Author: Tristan Alphey

Medieval Matters MT26, Wk2

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19/10/2026

09:09

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Call for Papers, events, Medieval Matters, News, opportunities

,

Welcome to week 2, and another full set of events.  As always, please find attached the new booklet of events for this term. 

We are very sorry to have to mark the death, far too young, of Professor Chris Wickham, former Chichele Professor of Medieval History and supporter and friend to medieval studies at Oxford.  Chris treated everyone in the medieval community alike, whether they be first-year undergraduates or fellow professors, and he was interested in (and tried to attend, as much as he could) everything that was going on. You can read the OMS obituary here.

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.
  • Books Medievalists Should Know – 2:00, Lincoln College. The focus this weeks is The Bible, introduced by Dr Cosima Gillhammer.
  • Greek Palaeography Manuscript Reading Group – 15:00, Horton Room Weston Library. Contact Péter Tóth for further details.
  • Medieval Archaeology Seminar – 3;00, Instittue of Archaeology. Jessica Nutt on ‘Passive or Peripheral? Rethinking Viking Conflict in Early Medieval Wales’.
  • Medieval History Seminar: – 5:00, All Souls College. Rory Naismith (Corpus Christi College, Cambridge) on “Rethinking Offa of Mercia”.
  • Medieval Latin Reading Group – 5.30pm in Merton College. The text this term is Ysengrimus.

Tuesday

  • Latin Palaeography Manuscript Reading Group – 2pm, Weston Library. SPECIAL SESSION – Dr Sofia Orsino (Richard Sharpe Memorial Visiting Fellow at the Weston Library) on  ‘From Twelfth-Century French Classrooms to Italian Humanistic Libraries. Texts ad travels of a Latin manuscript in the Canonici collection’. Those who are interested can email the convenor Laure Miolo.
  • Byzantine Literature Lectures – 4:00, Kloppenburg Room, Exeter College.

Wednesday

  • Centre for Manuscript and Text Cultures – 11:00, Weston Library. Chinese Special Collections Masterclass with Mamtimyn Sunuodula (Head of East Asian Materials, Bodleian Libraries). (NB: No bags, food or drink allowed; please leave in lobby lockers)
  • Medieval German Graduate Seminar – 11:15, Somerville College. The topics for the term will be Frauenlob, Kreuzleich and Minneleich. If you are interested to be added to the teams group for updates, please contact Almut Suerbaum
  • Christine de Pizan & Gender in the Late Middle Ages Seminar – 2:00, Weston Library. Prof. Helen Swift (Oxford) on “Encountering Christine de Pizan in 2026”; Prof. Andrea Valentini (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle), on ‘ Lire les textes de Christine de Pizan autrement ‘ (please note that Prof. Valentini’s presentation will be in French).
  • Byzantine Text Seminar – 3:00, Kloppenberg Room, Exeter College.
  • Old Norse Reading Group – 4:00. Please email Brooklyn Arnold for the location
  • 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, Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies. Hallie G. Meredith on ‘Women’s Work: A Social History of Late Antique Industrial Glass Producers’.
  • Bede Reading Group – 6:00, Blackfriars. Bede, wine, and merriment – all are welcome.

Thursday

  • Middle English Reading Group (MERG) – 10:00, Beckington Room, Lincoln College. The text this year is Troilus and Criseyde. 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.
  • Medieval English Research Seminar – 12:15, room 00.018 in the Humanities Centre. Laura Kalas (U of Swansea) on ‘A reproductive imaginary: the medieval Pinea and women ’s visionary writings’.
  • Medieval Women’s Writing Research Seminar – 4:00, Magdalen College (meet at lodge). The Art of Storytelling, including extracts from the works of Murasaki Shikibu and Marie de France
  • Seminars in Medieval and Renaissance Music – 5:00, online. David Catalunya (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) on ‘Divine Harmony in Bronze Pipes: The Bethlehem Organ as a Practical Source for Pythagorean Theory’. See booklet for sign-up form.
  • Celtic Seminar – 5:15, Room 00.056 in the Humanities Centre and online. Brendan Kane (Connecticut) on ‘An early modern Gaelic Atlantic? Center and periphery in Irish political thought, c. 1600–1840’.
  • Compline in the Crypt – 9:30, St Edmund Hall

Friday

  • Medievalist Coffee Morning – 10:30, Weston Library. Gary Rendsburg will speak on Queen Elizabeth’s Book of Oxford. Coffee and tea provided
  • Exploring Medieval Oxford through Surviving Archives – 2:00, Magdalen College. As space is limited, registration is required. Those interested in participating are invited to contact Laure Miolo
  • Church historian pub trip – 6:00, The Chequers.

Opportunities (see booklet for more info)

  • CfP – Unexpected Journeys: New Pathways through Iberian History. More information here.
  • Call for Readers of Early New High German for the launch of a Hans Sachs dialogue on 30 October. More information
  • Call for Committee Members: Oxford Medieval Graduate Conference 2027 – contact ox********@***il.com.
  • OMS Small Grants open. Closing date for applications: Friday of Week 4. More information.
  • Medieval Afterlives: Cultural Programme Open Call – investment of up to £10,000, see booklet.
  • The Multicultural Middle Ages podcast proposal for 6th season. Applications are due October 15th.
  • Medieval Manors Research Network/Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program at the University of Notre Dame. Art (History), English, German / Slavic / Eurasian, History and Philosophy of Science, Initiative on Race and Resilience, Philosophy, Romance Languages, Theology; international applications and medievalists welcome!
  • Publishing with the Journal Manuscript and Text Cultures – see booklet for details.
  • John W. Baldwin Post -Doctoral Fellowship. A two-year position beginning July 1, 2027, for recent Ph.D. recipients whose work focuses on European medieval studies within a global comparative context. The application deadline is November 13, 2026 .

CfP: Unexpected Journeys: New Pathways through Iberian History

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19/10/2026

09:06

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Call for Papers, conference, opportunities

The Association for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies (ASPHS) invites you
to participate in our 56th Annual Conference which will take place at Exeter College,
University of Oxford, between 22 and 25 June 2027.


This year’s theme is ‘Unexpected Journeys: New Pathways through Iberian History’.
Our theme is intended to inspire rather than delimit submissions and, as in past
years, the ASPHS invites contributions on any aspect of Iberian and Iberian-Atlantic
history, art history, or literature, from the early medieval to the modern day.
Applicants are encouraged to consider and creatively interpret the following
suggestions in their proposals:

  • Uncommon perspectives and history from the margins
  • Intersections of people, texts, or ideas on the move
  • Journeys in time: transhistorical approaches
  • Entangled paths: global and transnational approaches within and beyond
    Iberia
  • Crossing boundaries: linguistic, religious, cultural, material
  • Interrogating archives: critical approaches to material, visual, sonic records

We welcome proposals for panels (three speakers and a chairperson), individual
papers or roundtable discussions on a particular work or theme. Proposals should
include a 200-word abstract for each paper and a one-page curriculum vitae for each
participant. Proposals are due by 15 January 2027 to AS*******@***********ac.uk.
Papers will be delivered in-person and participants must be members of the
ASPHS.


Keynote speakers: Mary Vincent (University of Sheffield) and Rebecca Earle
(University of Warwick).


The conference is organised by Giuseppe Marcocci (University of Oxford), Karoline
Cook (Royal Holloway, University of London), Matthew Kerry (University of Oxford)
and Teresa Witcombe (University of Oxford).


The ASPHS will provide a limited number of $300 travel grants to graduate students
presenting at the conference. Preference will be given to first-time presenters and
those who have not previously received this grant. If you wish to apply for a grant
please fill out this application when you submit your proposal to the conference.
Questions can be addressed to pr*******@***hs.net.


The ASPHS will also provide modest grants to defray the costs of childcare for
conference participants. If you wish to be considered for these grants, please send
an email to pr*******@***hs.ne

Medieval Matters MT26, Wk1

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11/10/2026

17:25

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Medieval Matters, News

, ,

It’s a new year! Welcome to all newcomers, and welcome back to the more seasoned members of the community. As always, we have a new booklet of events for this term. Please note the Oxford Medieval Studies Welcome Event this Tuesday at 5, held at Harris Manchester. Tea and Coffee provided, and a chance to meet new people and to get the term off to a great start!

Two further announcements: 1) Keep an eye open for anybody who would like to be on the mailing list (particularly new graduate students) – anybody from around the world can join by simply pressing the subscribe button on our homepage. 2) Consider writing a blog post announcing any event you are organising or about your research; see the blogpost on Peter Payne: A Forgotten Great European for the documentation on the fascinating Oxford character of the learned English Hussite Peter Payne (includes some recorded talks and a surreal animated film).

One final bit of housekeeping: if there are changes to the events after the email has been sent, we will update this both in the Google calendar and in the weekly blogpost on which the emails are based but won’t send round further emails to keep this a low-traffic mailing list.

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.
  • Greek Palaeography Manuscript Reading Group – 15:00, Horton Room Weston Library. Contact Péter Tóth for further details.
  • Medieval History Seminar: – 5:00, All Souls College. Erin Daley (Leicester) and Seth Stadel (AMES, Oxford) will be speaking on “Domestic Slavery and Sexual Exploitation in the Households of Late Antiquity: Conclusions and
  • Questions after Five Years of Collaborative Research’. Alternatively, see booklet to join online.
  • Medieval Latin Reading Group – 5.30pm in Merton College. The text this term is Ysengrimus.

Tuesday

  • Latin Palaeography Manuscript Reading Group – 2pm, Weston Library. Those who are interested can email the convenor Laure Miolo.
  • Byzantine Literature Lectures – 4:00, Kloppenburg Room, Exeter College.
  • Oxford Medieval Studies Welcome Event – 5:00, Harris Manchester College. Tea, coffee, biscuits, catching up and making new friends – everyone warmly welcome!

Wednesday

  • Medieval German Graduate Seminar – 11:15, Somerville College . This first meeting is a short planning session – the topics for the term will be Frauenlob, Kreuzleich and Minneleich. If you are interested to be added to the teams group for updates, please contact Almut Suerbaum
  • Byzantine Text Seminar – 3:00, Kloppenberg Room, Exeter College.
  • Old Norse Reading Group – 4:00. Please email Brooklyn Arnold for the location
  • 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.
  • Bede Reading Group – 6:00, Blackfriars. Bede, wine, and merriment – all are welcome.

Thursday

  • Middle English Reading Group (MERG) – 10:00, Beckington Room, Lincoln College. The text this year is Troilus and Criseyde. 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.
  • Medieval English Research Seminar – 12:15, room 00.018 in the Humanities Centre. Nicola McDonald (York) will be speaking on ‘Writing exercises, pious and obscene, in Oxford, University College, MS 142’.
  • Older Scots Reading Group – 3:00, Room 30.401 in the Humanities Centre. No preparation required. All are welcome. There may be snacks!
  • Celtic Seminar – Room 00.056 in the Humanities Centre and online. Mary-Ann Constantine, Elizabeth Edwards, Rhys Kaminski-Jones & Ffion Mair Jones will be speaking on ‘Thomas Pennant 300: Launching new digital editions of the Tours in Wales (1778 & 1781)’.
  • Compline in the Crypt – 9:30, St Edmund Hall

Friday

  • Medievalist Coffee Morning – 10:30, Weston Library. Laura Cracknell will be speaking on ‘History of photography at the Bodleian’. Coffee and tea provided
  • Exploring Medieval Oxford through Surviving Archives – 2:00, Magdalen College. As space is limited, registration is required. Those interested in participating are invited to contact Laure Miolo

Opportunities (see booklet for more info)

  • Call for Readers of Early New High German for the launch of a Hans Sachs dialogue on 30 October. More information
  • Call for Committee Members: Oxford Medieval Graduate Conference 2027 – contact ox********@***il.com.
  • OMS Small Grants open. Closing date for applications: Friday of Week 4. More information.
  • Medieval Afterlives: Cultural Programme Open Call – investment of up to £10,000, see booklet.
  • The Multicultural Middle Ages podcast proposal for 6th season. Applications are due October 15th.
  • Medieval Manors Research Network/Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program at the University of Notre Dame. Art (History), English, German / Slavic / Eurasian, History and Philosophy of Science, Initiative on Race and Resilience, Philosophy, Romance Languages, Theology; international applications and medievalists welcome!
  • Publishing with the Journal Manuscript and Text Cultures – see booklet for details.
  • John W. Baldwin Post -Doctoral Fellowship. A two-year position beginning July 1, 2027, for recent Ph.D. recipients whose work focuses on European medieval studies within a global comparative context. The application deadline is November 13, 2026 .

Medieval Matter TT26, Wk 8

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15/06/2026

09:13

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events, Medieval Matters, News, opportunities, Uncategorized

,

At last, week 8!

We’d like to put together a survey of all the medieval opportunities and events that have taken place this year. If you’ve run a seminar series, reading group, or workshop, at any point this year, I would be very grateful if you’d send me a short report for inclusion by the end of the week.

For your diary: St Edmund Hall is hosting a workshop entitled Peter Payne: A Forgotten Great European from 30 September – 1 October 2026, exploring connectedness in European cultural development and the emergence, as a result of joint artistic and scholarly endeavour, of modern local and common European identity. More information, including how to register, can be found here. The Compline on Thursday in the crypt of St-Peter-in-the-East will be a full Night Office devised by Henry Parkes to resemble that sung by a female monastic community in Northern Germany in post-pentecostal time; starting 9.30pm and probably lasting a couple of hours, so not for the faint-hearted but certainly worthwhile!

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 (Anna Morpurgo Davies Room) of the Schwarzman Centre.
  • Medieval History Seminar: – 5:00, All Souls College. Serena Ferente (University of Amsterdam) will be speaking on ‘Girls in the Global Middle Ages: three case-studies from the 13th to the 15th centuries’. Prosecco will be served to celebrate the end of term.
  • Inaugural Lecture of theologian and medievalist Andrew Davison on ‘the Creed in Music’ – 5pm, in the Concert Hall of the Humanities Centre (currently sold out but try your luck at the door).
  • Italian Research Seminars – 5:15, Taylor Institute Library. Arielle Saiber (Johns Hopkins) will be speaking on ‘Neither Here, Nor There: Directionality in Dante’s Paradiso‘.

Tuesday

  • Forgotten Libraries (Centre for Manuscript and Text Cultures: International Workshop) – 9:00, The Queen’s College. For more information: https://medieval.ox.ac.uk/forgotten-libraries/
  • Latin Palaeography Manuscript Reading Group – 2pm, Weston Library. Those who are interested can email the convenor Laure Miolo.
  • Early Modern Diplomacy Seminar 1400-1800 – 4.15, Schwartzman 20.402. Marcos Marinho Fernandes (Aix-Marseille Université) will be speaking on ‘Comparing Royal Matrimonial Diplomatic Strategies between Portugal, Spain, France, and the Habsburgs, 1490-1519’. 
  • Medieval Visual Culture Seminar – 4:30, The Queen’s College. Ben Saltzman (University of Chicago) will be speaking on ‘Turning Away: The Poetics of an Ancient Gesture’. Co-sponsored with the Early Medieval Britain & Ireland + the Medieval English Research Seminars.

Wednesday

  • Forgotten Libraries (Centre for Manuscript and Text Cultures: International Workshop) – 9:00, The Queen’s College. For more information: https://medieval.ox.ac.uk/forgotten-libraries/
  • Methods in Arabic and Islamic Studies Class – 10:30, LMH Library.
  • Medieval German Graduate Seminar – 11:15, Oriel College. For the final session of the Medieval German Graduate Seminar, Prof. Markus Stock (Toronto) will talk about his project Medieval Undergrounds under the title “Lithic Enclosures: Limitations and Expansions im wilden steine  in Medieval German Romance”, dealing with Trevrizent’s cell in Wolfram’s ‘Parzival’, the Minnegrotte in Gottfried’s ‘Tristan’, Jerome’s realm in Friedrich von Schwaben etc.
  • Old Norse Reading Group – 4:00, Merton College, Americas 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.
  • Magdalen Lecture – 5:00, Magdalen College Auditorium. Professor Benjamin Pohl will be speaking on ‘Food for Thought—The Bayeux Tapestry Revisited’. Free tickets can be booked here.
  • David Patterson Lecture – 5:00, Clarendon Institute. Elisheva Baumgarten (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) will be speaking on ‘Shared Words: Jews, Christians and Prayer in Medieval Europe’.
  • Late Antique and Byzantine Seminar – 5:00, Late Antique and Byzantine Seminar, Ioannou Centre. Tassos Papacostas (London) will be speaking on ‘The Cult of Saint Mamas between Cyprus and Venice in the 16th Century: A Patron Saint of Shepherds Promoted by the Urban Elite’.
  • Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Seminar – 5:00, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. Dr Afifi Al-Akiti (University of Oxford) will be speaking on ‘The Imago Dei and Human Dignity in Islamic Tradition’.

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. 
  • Medieval Women’s Writing Research Seminar- 4:00, Somerville College. Celebration and Praise, including extracts from the works of Christine de Pizan and Sara al-Halabiyya.
  • Centre for Manuscript and Text Cultures: Global Manuscript and Text Cultures Seminar – 5:15, The Queen’s College. Jessica Rahardjo (Khalili Research Centre) will be speaking on ‘A Critical Edition and Translation of Ṣirāṭ al-Mustaqīm: a 17thc Malay Shāfi’ī Legal Text’; Shane Patrick (Wolfson) will be speaking on ‘The Debate of Abu Qurrah and its Manuscript Circulation’.
  • The Khalili Research Centre Seminar – 5:15, KRC Lecture Room. Jun Muzaffer Özgüleş (Barakat Trust Postdoctoral Fellow, KRC ) will be speaking on ‘Historicising and Visualising the Evolution of Ottoman Architecture in Istanbul from the Mid-fifteenth to the Early Twentieth Century’.
  • Bede Reading Group (or, ‘Bede-ing Group’) – 6:00, Blackfriars. To sign up, email Maura McKeon. Don’t stop Bede-lieving.
  • Special Compline i– 9.30pm in the crypt of St-Peter-in-the-East (St Edmund Hall), devised by Henry Parkes.

Friday

  • Medievalist Coffee Morning – 10:30, Visiting Scholars Centre (Weston Library). All welcome, coffee and insight into special collections provided.
  • Older Scots Reading Group – 3:00, Schwarzman room 30.401. No intensive preparation required. All are welcome and there are usually snacks. This week the theme is Orpheus and Eurydice. Contact me************@*************ac.uk for further details.
  • 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. 

Opportunities (see Medieval Studies booklet for full details)

  • 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).
  • 20th MEMSA Anniversary Conference. More information here. Deadline: 20 June 2026.
  • CfP – 2026 Journal of the History of Ideas Graduate Student Symposium on ‘Prophecy, Prediction, and the Politics of Futurity’. Deadline: June 22, 2026. More information here.
  • The Mortimer History Society will once again be offering two Research Bursaries (each of £1000) for the academic year 2026 to 2027, for PhD and MA students whose research includes any aspect of the medieval Welsh Marches or the Mortimers. More information here. Deadline: 30 June 2026.
  • CfP – Representations of Women and/as Animals in Literature, Arts, and Other Media. Deadline: 15 July 2026.
  • Call for book chapters in ‘Times of Change: Norway in the 13thC‘. Deadline: 31 July 2026.
  • CfP – Ars Inquirendi 2026. Deadline: 31 August 2026.
  • 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.
  • 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 me******@************ac.uk.

Medieval Matter TT26, Wk7

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08/06/2026

08:39

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events, Medieval Matters, News, opportunities, Uncategorized

Welcome to week 7.

From Tuesday til Thursday, productions of The Harrowing of Hell.26 continue, now in The Crypt of St Peter-in-the-East. Tickets can be bought here

Free tickets are still available for the inaugural Lecture of theologian and medievalist Andrew Davison on Monday, 15 June, 5pm, in the Concert Hall of the Humanities Centre on ‘1000 years of Creed settings in music with the choir of Christ Church singing’. Do come and make sure the concert hall buzzes with medievalists! All information here.

Professor Benjamin Pohl’s will be delivering a lecture on  “Food for Thought – The Bayeux Tapestry Revisited” in Magdalen’s auditorium at 5pm on Wednesday 17th June, and free tickets can be booked here.

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.
  • Archaeology Lecture – 3: 00, Lecture Room, Institute of Archaeology. Kerstin Lidén (Professor of Archaeological Science, Stockholm University) will be speaking on ‘Crisis, Conflict and Climate: Societal Change in Scandinavia 300–700C’.
  • Czech Medieval Literature Workshop: Courtly Love and Its Discontents – 4:00, Schwarzman Centre Room 30.023.
  • Medieval History Seminar: – 5:00, All Souls College. Charles West (University of Edinburgh) will be speaking on ‘Rethinking eleventh-century Europe’.

Tuesday

  • Latin Palaeography Manuscript Reading Group – 2pm, Weston Library. Those who are interested can email the convenor Laure Miolo.
  • Czech Medieval Literature Workshop: Jews, Monks, and Women: Margins and Exclusions – 4:00, Schwarzman Centre Room 30.023.
  • Medieval French Research Seminar – 5:00, Maison Francaise. Rebecca Dixon (University of Liverpool) will be speaking on ‘Between Familiarisation and Historicisation: Visualising Ancient Greece in Raoul Lefèvre’s Histoire de Jason’.
  • Medieval Church and Culture Seminar– Tea & coffee from 5pm; papers begin at 5.15pm, Harris Manchester College. Celeste Van Gent (Pembroke) will be speaking on ‘death and the burial practices of soldiers on campaign in later medieval England’.

Wednesday

  • Methods in Arabic and Islamic Studies Class – 10:30, LMH Library.
  • Medieval German Graduate Seminar on Thomasin von Zerklaere – 11:15, Oriel College. If you are interested to be added to the teams group for updates and access to the sources, please contact Henrike Lähnemann.
  • Old Norse Reading Group – 4:00, 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. Maria Lidova (Saint Petersburg) will be speaking on ‘The Murano Ivory Diptych: Defragmenting the History and Image of a Late Antique Book Cover’.
  • Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Lecture – 5:00, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. Al-Faisal Anniversary Lecture

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. 
  • The Khalili Research Centre Seminar – 4:00, KRC Lecture Room. Nilay Özlü & Ceren Abi (Istanbul Technical University) will be speaking on ‘Archives and Archaeology: Unearthing the Ottoman Perspective’ ; Daniel-Joseph MacArthur-Seal ( Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Naples and Gizem Tongo and KRC & Lusail Museum, Doha) will be speaking on ‘Occupation on Display: Curating the Aftermath of World War I in Istanbul’
  • Medieval Visual Culture Seminar – 5:00, St Catherine’s College. Meg Bernstein (University of East Anglia) will be speaking on ‘Negotiating Boundaries in England’s Medieval Parish Churches’,
  • 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 (ha************@*******ac.uk) or James (ja****************@**********ac.uk) if you’re interested.
  • Oliver Smithies Lecture – 5:15, Gillis Lectute Theatre, Balliol. Elaine Treharne will be speaking on ‘Medieval Manuscript Hunters and the Second World War’.
  • Guild of Medievalist Makers – 5:30, online. Optional theme: solstice.
  • Heraldry Society – 5:30, Oriel College. Robert Weaver will be speaking on ‘Bound to Please: A Selection of Early Modern Armorial Bookbindings’. Note: This lecture includes “Show and Tell”. In person attendance is recommended!
  • Compline in the Crypt – 9:30, St Edmund Hall.

Friday

  • Medievalist Coffee Morning – Friday 10:30, Visiting Scholars Centre (Weston Library). All welcome, coffee and insight into special collections provided.
  • Oxford Medieval Manuscript Group Reading Group – 5:00, online.
  • 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

  • Memorial Service for Prof Stephen Baxter – 2:30, St Peter’s Chapel. Registration here.

Opportunities (see Medieval Studies booklet for full details)

  • Postdoctoral Fellowships at the Dictionary of Old English, U of T. More information here. Deadline: 12 June 2026.
  • 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).
  • 20th MEMSA Anniversary Conference. More information here. Deadline: 20 June 2026.
  • CfP – 2026 Journal of the History of Ideas Graduate Student Symposium on ‘Prophecy, Prediction, and the Politics of Futurity’. Deadline: June 22, 2026. More information here.
  • The Mortimer History Society will once again be offering two Research Bursaries (each of £1000) for the academic year 2026 to 2027, for PhD and MA students whose research includes any aspect of the medieval Welsh Marches or the Mortimers. More information here. Deadline: 30 June 2026.
  • CfP – Representations of Women and/as Animals in Literature, Arts, and Other Media. Deadline: 15 July 2026.
  • Call for book chapters in ‘Times of Change: Norway in the 13thC‘. Deadline: 31 July 2026.
  • 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.
  • 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 me******@************ac.uk.

CfP – Prophecy, Prediction, and the Politics of Futurity

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08/06/2026

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Call for Papers

The 2026 Journal of the History of Ideas Graduate Student Symposium, will be held online on October 17, 2026. The theme for this year’s Symposium is “Prophecy, Prediction, and the Politics of Futurity.” Graduate students at all stages of their program and working on different topics, periods, and regions are invited to submit a 500-word abstract on the history of futurity (broadly conceived) and can refer to our preliminary bibliography as a point of departure.

The deadline for submitting proposals is June 22, 2026. Students whose proposals are accepted will develop an article-length paper (7,000–9,000 words) over the summer and ultimately present and receive feedback on their work from their peers and faculty members of the Journal of the History of Ideas editorial board at the Symposium.

More information can be found here.

Medieval Matters TT26, Wk 6

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31/05/2026

23:00

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Call for Papers, conference, events, Medieval Matters, News, opportunities, Uncategorized

,

Welcome to sixth week!

All week, from Tuesday through to Saturday, you can watch The Harrowing of Hell.26, a 2026 experimental and abstract adaptation of the medieval Harrowing of Hell narrative, created from English mystery plays (York Cycle, Towneley Plays, Ludus Coventriae, Chester Cycle) and rewritten into contemporary English. Performances are at 9:30, in the Oxford Playhouse. Tickets can be bought here. And do book your (free) place for the Inaugural Lecture of theologian and medievalist Andrew Davison on Monday, 15 June, 5pm, in the Concert Hall of the Humanities Centre which promises to be spectacular: 1000 years of Creed settings in music with the choir of Christ Church singing. Do come and make sure the concert hall buzzes with medievalists! All information here.

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.
  • Medieval History Seminar: – 5:00, All Souls College. Guy Geltner (Monash University) will be speaking on ‘The workers’ view: an environmental approach to premodern public health’.
  • Edgar Wind Society Lecture – 6:00, House of St Gregory and St Macrina (1 Canterbury Road). Sir Richard Temple will be speakgin on ‘Andrei Rublev and the Hesychastic Mysteries of Byzantium’.

Tuesday

  • Latin Palaeography Manuscript Reading Group – 2pm, Weston Library. Those who are interested can email the convenor Laure Miolo.
  • Early Modern Diplomacy Seminar 1400-1800 – 4.15, Schwartzman 20.402. Philippa Jackson (Independent Scholar) will be speaking on ‘Girolamo Ghinucci (1480-1541): Papal Judge and English Ambassador’. 
  • Medieval Church and Culture Seminar– Tea & coffee from 5pm; papers begin at 5.15pm, Harris Manchester College. Mary O’Connor (Balliol) will be speaking on ‘Pride and Humility: biblical typologies in Old Norse romances’.

Wednesday

  • Methods in Arabic and Islamic Studies Class – 10:30, LMH Library.
  • Medieval German Graduate Seminar on Thomasin von Zerklaere – 11:15, Oriel College. If you are interested to be added to the teams group for updates and access to the sources, please contact Henrike Lähnemann.
  • Oxford Seminar in the History of Alchemy and Chemistry – 3:00, Maison Française d’Oxford. Session 3 — Compuational History of Alchemy and Chemistry. Vojtěch Kaąe (University of West Bohemia, Plzeň) and Sarah Lang (Max Planck Institute, Berlin) will be speaking on ‘Tracing the Histories of Early Modern Conceptual Ecosystems: Remote Sensing Methods for the Archaeology of Alchemical Knowledge’; Guillermo Restrepo (Max Planck Institute, Leipzig) will be speaking on ‘Computational History of Chemistry: How Big Data Illuminates Macrohistorical Trends and Microhistorical Events’.
  • Old Norse Reading Group – 4:00, Merton College, Americas 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.
  • David Patterson Lecture – 5:00, Clarendon Institute. Elisheva Baumgarten (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) will be speaking on ‘Shared Words: Jews, Christians and Prayer in Medieval Europe’.
  • Late Antique and Byzantine Seminar – 5:00, Late Antique and Byzantine Seminar, Ioannou Centre. Saun Tougher (Cardiff) will be speaking on ‘Minor Characters? Other Eunuchs in Byzantine Historiography of the Tenth Century’. 
  • Centre for Manuscript and Text Cultures: Provenance Unknown – 5:15, Memorial Room, The Queen’s College. Dr Stella Panayotova, Royal Librarian, will be speaking on ‘Islamic Manuscripts in the Royal Library’.

Thursday

  • Transmitting and Preserving Languages in the Medieval and Early Modern Mediterranean, Second Workshop – 9:00, Balliol College. To register for online attendance, please contact Ugo Mondini at ugo.​mondini@​mod-​langs.​ox.​ac.​uk.
  • 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. 
  • Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Lecture – 2:00, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. Dr Kaouther Karoui (University of Münster) will be speaking on ‘Reframing Transcultural Justice: From Early Arabo Islamic Philosophy to Postcolonial Critique’.
  • Medieval Women’s Writing Research Seminar- 4:00, Somerville College. Recording Women’s Deeds, including extracts from Agnes d’Harcourt’s Life of Isabelle of France and the Crònica de Sant Pere de les Puel·les 
  • Medieval Visual Culture Seminar – 5:00, St Catherine’s College. Jessica Barker (Courtauld Institute) will be speaking on ‘Contemporary Art Meets the Medieval Monastery’. 
  • ‘There is an Animal That is Called an Elephant’ – 5:00, Keble College. Research presentation by Dr Alexandra Paddock and sharing of a work-in-progress exploring the life and times of Henry III’s elephant through music, puppetry and text.
  • The Khalili Research Centre Seminar – 5:15, KRC Lecture Room. Emine Fetvaci (Boston College) will be ‘Portrait as Biography at the Ottoman Court: the Case of Murad III (r. 1574–95)’.
  • 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 – 10:30, Visiting Scholars Centre (Weston Library). All welcome, coffee and insight into special collections provided.
  • Older Scots Reading Group – 3:00, Schwarzman room 30.401. No intensive preparation required. All are welcome and there are usually snacks. This week the theme is Orpheus and Eurydice. Contact me************@*************ac.uk for further details.
  • 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

Opportunities (see Medieval Studies booklet for full details)

  • 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.
  • CfP – Representations of Women and/as Animals in Literature, Arts, and Other Media. Deadline: 15 July 2026.
  • 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).
  • Ashmolean Engagement Programme. More information here. Deadline: 1 June 2026.
  • CfP – Contested Ground: Ownership and Belonging in the Middle Ages. More information here. Deadline: 1 June 2026.
  • CfP – 1027 – 2027 : The World in which William was Born. More information here. Deadline: 1 June 2026.
  • Postdoctoral Fellowships at the Dictionary of Old English, U of T. More information here. Deadline: 12 June 2026.
  • 20th MEMSA Anniversary Conference. More information here. Deadline: 20 June 2026.
  • The Mortimer History Society will once again be offering two Research Bursaries (each of £1000) for the academic year 2026 to 2027, for PhD and MA students whose research includes any aspect of the medieval Welsh Marches or the Mortimers. More information here. Deadline: 30 June 2026.
  • Call for book chapters in ‘Times of Change: Norway in the 13thC‘. Deadline: 31 July 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 me******@************ac.uk.

Medieval Matter TT26, wk5

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25/05/2026

09:02

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Call for Papers, conference, events, Medieval Matters, News, opportunities, Uncategorized

Welcome to week 5,

Last week’s Wikipedia editathon proved a great success, and there is now a wikipedia article for OMS itself! Thanks again to Louise for leading the session – a recording of the introductory talk can be found here.

This Friday sees the ‘Exploring Medieval Oxford through Surviving Archives‘ conference at the Weston, which includes an exhibition curated by the participants.

Exciting news! The Thegns of Mercia – an Anglo-Saxon reconstruction group – are coming to Balliol the Friday 29th May to show off a range of replicas (Old Common Room, 14:30). All are welcome!

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.
  • Armenian Studies Lecture – 4:00, Pembroke College. Ruth Gornandt (Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies) will be speaking on ‘‘Measured Theology’ – Gregory of Tatev (1346–1410) and the limits of theological knowledge’.
  • Medieval History Seminar: – 5:00, All Souls College. Julia Hillner (University of Bonn) will be speaking on ‘The marrying kind: how late Roman emperors chose their wives’.

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. Laura Campbell (Durham University) will be speaking on‘In the Beginning: Re-Creating the Creation Story in Medieval French Translations’.
  • Medieval Church and Culture Seminar– Tea & coffee from 5pm; papers begin at 5.15pm, Harris Manchester College. Youfei Fan (St Anne’s) will be speaking on ‘The Potion and the Women around It: female knowledge and trickery in the Tristan Legend’.
  • Professor Frank Griffel’s inaugural lecture – 5:00, Humanities Centre. ‘Double Truth and Multiple Rationalisms: Philosophy in Islam’s Post-Classical Period’. More information here.
  • Centre for Manuscript and Text Cultures – 5:15, Memorial Room, Queen’s College. Gunnar Seelentag (Hannover & Münster) will be speaking on ‘Monumentalising Norms, not Names: cartelisation and colossality in Archaic Crete’.

Wednesday

  • Methods in Arabic and Islamic Studies Class – 10:30, LMH Library.
  • Medieval German Graduate Seminar on Thomasin von Zerklaere – 11:15, Oriel College. If you are interested to be added to the teams group for updates and access to the sources, please contact Henrike Lähnemann.
  • Old Norse Reading Group – 4:00, 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. Alessandra Bucossi (Venice) will be speaking on ‘The Komnenian Panoplies between Religious Polemic and Political Self-Defence’.
  • Medieval English Research Seminar – 5:15, The Schwarzman Centre, room 00.018 . Mel Cowdery (U of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) will be speaking on ‘What Does a Mirror Mean to Thomas Hoccleve?’.
  • ‘Public Health in the Premodern World’ Book Launch – 5:30 in the Mark Bedingham Room, St John’s College. Discussants: H. Skoda, U. Khan, G. Geltner, Janna Coomans, and Ronit Yoeli-Tlalim. Drinks reception to follow.

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. 
  • Oxford Environmental History Working Group – 12:30, Schwarzman Centre History Hub Room 20.421. Dr. Kelsey Granger (IHR History Research Fellow) will be speaking on ‘Messengers of Empire: The Lives and Labour of Horses in China’s Ancient Postal System’.
  • Medieval Visual Culture Seminar – 5:00, St Catherine’s College. Lloyd Debeer (British Museum) will be speaking on ‘The Many Lives of the Asante Ewers’.
  • Global Manuscript and Text Cultures Seminar – 5:15, Memorial Room, Queen’ College. Lauren Dogaer (Univ) will be speaking on ‘How the Greek Text Culture Has Shaped Modern Views of Ptolemaic Egyptian Priests’; Fergus Bovill (Merton) will be speaking on ‘Rebuilding the Medieval, Preserving the 19th Century: Littifredi Corbizzi, Johann Anton Ramboux, and the making and breaking of a choirbook in Gubbio’.
  • 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 (ha************@*******ac.uk) or James (ja****************@**********ac.uk) if you’re interested.
  • The Khalili Research Centre Seminar – 5:15, KRC Lecture Room. Margaret Squires (Ashmolean Museum) will be speaking on ‘Woven Together: Carpets and Architecture in Safavid Iran’.
  • Oxford Trobadors Concert – 7:00, La Maison Francaise.
  • Bede Reading Group (or, ‘Bede-ing Group’) – 6:00, Blackfriars. To sign up, email Maura McKeon. Don’t stop Bede-lieving.
  • Compline in the Crypt – 9:30, St Edmund Hall.

Friday

  • Conference Exploring Medieval Oxford through Surviving Archives – 9:00, Weston Library lecture theatre.
  • Oxford Festival of the Arts: Reading the signs: The meanings of medieval and Renaissance objects, symbols, and tokens – 9:30, The Hub, Kellog College.
  • Medievalist Coffee Morning – Friday 10:30, Visiting Scholars Centre (Weston Library). All welcome, coffee and insight into special collections provided.
  • Thegns of Mercia: Learning through Making – 2:30, Balliol College (Old Common Room).
  • 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. 

Opportunities (see Medieval Studies booklet for full details)

  • 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.
  • CfP – Representations of Women and/as Animals in Literature, Arts, and Other Media. Deadline: 15 July 2026.
  • 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).
  • Ashmolean Engagement Programme. More information here. Deadline: 1 June 2026.
  • CfP – Contested Ground: Ownership and Belonging in the Middle Ages. More information here. Deadline: 1 June 2026.
  • CfP – 1027 – 2027 : The World in which William was Born. More information here. Deadline: 1 June 2026.
  • Postdoctoral Fellowships at the Dictionary of Old English, U of T. More information here. Deadline: 12 June 2026.
  • 20th MEMSA Anniversary Conference. More information here. Deadline: 20th June 2026.
  • The Mortimer History Society will once again be offering two Research Bursaries (each of £1000) for the academic year 2026 to 2027, for PhD and MA students whose research includes any aspect of the medieval Welsh Marches or the Mortimers. More information here. Deadline: 30 June 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 me******@************ac.uk.

Come shape the Ashmolean Museum’s University Engagement Programme

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25/05/2026

08:50

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opportunities

The Ashmolean Museum are inviting twelve University of Oxford students to help us shape our new University Engagement Programme. Over 3.5 days we will work with staff from across the Museum to set the vision, shape the communications and scope activities for 2026/27 academic year.

We are looking for creative pragmatists, with exciting ideas and unique perspectives about museums, access and the University to be part of this dreaming session. If this sounds like you, please submit a 120-word statement or 1 minute video outlining why you want to participate in the project by 10:00am on 1 June via Microsoft Forms.

This opportunity will take place onsite at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, and is paid at the Oxford Living Wage of £14.06 per hour. Students will need to be available from 10:00am to 4:00pm, Tuesday 23 – Thursday 25 June and from 10:00am – 1:00pm on Friday 26 June 2026.

Please note that this is a positive action opportunity, open to all University of Oxford students who have matriculated. Although not a requirement of the role we are particularly interested in hearing from applicants from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and Disabled, LGBTQIA+ and Global Majority applicants, all of whom are typically underrepresented in the heritage sector.

If you would like to discuss any questions about, or necessary adjustments to, both the application process and the role its self before submitting your application please email ca************@**********ac.uk

(Use of AI in Applications: To help us get a real sense of why you are interested in this opportunity we encourage you to only use AI to perfect rather the write the content of your application.  We also welcome applications which have not used AI at all!)

Medieval matter TT26, Wk 4

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18/05/2026

08:59

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Around Oxford, Call for Papers, conference, events, Medieval Matters, News, opportunities

Welcome to week 4!

This Thursday sees our first ever Wikipedia Editathon for Medievalists, at 5:00 in the Old Library at St Edmund Hall. Whether you have always wanted to write or improve a Wikipedia article, are looking for a low-pressure way to start writing about your topic, or simply want a productive and enjoyable distraction from exams or papers, this editathon offers a space to do so! Participants are encouraged to bring a topic they would like to work on, and prior experience with Wikipedia editing is not required – beginners are very welcome.

Exciting news! Two of our medievalists – Sumner Braund and Helen Flatley – have just opened a used bookshop in Oxford’s Golden Cross called ‘Barker and Company’, full of medieval books.

Monday

  • Bartlemas 900 Exhibition – weeklong, Bartlemas Chapel (Cowley Road). Exhibition exploring the history and significance of Bartlemas. More info here.
  • 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.
  • Medieval History Seminar: – 5:00, All Souls College. Teresa Witcombe (Wadham College, Oxford) will be speaking in ‘The spoils of war: Andalusi captives in medieval Castile’.
  • Italian Research Seminar – 5:15, Taylorian, Room 2. Ambrogio Camozzi Pistoja (Harvard) will be speaking on ‘towards a Criminal History of Medieval Satire: Boccaccio, Decameron 5.10 (Sodomy, Apuleius, Forgery)’

Tuesday

  • Latin Palaeography Special Session – 2pm, Weston Library. Angela Cossu (Grenoble/ Richard Sharpe Memorial Visiting Fellow, Bodleian Libraries) will show and speak about “Medieval Latin florilegia: palaeography, mise en page and mise en texte” Those who are interested can email the convenor Laure Miolo.
  • Medieval Church and Culture Seminar– Tea & coffee from 5pm; papers begin at 5.15pm, Harris Manchester College. Henry Merrifield (Corpus) will be speaking on ‘Adoption or Rejection:  assessing Anglo-Saxon attitudes to ancient Rome’; Rhys Schwan (Trinity) will be speaking on ‘Revisiting the Regnal Chronology of the Kingdom of Northumbria in the 9th Century’
  • The Oxford Society for the Caucasus and Central Asia (TOSCCA) Seminar Series – 5:00, Lecture Room 4, New College. Dilnoza Duturaeva (University of York/ONGC) will be speaking on ‘Animal Power in the Highlands: Qarakhanid Hybrid Camels to China.’

Wednesday

  • Methods in Arabic and Islamic Studies Class – 10:30, LMH Library.
  • ‘AI and the Future of Everyday Heritage’ Heritage Pathway Programme – 11:00, Humanities Centre. Speaker: Dr Dominique Bouchard, Heritage and Engagement Director, Leeds Castle Clara Saliba, AI and Data Insights Analyst, Blenheim Place. More details and booking here.
  • Medieval German Graduate Seminar on Thomasin von Zerklaere – 11:15, Oriel College. If you are interested to be added to the teams group for updates and access to the sources, please contact Henrike Lähnemann.
  • Oxford Seminar in the History of Alchemy and Chemistry – 3:00, Maison Française d’Oxford. Session 2 — Spiritual Foundations of Alchemy. Chair: Ellen Hausner (Oxford). Speakers: Mark Edwards (Oxford) on ‘Ancient Alchemy as Philosophy’; Charles Burnett (Warburg Institute) on ‘Alchemy as Divinatio’.
  • Old Norse Reading Group – 4:00, Merton College, Americas 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. Apolline Gay (Brussels and Oxford) will be speaking on ‘They Also Tell the Story: The Role of Biblical Female Figures in Images from Byzantine and Early Islamic Egypt‘.
  • Medieval English Research Seminar – 5:15, Medieval English Research Seminar – 5:15. Annie Englund (U of Oxford) will be speaking on ‘Ghosts, roasts, and the speaking dead: grappling with the popularity of the Old English Soul and Body’; Corinne Clark (U of Oxford) will be speaking on ‘The Reading bee: honey and venom in Walter Map’s De Nugis Curialium’.
  • Centre for Manuscript and Text Cultures: Provenance Unknown – 5:15, Memorial Room, The Queen’s College. Roberta Mazza (University of Bologna) will be speaking on ‘Beyond Provenance: Publishing Papyri and Other Manuscripts from Egypt in 2026’.

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. 
  • Medieval Women’s Writing Research Seminar- 4:00, Somerville College. Poetry and Song, including extracts from the works of Kassia of Constantinople, Florencia Pinar and Gwerful Mechain.
  • Wikipedia Editathon for Medievalists – 5:00, Old Library at St Edmund Hall. More info here.
  • The Khalili Research Centre Seminar – 5:15, KRC Lecture Room. Stephane Pradines (The Aga Khan University) will be speaking on ‘Islamic Archaeology in Egypt: Sixteen Years of Rescue Excavations in Cairo’.
  • 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 – 10:30, Visiting Scholars Centre (Weston Library). All welcome, coffee and insight into special collections provided.
  • Older Scots Reading Group – 3:00, Schwarzman room 30.401. No intensive preparation required. All are welcome and there are usually snacks. This week the theme is Orpheus and Eurydice. Contact me************@*************ac.uk for further details.
  • Oxford Medieval Manuscript Group: Tour of the Magdalen College Old Library – 3:00, Magdalen College, Porter’s Lodge. Booking required.
  • 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. 

Opportunities (see Medieval Studies booklet for full details)