Category: opportunities

Medieval Matters TT26, Wk 3

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11/05/2026

09:00

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

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Week 3 is upon us, and it’s jam-packed with medieval events and opportunities. Of particular note is Balliol’s Oliver Smithies Lecture, this Thursday, which sees Elaine Treharne discussing Medieval women scribes.

Looking to the future, we’re hoping to put together a list of Oxford participants in this year’s IMC Leeds. If you are organising or speaking on a panel, please drop me a quick email with the details.

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. Round table on Richard Hodges’s The Origins of Anglo-Saxon Towns: A Viking Gift? (London, 2025) with John Blair, Helen Gittos, Helena Hamerow and Rory Naismith.
  • Italian Research Seminar – 5:15, Taylorian, Room 2. Graduate Work-in-Progress. Presentations from DPhil students Silvia Cercarelli (modern/contemporary), Esme Hodson (modern/contemporary), Katherine McKee (medieval), and Victoria White (early modern)

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. Adrian Armstrong (Queen Mary University of London) will be speaking on ‘Testopolis: The Testament as Urban Art’ .
  • Medieval Church and Culture Seminar– Tea & coffee from 5pm; papers begin at 5.15pm, Harris Manchester College. Cris Arama (St Anne’s) will be speaking on ‘Gender embodiment in Old French hagiography:  a textual and iconographical approach’;  Bartholomew Chu (Lincoln) will be speaking on ;The Quandary of Quality:  copying prestige in MS. Bodl. 770′.

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.
  • Early Printed Books: A Computer-Aided Collate-A-Thon – 2:00, Taylor Institute Library. To book a place, please sign up here. For information about the project see here or contact Giles Bergel at giles.bergel@eng.ox.ac.uk 
  • Oxford Seminar in the History of Alchemy and Chemistry: Life and Nature in Early Modern Alchemy – 3:00, Maison Française d’Oxford. Oana Matei (Western University of Arad) will be speaking on ‘Can Life Rise from Ashes? Discussions on the Possibility of the Palingenesis of Plants in the Seventeenth Century’; Xinyi Wen (Warburg Institute) will be speaking on ‘Cosmos or Coitus? A Copy Census of Oswald Croll’s Basilica Chymica, 1609–1690′.
  • 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. Pawel Nowakowski (Warsaw) will be speaking in ‘New Fragments of the Order (forma generalis) of the Praetorian Prefect of the East, Pusaeus Dionysius, 480 CE, from Stratonikeia in Caria’.
  • Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Lecture – 5:00, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. Dr Harry Muntv(University of York) will be speaking on ‘Haram Historiography: Writing the History of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem in the Early Islamic Centuries’.  
  • Oxford Centre of Early Medieval Britain and Ireland: Invisible East – 5:00, online. Nima Asefi (Universität Hamburg) will be speaking on ‘Documents from Turbulent Times: Studying Middle Persian Collections from the Late Sasanian and Early Islamic Periods-Opportunities and Challenges’. Registration essential.  
  • Medieval English Research Seminar – 5:15, The Schwarzman Centre, room 00.018 . Cathy Shrank (U of Sheffield) will be speaking on ‘Thomas More’s dialogues’.

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. Wallerand Bazin will be speaking on ‘Bracken dissensus: a historical political ecology of tree planting in the English Lake District’.
  • Oliver Smithies Lecture at Balliol College – 5:15, Gillis Lecture Theatre, Balliol College. Elaine Treharne (Stanford University) will be speaking on “Death of a Nun: Medieval Women Scribes and Networks of Piety”. Followed by a Drinks Reception. More information here.
  • Bede Reading Group (or, ‘Bede-ing Group’) – 6:00, Blackfriars. To sign up, email Maura McKeon. Don’t stop Bede-lieving.
  • Medieval Academy of America’s Graduate Student Council webinar on funding – 8:00 online. MAA Special Projects Assistant Jon Dell Isola will discuss what grants are available to graduate students, how to apply, and tips for grant applications. Register here.
  • 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 – 3:00. Courtauld Gallery (London) Visit.
  • Old Frisian Reading Group – 3:00, 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. 

Opportunities (see Medieval Studies booklet for full details)

  • The experimental production of the Harrowing of Hell is still looking for players. 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!
  • 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).
  • CfP – 9th International Conference on Myth Criticism. Deadline: 15 May 2026
  • CfP – The Nine Worthies: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Deadline: 15 May 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.
  • 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 medieval@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

Medieval Matters TT26, Wk 2

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04/05/2026

09:13

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

Welcome to week 2. Alongside the usual weekly roster of reading groups and opportunities, this weeks sees a number of exciting one-off events: ‘Black Lives in the Archives’ (Thur), Prof Treharne on ‘The Look of the Medieval Book’ (Fri), and Dr Griffith in the annual O’ Donnell Lecture (Fri).

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. Nancy Thebaut (St Catherine’s College, Oxford) will be speaking on ‘When Christ turns away: representing the ascension ca. 1000’.

Tuesday

  • Latin Palaeography Manuscript Reading Group – 2pm, Weston Library. 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. Hannah Free (Kellogg) will be speaking on ‘Christian Fanfiction? Searching for truth in biblical retellings’; Samuel Bedford (Wadham) will be speaking on ‘Reginald Pecock’s Rationalist Turn: a study in medieval intellectual biography’

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 – 5:00, 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. Ekaterini Vavaliou (Oxford) will be speaking on ‘Dissecting a Medieval Frontier: The Fortifications of Eastern Central Greece‘.

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. 
  • Writing Environmental History Workshop – 2:00, Schwarzman Centre Room TBA. For updated meeting information, please email Ryan Mealiffe.
  • Black Lives in the Archives: Chivalric Romances – 3:00, Weston Library. This hands-on workshop will explore how surviving medieval manuscripts can help us understand race and race-making in medieval Europe. Register here.
  • Medieval Women’s Writing Research Seminar- 4:00, Somerville College. Spiritual and Material World, including extracts from the works of Margery Kempe, Leonor López de Córdoba and Isabel de Villena 
  • Medieval Visual Culture Seminar – 5:00, St Catherine’s College. Cécile Voyer (Université de Poitiers) will be speaking on “Under the Gaze of the Judge: New approaches to a re-reading of the Conques tympanum” 
  • Centre for Manuscript and Text Cultures: Global Manuscript and Text Cultures Seminar – 5:15, Memorial Room, Queen’s College. Shaahin Pishbin (Queen’s) & Thomas Newbold (Asian University for Women, Chittagong) will be speaking on M’uhajir manuscripts: Field notes from the Alia Madrasa Library in Dhaka’; Jaimee Comstock-Skipp (New College) will be speaking on ‘What’s in a nisba? Manuscript makers and migrations in 16th-century Central Asia’.
  • The Khalili Research Centre Seminar – 5:15, KRC Lecture Room. Suna Çağaptay (Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University) will be speaking on ‘Reading Between the Lines: The Maritime Landscape of Anaia on the Byzantine-Genoese and Aydinid Cusp’ 
  • Guild of Medievalist Makers – 5:30, online. Making Space Session –  optional theme: dreams.
  • 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

  • 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 megan.bushnell@ling-phil.ox.ac.uk for further details.
  • Oxford Medieval Manuscript Group – 5:00, Merton College Mure Room. Professor Elaine Treharne (Stanford University) will be speaking on ‘The Look of the Medieval Book: Manuscripts and Their Uses’. Please join us for a drinks reception following the lecture.
  • 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. 
  • O’ Donnell Lecture – 5:30, Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities. Dr Aaron Griffith (Utrecht University) will be speaking on ‘Old Irish: plenty of variation, but of what kind?‘. Register for free tickets here. 
  • A Multilingual Moses Play – 6:30, Ioannou Centre.

Opportunities (see Medieval Studies booklet for full details)

  • The experimental production of the Harrowing of Hell is still looking for players. 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
  • 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.
  • 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 medieval@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

OMS Small Grants Now Open!

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27/04/2026

09:00

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opportunities

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The TORCH Oxford Medieval Studies Programme invites applications for small grants to support conferences, workshops, and other forms of collaborative research activity organised by researchers at postgraduate (whether MSt or DPhil) or early-career level from across the Humanities Division at the University of Oxford.

The scheme has a rolling deadline. Closing date for applications: Friday of Week 4 each term for activities taking place during that or the following term. An additional deadline for summer activities and Michaelmas Term is last Friday of July.

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. They can also be used to support staging a play for the Medieval Mystery Cycle, e.g. for buying props or material for costumes. Recipients will be required to supply a report after the event for the Oxford Medieval Studies blog and will be invited to present on their award at an OMS event.

Applicants will be responsible for all administrative aspects of the activity, including formulating the theme and intellectual rationale, devising the format, and, depending on the type of event, inviting speakers and/or issuing a Call for Papers, organising the schedule, and managing the budget, promotion and advertising.

Applications should be submitted to Prof. Lesley Smith  using the word grant application form. Informal enquiries may also be directed to Lesley. The Oxford Medieval Studies Programme money is administered by The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH) and the money will be paid out via their expenses system.

Harrowing of Hell Cast Call

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24/04/2026

13:22

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Around Oxford, opportunities

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The Harrowing of Hell.26 is an experimental and abstract piece inspired by medieval mystery plays. It depicts Christ’s descent into Hell after his crucifixion, where he confronts Satan to free the righteous souls (Adam, Eve, the patriarchs, and the prophets) held captive for millennia. The one Satan believed he had defeated returns to break down the gates of Hell. The characters oscillate between anguish and hope as they await redemption.

About the director: Méryl Vourch is an Oxford Visiting Student at Merton College. She has worked as an assistant director with Laurent Delvert and Denis Podalydès at the Opéra de Lille (Gounod’s Faust, May 2025), and assisted Caroline Staunton (Don Giovanni, Opéra Bastille, 2023) and Mariame Clément (Don Giovanni, Glyndebourne Festival, 2023). As a director, she has staged three productions in Paris: Hamlet, Alice in Wonderland (Théâtre Nicole Loraux, 2024–2025), and Mamma Mia! (MPAA, 2025).

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+). There were auditions on 25/26 April, but anyone who was unavailable is very welcome to contact the director by email for further information.

Roles Available

  • One demon (one of two): part of a grotesque and comic duo—agents of chaos, both cruel and ridiculous, frustrated by their condition.
  • Adam and Eve: a bourgeois couple frozen in time, marked by long waiting, repetitive gestures, and a certain passivity

All roles include some choreographed scenes (minimal movement required).

Auditions

Please prepare a monologue of your choice (2–5 minutes) and an extract from the audition pack for your chosen role. Contact : meryl.vourch@merton.ox.ac.uk if you are interested or have any questions! If the audition dates have already passed but you are still interested, you are very welcome to contact us.

Events at Iffley Church

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20/04/2026

15:45

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Around Oxford, events, opportunities

Living Stones is looking for volunteers of any age, background or beliefs. Living Stones is the heritage and educational arm of St Mary’s, the church at the heart of Iffley village, Rose Hill and Donnington. Volunteers welcome visitors to the church. They also run activities, events and talks on its history and architecture. They welcome visitors to the church on Sunday afternoons from Easter to October.

Events 2026 Drawing Iffley Church

Spend a day looking at and drawing Iffley Church with local artist and teacher, MICAH HAYNS

Saturday 16 May 2026 10.30-5.00pm St Mary’s Church OX4 4EJ

Iffley Church is an outstanding Romanesque building. It stands in a unique historic landscape

  • all materials supplied
  • live demonstration and feedback
  • For amateurs aged 16+
  • Limited numbers
  • BOOK NOW! Ticket sales open!

The session starts in the Church Hall, Church Way, Iffley OX4 4EG. Bring your own lunch. Or visit nearby pub, The Prince of Wales, 73 Church Way, Iffley, Oxford OX4 4EF 01865 586379  https://www.princeofwalesiffley.co.uk/

 Living Stones will provide free hot and cold drinks throughout the day.

All materials will be provided, but you are welcome to bring your own sketching stool, sketch book, or anything you are working on if you wish.

The day will run as part of East Oxford Art Weeks. Some of Micah’s work will be exhibited in the Church Hall throughout the day. 

Work by participants will join the exhibition at the end of the day after which participants may take their work home.

MORE INFORMATION and BOOKING FORM

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/drawing-iffley-church-tickets-1981794010233?aff=oddtdtcreator

Events 2025

SATURDAY 10 MAY 10.00-4.30 – Drawing Iffley Church, day-school with artist Micah Hayns.

SATURDAY 17 MAY 11.00-7.15 – Day of chant in celebration of St Dunstan, patron saint of bellringers and music. The day ends with a special service in the church sung to music composed by St Dunstan and first written down in the 12th century.

SUNDAY 7 SEPTEMBER – Patronal Festival for St Mary the Virgin, picnic and family fun.

Medieval Matters – Vac

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23/03/2026

10:46

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

The OMS emails will be put on brief pause over the vac, although the blog will be continually updated with new events. Please see below a number of important opportunities and reminders before term starts. Of particular note to those interested in early medieval England (and who amongst us doesnt fall into that category) is the British Library’s upcoming PhD placement on the Norman Conquest. Applications are open for three PhD placements which will support the development of our upcoming major exhibition on the Norman Conquest, marking the 1,000th anniversary of the birth of William the Conqueror. Apply by Monday 6 April 2026. Apply by Monday 6 April 2026.

Medieval Germany Workshop

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16/03/2026

10:25

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conference, Medieval Matters, opportunities

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29 May 2026, German Historical Institute in London
Organised by the German Historical Institute London and the German History Society

Programme

Commentators: Henrike Lähnemann (Oxford) & Christian Jaser (Kassel)
Convenors: Thomas Kaal (GHIL) and Marcus Meer (UCL)

9.30 Session 1 (Chair: Thomas Kaal)

  • Henrike Lähnemann (Oxford): The Nuns’ Letters – Work-in-Progress
  • Temitope Fagunwa (Lüneburg): From ‘‘Moors Are Not Blacks’’ to Mohr Muss Weg: Identity and Misrepresentation in Europe
  • Erik Pauls (Berlin), The Typus of the ‘Heretic’ and its Function in Historical Thinking

11.00 Coffee & Tea

11.30 Session 2 (Chair: Marcus Meer)

  • Christian Jaser (Kassel): Digital Edition of Medieval Accounting Records (Examples from Munich and Vienna in the Early 15th Century)
  • Thomas Billard (Paris/Konstanz) Accountability: Critical Study of the recording of Accounting Documents in Urban Areas of the Southern Empire (Basel, Nördlingen, Nuremberg, 14th–15th centuries)
  • Arik Solomon (Be’er- Sheva): Beyond the City Walls: Persistence and Permeability in the Expulsion of Jews from Merseburg

13.00 Lunch

14.00 Session 3 (Chair: Thomas Kaal)

  • Anna Wilmore (Oxford): ‘Ich bin din gespile’: Play as Paradigm in Mechthild of Magdeburg
  • Tina Druckmüller (Cologne): From Another Perspective: Hildegard of Bingen on the Origin of the Soul

15.00 Session 4 (Chair: Gabriele Passabi)

  • Carolin Victoria König (Oxford): The Interrelation of Image and Text and the Popularity of Sebastian Brant’s ‘The Ship of Fools’
  • Hila Manor (Jerusalem): Measured Marvels: Ingenuity and Artistic Exchange in Nuremberg around 1500

16.00 Coffee & Tea

16.30 Session 5 (Chair: Marcus Meer)

  • Ole Bunte (Bielefeld): Narrating War: A Cultural History of War in 15th Century East Central Europe
  • Laura Potzuweit (Kiel), The Baltic Sea as a Room of Diplomacy? The Kalmar Union, the Teutonic Order, and other Key Players as a Late Medieval Communication Network

17:30 End

19:00 Conference Dinner

Students and researchers interested in medieval German history are very welcome to attend and listen to the presentations. There is no charge for attendance, but pre-booking is essential due to limited capacity. If you would like to attend as a guest, please contact Kim König.

The Call for Papers

This one-day workshop on the history of medieval Germany (broadly defined) offers an opportunity for researchers from Europe and the wider English-speaking world to meet at the German Historical Institute in London. Participants will be able to discuss their work in a relaxed and friendly setting and to learn more about each other’s research.

Proposals for short papers of 10–15 minutes are invited from researchers at all career stages with an interest in any aspect of the history of medieval Germany. Participants are encouraged to present work in progress, highlight research questions and approaches, and point to yet unresolved challenges of their projects. Presentations will be followed by a discussion.

Participation is free of charge and includes lunch and dinner. The GHIL and the GHS will also provide a contribution towards travel expenses. Accommodation costs cannot be reimbursed. Support is available for postgraduate and early career researchers: up to £150 for travel within the UK (excluding London) and up to 300€ for an economy round trip from Europe. Please indicate your interest in travel support in your application.

We look forward to reading your proposals. Please send your submission—which must include a title, an abstract of c.2000 words, and a biographical note of no more than c.1000 words—to Thomas Kaal: t.kaal@ghil.ac.uk. Questions about all aspects of the workshop can also be sent to Marcus Meer: m.meer@ucl.ac.uk.

Medieval Matter HT26, Week 8

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08/03/2026

15:59

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

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We have made it, at long last, to the end of another Hilary term – but the events don’t stop coming! Please find below another week full of medieval events for you to enjoy, and an ever-increasing list of future opportunities. NB: the Maison Française d’Oxford lecture this Tuesday has had to move earlier and is now at 12:00.

Monday

  • French Palaeography Manuscript Reading Group – 10:30, Weston Library.
  • Seminar in Palaeography and Manuscript studies – 2:15, Weston Library. Seamus Dwyer (Cambridge) will speak on ‘Pen-Flourishing and the Boundaries of Meaning’.
  • Medieval Archaeology Seminar – 3:00, Archaeology Faculty.  Eugene Costello will be speaking on ‘Exploring the expansion of pastoral farming in northern Europe’s uplands, c.1200-1600’.
  • Medieval History Seminar – 5:00, All Souls College. Nick Evans (Birkbeck) “Cowries, Cloth and Coins: Currency in Medieval Economic Anthropology”.
  • Theory and Play: Comparative Medievalisms – 5.15, Lady Margaret Hall.

Tuesday

  • Europe in the Later Middle Ages Seminar – 2:00, New Seminar Room, St John’s College. Mike Carr (Edinburgh) will be speaking on ‘Popes, Ambassadors and Falcons: Trade and Diplomacy between Latin Europe and the Mamluk Sultanate in the Fourteenth Century’.
  • Latin Palaeography Manuscript Reading Group – 2:00, Weston Library (Horton Room). Those who are interested can contact the convenor, Laure Miolo.
  • Maison Française d’Oxford lectures: ‘Children in the Middle Ages’ – 12:00, Maison Française. NB. the new, earlier, time.
  • Maghrib History Seminar: “Reading the Qurʾān across the Mediterranean: Toward a Maghribī School of Tafsīr in Early Islam” – 5:00, The Queen’s College.
  • Medieval Church and Culture, theme: TRANSLATION(S) – tea and coffee from 5:00, Harris Manchester College. Celeste Pan (Balliol) will be speaking on ‘Some issues of translation in an illuminated Hebrew bible manuscript from medieval Brussels (Hamburg, Staats- und Universitätsbibl., Cod. Levy 19)’.
  • Old English Hagiography Reading Group – 5:15, Jesus College Memorial Room.
  • Church Historian Pub Night – 6:00 at the Chequers Inn. Contact Rachel Cresswell.

Wednesday

  • History and Materiality of the Book Seminar series – 2:15, Weston Library. Matthew Holford and Laure Miolo will be speaking on ‘Text identification’.
  • Older Scots Reading Group – 2:30, Room 30.401 (Humanities Centre). Palyce of Honour, Thyrd Part, ll. 1288-2142; Palyce of Honour, Dedication, ll. 2142-2169.
  • The Medieval Latin Documentary Palaeography Reading Group – 4:00, online.
  • Islamic Studies Seminar – 5:00, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. Professor Sheilagh Ogilvie (University of Oxford) will speak on ‘Leviathan’s Health: State Capacity and Epidemics from the Black Death to Covid’.
  • Late Antique and Byzantine Seminar – 5:00, Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies. Nathan Websdale (Oxford) will be speaking on ‘Unbecoming Roman: Performative Ethnicity and Panspermía in the Byzantine World c.1190-1235’.
  • eCatalogus+: A Digital Tool for the Automated Study of Latin Manuscripts (Liturgical Case Studies) – 5:00, Weston Library. More infomation here.
  • Lydgate Book Club – Weston manuscript visit with Laure Miolo. Meet 3:50pm at the Weston lockers for a 4pm start. Please email Shaw Worth for any information.

Thursday

  • Middle English Reading Group (MERG) – 11:00, Lincoln College, Beckington Room. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
  • Medieval Women’s Writing Research Seminar – 4:00, Somerville College. Making and Breaking Connections, including letters sent by Hildegard von Bingen and Catherine of Lancaster, queen of Castile.
  • Seminars in Medieval and Renaissance Music – 5:00, online. Elisabeth Giselbrecht, Louisa Hunter-Bradley and Katie McKeogh (King’s College London) will be speaking on ‘No two books are the same. Interactions with early printed music and the people behind them’.
  • Celtic Seminar – 5:15, hybrid. Eleanor Stephenson (Cambridge) will be speaking on ‘Landscapes of Extraction: Philippe de Loutherbourg and the Morris Family’s Copper Works, Swansea’.
  • Medieval Visual Culture Seminar – 5:00, St Catherine’ College. Emily Guerry (University of Oxford) will be speaking on ‘Silver trees and pearl crosses: Franco-Mongolian diplomacy and cultural exchange in thirteenth-century Karakorum’.
  • The Khalili Research Centre For the Art and Material Culture of the Middle East: Research Seminar – 5:15, The Khalili Research Centre. Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis (Freie Universität, Berlin) will be speaking on ‘A Greek-Orthodox monastery in the desert: Mount Sinai and the material culture of its Arabic (and Islamic) manuscripts’.

Friday

  • Medievalist Coffee Morning – Friday 10:30, Visiting Scholars Centre (Weston Library). All welcome, coffee and insight into special collections provided. This week, Jana Lammerding will speak on the representation of witches in the Douce Collection.
  • The History of the Bible: From Manuscripts to Print – 12:00, Visiting Scholars Centre at the Weston Library. Week 8: The Bible printed. Places are limited. To register interest and secure a place, please contact Péter Tóth.
  • Exploring Medieval Oxford through Surviving Archives – 2:00, Weston Library (Horton Room). Those who are interested can contact the convenor, Laure Miolo.
  • EMBI ‘New Books: A Celebration’. – 4:30, Schwartzman Room 421. Helena Hamerow and Conor O’Brien will talk informally about the process of researching and writing the projects that they have both just published, and we will also hear some reflections on being a postdoctoral researcher on a major project such as the ERC-funded grant for FeedSax. End-of-term drinks in Jude the Obscure, Walton St.
  • Oxford Medieval Manuscript Group – 5:00, John Roberts Room at Merton College. Julian Harison (Curator, British Library) will be speaking on ‘Sir Robert Cotton and Oxford’.

Opportunities and Reminders

Medieval matter HT26, Week 7

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02/03/2026

08:59

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

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Welcome all to week 7, and another packed schedule of events. The ‘Opportunities and Reminders’ section is growing particularly large, with a number of new additions – keep an eye out for CfPs and funding opportunities. The OMS blog continues to grow rapidly: Cris Arama (MSt. Medieval Studies) has recently written a report on Ian Forrest’s workshop.

Monday

  • French Palaeography Manuscript Reading Group – 10:30, Weston Library
  • Medieval History Seminar – 5:00, All Souls College. Jo Story (Leicester) “Insular manuscripts: why membrane matters” [Please note: this session will be in-person only, not hybrid – this is due to restrictions governing the sharing of unpublished data by grant partners].

Tuesday

  • EMBI workshop: ‘Reading’ manuscript membrane: bioarchaeology of early medieval books’ – 10:00, Weston Library. Requires pre-booking.
  • Latin Palaeography Manuscript Reading Group – 2:00, Weston Library (Horton Room). Those who are interested can contact the convenor, Laure Miolo.
  • Medieval Church and Culture, theme: TRANSLATION(S) – tea and coffee from 5:00, Harris Manchester College. Simon Heller (Lincoln) will be speaking on ‘Translation, Transformation, and Transmission: the case of the Old English Beowulf’
  • Old English Hagiography Reading Group – 5:15, Jesus College Memorial Room.
  • Medieval French Research Seminar – 5:15, Maison Française d’Oxford. Nathalie Koble (ENS Paris) will be speaking on ‘Sens et sentibilité. Pour une lecture multimédiale de la Dame à la Licorne (Musée de Cluny, Paris)’ .
  • Poetry Reading: Kevin Crossley-Holland – 5:30, St Edmund Hall. More information here.
  • Church Historian Pub Night – 6:00 at the Chequers Inn. Contact Rachel Cresswell

Wednesday

  • History and Materiality of the Book Seminar series – 2:15, Weston Library. Matthew Holford and Laure Miolo will be discussing Medieval Libraries and Provenance
  • Older Scots Reading Group – 2:30, Room 30.401 (Humanities Centre). Palyce of Honour, Thyrd Part, ll. 1288-2142 
  • The Medieval Latin Documentary Palaeography Reading Group – 4:00, online.
  • Islamic Studies Seminar – 5:00, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. Dr Moin Nizam will be speaking on ‘Transnational Ties of Faith: Imdadullah’s letters and writings from the Hijaz during the late-19th century’.
  • Late Antique and Byzantine Seminar – 5:00, Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies. Alasdair Grant (Hamburg) will be speaking on ‘Ubiquitous and Universal? Rebellion and State Formation between Byzantium and Early Islam’

Thursday

  • Middle English Reading Group (MERG) – 11:00, Lincoln College, Beckington Room. All are welcome as we read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: bring any edition of the original text.
  • Heraldry Society – 5:00, Oriel College. Dr Beatrice Groves (Research Fellow, Trinity) will be speaking on ‘”Azure-laced / With blue of heaven’s own tinct:” Shakespeare’s heraldic language’.
  • Celtic Seminar – 5:15, Room 20.306 (Humanities Centre and Online). Emmet Taylor (Cork) will be speaking on ‘Heads, hierarchy and the heroic’
  • Old English Graduate Reading Group – 5:15. Email Harriet Carter for location.
  • The Khalili Research Centre For the Art and Material Culture of the Middle East: Research Seminar – 5:15, The Khalili Research Centre. Günseli Gürel (Khalili Research Centre) will be speaking on ‘Picturing marvels, magic and monsters at the Ottoman court, 1574–1603’.
  • Guild of Medievalist Makers – 5:30, online. Optional theme: regrowth.

Friday

  • Medievalist Coffee Morning – Friday 10:30, Visiting Scholars Centre (Weston Library). All welcome, coffee and insight into special collections provided.
  • The History of the Bible: From Manuscripts to Print – 12:00, Visiting Scholars Centre at the Weston Library. The theme this week is ‘Vernacular Bibles of the Middle Ages’. Places are limited. To register interest and secure a place, please contact the lecturer at Péter Tóth.
  • Exploring Medieval Oxford through Surviving Archives – 2:00, Weston Library (Horton Room). Those who are interested can contact the convenor, Laure Miolo.

Opportunities and Reminders

Medieval Matters HT26, Wk6

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22/02/2026

21:14

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

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Welcome, all, to week 6 – it was lovely to see so many of you at the OMS lecture last week. An updated version of the OMS Booklet is linked here, and is available on the OMS website throughout the term.

Events

Monday

  • French Palaeography Manuscript Reading Group – 10:30, Weston Library
  • Seminar in Palaeography and Manuscript studies – 2:15, Weston Library. Eric Crégheur (Université Laval) will be speaking on ‘The Bruce Codex (MS. Bruce 96): Answering the Riddles of Coptic Gnostic Manuscript’.
  • Medieval Archaeology Seminar – 3:00, Archaeology Faculty. Charlotte Wood will be speaking on ‘A cultural history of combs in Medieval England, c. 400-1400’.
  • Medieval History Seminar – 5:00, All Souls College. Chris Wickham (Birmingham/Oxford) will be speaking on “International commerce and regional development: pepper in the Indian Ocean”.
  • Theory and Play: Comparative Medievalisms – 5.15, Lady Margaret Hall. Selections from: Dhuoda’s Liber Manualis  (9th Century CE, tr. Handbook for William); Boethius’ Consolatio (6th Century CE, tr. Consolation of Philosophy); Ode in Praise of al-Mansur Al-Amiri, Emir of Córdoba by Ibn Darradj al-Qastalli (10-11th Century CE)  
  • Oxford Thomistic Institute Lecture – 7:30, Blackfriars. Prof Rebecca Rist will be speaking on ‘Pope or Antipope?: Schism and the Medieval Papacy’

Tuesday

  • Medieval English Research Seminar – 12:15, Room 00.079 (Humanities Centre). Elaine Treharne (Stanford University) will be speaking on ‘‘Motes of gold’: early English poetry and its modern recollection’
  • Europe in the Later Middle Ages Seminar – 2:00, New Seminar Room, St John’s College. Tom Cousins (Bournemouth) will be speaking on’ The Mortar Wreck: A Thirteenth Century shipwreck outside of Poole Harbour, Dorset’.
  • Latin Palaeography Manuscript Reading Group – 2:00, Weston Library (Horton Room). Those who are interested can contact the convenor, Laure Miolo.
  • Early Modern Diplomacy Seminar 1400-1800: ‘Competition or Integration? Urban and Princely Diplomacy at times of Civil War in the Burgundian Low Countries (1380s vs. 1480s)’ – 4:15, University College. Michael Depreter (UC Louvain Saint Louis-Brussels) will be speaking on ‘Competition or Integration? Urban and Princely Diplomacy at times of Civil War in the Burgundian Low Countries (1380s vs. 1480s)’.
  • Medieval Church and Culture, theme: TRANSLATION(S) – tea and coffee from 5:00, Harris Manchester College. Celeste Pan (Balliol) will be speaking on ‘Some issues of translation in an illuminated Hebrew bible manuscript from medieval Brussels (Hamburg, Staatsund Universitätsbibl., Cod. Levy 19)’ 
  • Old English Hagiography Reading Group – 5:15, Jesus College Memorial Room. T
  • Book Launch: Medieval Commentary and Exegesis – Interdisciplinary Perspectives – 5:30, Monson Room (LMH). More information.
  • Church Historian Pub Night – 6:00 at the Chequers Inn. Contact Rachel Cresswell

Wednesday

  • Medieval German Graduate Seminar – 11:15, Old Library, St Edmund Hall. The topic for this term is the ‘Liederbuch der Clara Hätzlerin’. 
  • History and Materiality of the Book Seminar series – 2:15, Weston Library. Laure Miolo will be speaking on ‘Calendars and time-reckoning’.
  • Older Scots Reading Group – 2:30, Room 30.401 (Humanities Centre). Palyce of Honour, Seconde Part, ll. 772-1287.
  • The Medieval Latin Documentary Palaeography Reading Group – 4:00, online.
  • Late Antique and Byzantine Seminar – 5:00, Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies. Robert Wiśniewski (Warsaw) will be speaking on ‘Mapping Unholy Places in Late Antiquity’
  • Islamic Studies Seminar – 5:00, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. Jocelyne Cesari (University of Birmingham) willbe speaking on ‘From Divine Sovereignty to National Legitimacy: Transformations in the Theology of Political Islam’
  • John Lydgate Book Club – 5:15pm. All Souls College, Hovenden Room. Mishtooni Bose will be speaking on ‘Thinking with Lydgate’. Please email shaw.worth@all-souls.ox.ac.uk for a copy of the text.

Thursday

  • Middle English Reading Group (MERG) – 11:00, Lincoln College, Beckington Room. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
  • Medieval Women’s Writing Research Seminar – 4:00, Somerville College. Experiences of Captivity and Enslavement – including extracts from the works of Layla bint Lukayz, ‘Arib al-Ma’muniyya, Qamar, Uns al-Qulub and Leonor López de Córdoba
  • Seminars in Medieval and Renaissance Music – 5:00, online. Andrew Kirkman (University of Birmingham) will be speaking on ‘Made to measure or prêt à chanter? The Court of Wilhelm IV and the Later Alamire Manuscripts’
  • Celtic Seminar – 5:15, Online. Malo Adeux (CRBC)  willbe speaking on ‘Ystoria Daret: sources, circulation, reception’
  • The Khalili Research Centre For the Art and Material Culture of the Middle East: Research Seminar – 5:15, The Khalili Research Centre. Eva Schreiner (Kunsthistorisches Institut, Florence) will be speaking on ‘Debt in stone: architectures of finance in late Ottoman Istanbul’.

Friday

  • Medievalist Coffee Morning – Friday 10:30, Visiting Scholars Centre (Weston Library). All welcome, coffee and insight into special collections provided.
  • The History of the Bible: From Manuscripts to Print – 12:00, Visiting Scholars Centre at the Weston Library. Week 6: The Bible in Medieval Europe. Places are limited. To register interest and secure a place, please contact Péter Tóth.
  • Exploring Medieval Oxford through Surviving Archives – 2:00, Weston Library (Horton Room). Those who are interested can contact the convenor, Laure Miolo.
  • Oxford Medieval Manuscript Group – 5:00, Sir Howard Stringer Room at Merton College. Tour of the All Souls College library with Peregrine Horden, Fellow Librarian. The deadline to register has passed. To be put on a waiting list, write to oxfordmedievalmss@gmail.com. 

Opportunities and Reminders