More information can be found here.
- OMS small grants is now open! Grants are normally in the region of £100–250 and can either be for expenses or for administrative and organisational support such as publicity, filming or zoom hosting. Closing date for applications: Friday of Week 5.
- Publishing with the Journal Manuscript and Text Cultures. Are you interested in submitting to the journal Manuscript and Text Cultures? Please review the About the Journal page.
- Register for the Anglo-German Research Funding Opportunities Showcase, Wednesday, 13 May • 2 PM – 5:30 PM | Eventbrite. The Global Engagement team will host representatives from some of the major German and UK funding bodies (DFG, The Royal Society, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Royal Academy of Engineering and more) at Rhodes House; for Early Career People as well as established researchers!
- Sir John Rhŷs Prize for the study of the Celtic languages, literature, history, and antiquities. Entries should be submitted by email, with the subject line “Sir John Rhŷs Prize”, to the English Faculty Office, no later than Monday of Week 8 of Trinity Term (15 June 2026).
- CfP – 9th International Conference on Myth Criticism. Deadline: 15 May 2026
- CfP – The Nine Worthies: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Deadline: 15 May 2026
- Bodleian Purchasing Opportunity. Do you know of books that would aid your work but are not in the Bodleian? Help us strengthen the university’s collections. You can submit details of suggested books via https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/collections-and-resources/recommend-a-purchase or by email to medieval@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.