Medieval Matters HT26, Week 2

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25/01/2026

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

OMS is deeply saddened by the passing of Stephen Baxter (Professor of Medieval History). To view a number of touching memories of Stephen, and to contribute your own, please visit the memorial page. Further plans for remembering Stephen at St Peter’s will be announced in due course.

Monday

  • French Palaeography Manuscript Reading Group – 10:30, Weston Library
  • Seminar in Palaeography and Manuscript studies – 2:15, Weston Library. Kees Dekker (Groningen) will be speaking on ‘Manuscripts in the hands of Franciscus Junius (1591-1677)’
  • Medieval Archaeology Seminar – 3:00, Archaeology Faculty. Jennifer Coulton (Oxford) will be speaking on ‘Structural Depositions, Haunted Houses, and Domestic Protection in England c.800-1250’
  • Medieval History Seminar – 5:00, All Souls College. Rob Portass (Robinson College, Cambridge) will be speaking on “Estate Management and the Beginnings of Specialised Production in Early Medieval Iberia”.

Tuesday

  • ‘A Quiet Revolution’: Engaging Heritage Audiences with West Horsley Place’s Historic Landscape – 11:00, Learning Centre (Room 00.018), The Schwarzman Centre. Book a place.
  • Medieval English Research Seminar – 12:15, Room 00.079 (Humanities Centre). Rachel Moss (University of Northampton) will be speaking on ‘Chivalry is a code for men willing to fight’: medievalism, masculinity and the modern far-right’.
  • Europe in the Later Middle Ages Seminar – 2:00, New Seminar Room, St John’s College. Annabel Hancock (Trinity College Dublin) will be speaking on ‘Negotiating Uncertain Waters: Trust in trade and diplomacy in the Mediterranean’
  • 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. Natasha Bradley (Lincoln) will be speaking on ‘Trans Saints in Old Norse Translation: Marina*us the Monk and Pelagia*us the penitent in the medieval North’
  • Maghrib History Seminar – 5:00, The Queen’s College. Amira Bennison (University of Cambridge) will be speaking on ‘Power and Peace: Re-viewing the Dynastic History of the Western Maghrib through an Urban Lens’.
  • Heraldry Society – 5:00, MacGregor Room, Oriel College. Mr Mark JR Scott (Somerset Herald) will be speaking on “British Royal Heraldry: 1800-2025”.
  • Old English Hagiography Reading Group – 5:15, Jesus College Memorial Room. The first text is the anonymous Life of Saint Giles – email Luisa Ostacchini for a copy.
  • 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 – 2:00, Weston Library. Andrew Honey & Matthew Holford will be discussing ‘Writing supports (parchment and paper) and manuscript structure’.
  • Older Scots Reading Group – 2:30, Room 30.401 (Humanities Centre). Palyce of Honour, First Part, ll. 127-771.
  • The Medieval Latin Documentary Palaeography Reading Group – 4:00, online.
  • Late Antique and Byzantine Seminar – 5:00, Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies. Julian Baker (Oxford) will be speaking on ‘Medieval Epiros and Albania: Geopolitical and Economic Reflections in the Light of Coinage’.

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.
  • Medieval Women’s Writing Research Seminar – 4:00, Somerville College. The Debate on Women – extracts from the works of Christine de Pizan, Teresa de Cartagena and Lady Murasaki.
  • Seminars in Medieval and Renaissance Music – 5:00, online. Kévin Roger (University of Lorraine) will be speaking on ‘Latin Motets and Literary Networks in the Late Middle Ages: Intertextuality, Rhetoric, and Digital Reading’. Discussants: Yolanda Plumley (University of Exeter) and Karl Kügle (Universities of Oxford and Utrecht).
  • Medieval Visual Culture Seminar – 5:00, St Catherine’s College. Robert Mills (University College London) will be speaking on “Wild Forms: Hermits, Saints and Rock Art in Medieval England” 
  • Celtic Seminar – 5:15, Room 20.306 (Humanties Centre) and Online. Elizabeth Edwards (CAWCS) will be speaking on ‘Home Circuits: the Ladies of Llangollen, queer temporalities and Welsh landscapes’.
  • The Khalili Research Centre For the Art and Material Culture of the Middle East: Research Seminar – 5:15, The Khalili Research Centre. Joumana Medlej (Independent Scholar) will be speaking on ‘The hidden life of Kūfī scripts: practice-based insights and theories’.
  • Compline in the Crypt – 9:30, St Edmund Hall.

Friday

  • In Tesserae workshop – details TBC.
  • 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 ‘The Septuagint and its Transmission’. Places are limited. To register interest and secure a place, please contact the lecturer at peter.toth@bodleian.ox.ac.uk  
  • 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, online.

Opportunities and Reminders

The OMS Booklet is linked here, and is available on the OMS website throughout the term. The 2026 OMS Lecture will take place on Thursday 19 February 5–6.30pm in the Old Dining Hall of St Edmund Hall. Prof. Ian Forrest (Glasgow) will be speaking on ‘Telling Tails: Weaponizing Gender in the Late Medieval Church‘. Drinks to follow. More information and register for dinner.