Journal Publication: The Saint Enshrined: European Tabernacle-Altarpieces, c. 1150–1400, Medievalia, Journal of Medieval Studies (Vol. 23, No. 1, 2020)

The Medievalia, Journal of Medieval Studies is excited to announce a special monographic volume: The Saint Enshrined: European Tabernacle-Altarpieces, C. 1150–1400 edited by Fernando Gutiérrez Baños Justin Kroesen Elisabeth Andersen

It comprises of contributions by 10 international scholars on the mentioned European Tabernacle-Altarpieces. It has been published fully online (with the possibility of printing on demand), and can be downloaded for free. You can find it here: https://revistes.uab.cat/medievalia

Table of Contents

Tabernacle-altarpieces: Variety within Unity, Fernando Gutiérrez Baños, Justin Kroesen, Elisabeth Andersen

Tabernacle Shrines (1180–1400) as a European Phenomenon: Types, Spread, Survival, Justin Kroesen, Peter Tångeberg

Closing the Tabernacle European Madonna Tabernacles c. 1150 – c. 1350, Elisabeth Andersen

Marian Tabernacles on Main Altars. Norwegian Thirteenth-Century Altar Decorations in Their European Context, Stephan Kuhn

(Dis)closed: Tabernacle Altarpieces in the Rhineland, Pavla Ralcheva

Central Italian “Tabernacula”: A Survey, Cristiana Pasqualetti

Minor or Major? Castilian Tabernacle-Altarpieces and Monumental Arts, Fernando Gutiérrez Baños

The Tabernacle of the ‘Virgen de los Reyes’ and the Documentary Memory of Other Gothic Tabernacles of the Cathedral of Seville, Teresa Laguna Paúl

Movement on the Altar: Gothic Tabernacle-altarpieces in the Crown of Aragon (and Their Context), Alberto Velasco Gonzàlez

Images and Altar Structures in Romanesque Catalonia: A Restored Virgin and Child Sculpture in the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Jordi Camps Soria

New Journal Publication: British Art Studies, Issue 16 – June 2020

The British Art Studies is pleased to announce the publication of the latest journal issue: Issue 16 – June 2020. Of interest to Medieval Art historians may be their section New Approaches to St Stephen’s Chapel, Palace of Westminster, which includes:

You can access and read the new issue here.

British Art Studies, Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art and Yale Center for British Art

Call for Papers: The Virgin as Auctoritas: The Authority of the Virgin Mary and female moral–doctrinal authority in the Middle Ages (Session sponsored by ICMA), Association for Art History Annual Conference, deadline 19 October 2020

Annual Association for Art History Conference, Birmingham 14 – 17 April 2021
Deadline 19 October 2020

This session aims at exploring a fundamental issue: female authority through the lens of visual/material culture. It involves prominently the Virgin Mary – as well as figures of female authority in the medieval world – because in the late decades of the 20th century, feminist thinkers pointed at the ‘negative model’ offered by the Virgin Mary since for centuries she had been branded by the Catholic Church as a role model for modesty, submission and virginity. However, between late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the Virgin Mary emerged as Queen of Heaven through preaching and liturgical texts, visual arts and public assemblies – that is, the ‘mass media’ of that time. Mary was pictured as a very strong, authoritative figure, rather than weak and compliant.

Already during late Antiquity, Mary was commonly perceived as the mighty protector and spiritual stronghold of capital cities in the Mediterranean. Between the 8th and the 11th centuries, the role of royal women came to the fore, especially in Byzantium and in Ottonian Germany. Very striking is also the case of a number of major Italian city-states between the 12th and the 15th centuries where the Virgin Mary came to be identified with political and economic supremacy. But how did the preaching and missions of mendicant orders affect her image? How has a prominent role for female authorities been transmitted through visual arts and material culture? And what about the roles that women held in Africa and Asia and in other religious traditions?

In sum, this session can help understand what bearing the figure of the humble Virgin Mary eventually had on female leadership, and also how female leadership evolved or not. Topics may include but are not limited to:

  • The Virgin Mary as a figure of authority and wisdom in texts and images
  • The Virgin Mary in medieval preaching/arts: ‘only’ a model for humility and mercy?
  • Female political authority and the Virgin Mary as a role model in texts and images
  • Female moral, doctrinal, political and religious authority within and without the Christian oecumene in texts and images
  • Women and power: a difficult relationship.

Email abstracts to: Francesca Dell’Acqua, Università degli studi di Salerno, fdellacqua@unisa.it

Online Course: Manuscripts in Arabic Script: Introduction to Codicology, Aga Khan University, 14 -15 Aug 2020

Introductory short course on manuscripts in Arabic script.

This online course (2 days) aims to introduce Arabic manuscripts from a codicological and textual point of view. The first day will provide an overview of the field of codicology and it role in the manuscript field in general and in identifying the key features of the manuscript in particular. The second session will be dedicated to writing supports, the structure of quires, ruling and page layout, bookbinding, ornamentation, tools and materials used in bookmaking, and the palaeography of book hands. The second day will focus on the importance of manuscripts in research. While the first session will cover the Para-textual features in the Arabic manuscripts, the second session will demonstrate the different approaches in editing manuscripts.

This introductory course is intended for students, researchers and librarians who are working in the field of manuscript studies. In the two-days course, a wide range of aspects will be covered for those who are acquiring basic knowledge in this field.

Learning outcomes:

– Basic understanding of the field of manuscript studies in general.

– Identify the role of manuscripts in knowledge production in different areas studies in Muslim cultures.

Length of course: 2 days (4 lectures)

Download course structure.

Course Convenor:

Dr Walid Ghali is the Head of the Aga Khan Library, London, Assistant Professor at the Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations and a Chartered Librarian of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP). Also, he is a member of the Islamic Manuscript Association, University of Cambridge.

Dr Ghali received his PhD from Cairo University, Faculty of Arts in 2012. His current research projects focus on the Islamic manuscript traditions, particularly in Arabic script, and the history of books. Dr Ghali teaches Sufism, Arabic literature and manuscript traditions. Before moving to London, Dr Ghali worked in various librarian roles at the American University in Cairo. He has also held several consultancy roles in and outside Egypt, such as the Ministry of Endowment, Qatar University and the Supreme Council for Culture in Kuwait.

Tickets: £50 per day, £80 two days

*The course will be delivered via Zoom and further details will be provided later upon registration. For any questions about the course, please contact walid.ghali@aku.edu

Get your tickets here.

New Publication: The Hidden Life of Textiles in the Medieval and Early Modern Mediterranean: Contexts and Cross-Cultural Encounters in the Islamic, Latinate and Eastern Christian Worlds, edited by Nikolaos Vryzidis

The book contains published papers of the conference ‘Textiles & Identity in the Medieval and Early Modern Mediterranean: Paradigms of Contexts and Cross-Cultural Exchanges’ of the British School at Athens held at the (Benaki) Museum of Islamic Art in 2016, as well as some new contributions.

The focus in this wide-ranging collection of studies by key scholars in the field is on textiles and their functions in various Mediterranean contexts (and beyond) during medieval and post-medieval times (ca. 10th-19th c.). The scope of the contributions encompasses archaeological, anthropological and art historical perspectives on a great variety of subjects, such as textiles from the Byzantine Empire and the Medieval Islamic World (e.g. Spain, Mamluk Egypt, Seljuk Anatolia), as well as the production and use of textiles in Italy, the Ottoman Empire, Armenia and Ethiopia. The volume offers a state-of-the-art of an often still hardly known area of study of textiles as historical and cultural sources of information, which makes it essential reading for scholars and a larger audience alike.

The book includes contributions by Laura Rodríguez Peinado, Ana Cabrera-Lafuente, Avinoam Shalem, Scott Redford, Maria Sardi, Vera-Simone Schulz, Nikolaos Vryzidis, Marielle Martiniani-Reber, Elena Papastavrou, Jacopo Gnisci and Dickran Kouymjian.

Nikolaos Vryzidis received his PhD from SOAS, University of London, with a thesis on Greek clerical costume of the Ottoman period. He has already published on the subject in journals like Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, Convivium, Iran, JOTSA and Orientalia Christiana Periodica. His research interests are centred on material culture of religion, cross-cultural encounters in the Medieval Mediterranean, and Byzantine-Islamic interchange.

Find out more here.

Table of Contents

  • Laura Rodríguez Peinado (Complutense University of Madrid) & Ana Cabrera-Lafuente (Museo del Traje, Madrid), New approaches in Mediterranean textile studies: Andalusí textiles as case study
  • Avinoam Shalem (Columbia University), Metaphors we dress with: Medieval poetics about textiles
  • Scott Redford (SOAS, University of London), Flags of the Seljuk sultanate of Anatolia: Visual and textual evidence
  • Maria Sardi (Independent scholar), Foreign influences in Mamluk textiles: The formation of a new aesthetic
  • Vera-Simone Schulz (Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz), Entangled identities: Textiles and the art and architecture of the Appenine peninsula in a trans-Mediterranean perspective
  • Nikolaos Vryzidis (Independent scholar), Animal motifs on Asian textiles used by the Greek Church: A case study of Christian acculturation. Appendix by Dimitris Loupis: Woven Islamic inscriptions
  • Marielle Martiniani-Reber (Musée d’art et d’histoire, Geneva), Quelques aspects des relations entre productions textiles byzantine et arabe au Xe-XIe siècles
  • Elena Papastavrou (Hellenic Ministry of Culture), Osmosis in Ottoman Constantinople: The iconography of Greek church embroidery
  • Jacopo Gnisci (Oxford University), Ecclesiastic dress in Medieval Ethiopia: Preliminary remarks on the visual evidence
  • Dickran Kouymjian (California State University, Fresno), Armenian altar curtains: Repository of tradition and artistic innovation
  • Nikolaos Vryzidis, Concluding remarks: Textiles as units of transmission

Online Lecture: Tom Nickson, ‘Light and the Cult of St Thomas Becket’, 7 July 2020

Listen to the Lecture here.

7 July 2020 is the 850th anniversary of Thomas Becket’s death and 800th anniversary of his translation.

Light and light imagery is prominent in the cult of St Thomas Becket, as it was and is in many pilgrimage cults across the world. In this short talk I briefly consider the role of light in Becket’s lives, miracles, and liturgy, before turning to explore its place in his cult and its architectural setting. I will focus particularly on two sites associated with St Thomas Becket in Canterbury cathedral, one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in medieval Europe. First the crypt, where Becket’s body was buried following his murder in December 1170, and second his shrine in the Gothic Trinity chapel, to which his body was solemnly translated on 7 July 1220, exactly 800 years ago. I examine the custom of giving votive candles to the tomb and shrine, the social and symbolic significance of Canterbury’s ‘economy of wax’, and the massive coiled taper that was periodically donated to the shrine by the town of Dover. When were these lit, and how did they affect perceptions of Becket’s tomb and shrine? Alongside this consideration of ‘artificial’ lighting, I will explore how natural light was controlled and regulated by Canterbury’s architecture, furnishings and stained glass. Light, I argue, was carefully choreographed at Canterbury, complementing its symbolic role in Becket’s lives, miracles and liturgy, and enhancing the sensory experience of pilgrims to his tomb and shrine.

Tom Nickson is Senior Lecturer at The Courtauld Institute of Art, London. He teaches and researches the art and architecture of medieval England and Iberia, and is editor of a forthcoming collection of essays on the art and cult of St Thomas Becket.

The lecture forms part of Durham University’s On Pilgrimage programme

Suggested Readings

Blick, S. 2011. Votives, Images, Interaction and Pilgrimage to the Tomb and Shrine of St. Thomas Becket, Canterbury Cathedral. In S. Blick & L.D. Gelfand (eds.) Push Me, Pull You: Imaginative, Emotional, Physical, and Spatial Interaction in Late Medieval and Renaissance Art: 21-58. Leiden: Brill.

Turner, D.H. 1976. The Customary of the Shrine of St Thomas Becket. Canterbury Cathedral Chronicle 70: 16-22.

Jenkins, J. 2019. Replication or Rivalry? The ‘Becketization’ of Pilgrimage in English Cathedrals. Religion 49: 24-47.

Duggan, A. 2012. Religious Networks in Action: the European expansion of the cult of St Thomas of Canterbury. In J. Gregory & H. McLeod (eds.) International Religious Networks: 20-43. Woodbridge: Boydell and Brewer.

Job: Lecturer in Medieval History, Aberystwyth University, deadline 28 July 2020

Aberystwyth University – Department of History and Welsh History

Job Description

To promote a flexible workforce, the University will consider applications from individuals seeking full time, part time, job share, or term time only working arrangements.

The Department of History and Welsh History wish to appoint a Lecturer in Medieval History for a fixed-term period. The successful candidate will cover the teaching position of Dr Elizabeth New, recently awarded a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship, for the duration of her award. Applications are particularly welcome from those with a specialist knowledge of any aspect of later medieval/early modern British History (c. 1350-1550) and with an ability to teach in the area of heritage, although we welcome all applications.

The successful candidate will be expected to teach at both undergraduate and graduate level, to supervise undergraduate and graduate dissertations and to participate in University examining at undergraduate and taught graduate level. They will contribute to student recruitment and administration within the Department. The successful candidate will also have a strong research record, or exhibit evidence of the capacity to develop such a record, in a relevant field of later medieval/early modern history, c. 1350-1550.

The appointment will be subject to the successful completion of a probationary agreement and the successful candidate will be required to complete the Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching in Higher Education, unless they already hold an appropriate equivalent qualification.

To make an informal enquiry, please contact Phillipp Schofield, Head of Department at prs@aber.ac.uk or on 01970 622662.

Ref: HWH.20.3214

Closing date: 28 July 2020

Interview date: w/c 3 August 2020

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and communities and in particular, those that are currently under represented in our workforce. This includes but is not limited to Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates, candidates with disabilities, and female candidates. We specifically encourage female candidates to apply for this post as they are currently under-represented at this level in our organisation.

We are a Bilingual Institution which complies with the Welsh Language Standards and is committed to Equal Opportunities. You are welcome to apply for any vacancy in Welsh or English and any application submitted will be treated equally.

More information here.

Salary: £36,914 to £40,322

Hours: Part-Time

Contract Type: Fixed-Term/Contract

Deadline: 28th July 2020

Podcast Series: British Art Talks, Paul Mellon Centre

The Paul Mellon Centre has now released seven episodes of a new podcast series, British Art Talks, which are permanently available across our website, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Each episode features new research and aims to enhance and expand knowledge of British art and architecture. Please see the full list of episodes below.

Medieval related podcasts include:

“What Will Survive Of Us Is Love”: Memory And Emotion In Late-Medieval England, Jessica Barker 

Jessica Barker explores the gesture of joined hands on medieval tomb monuments. Medieval tombs often depict husband and wife lying hand-in-hand, immortalised in elegantly carved stone: what Philip Larkin would later describe in his celebrated poem, An Arundel Tomb, as their ‘stone fidelity’.
These gestural monuments seem to belong to a broader tendency towards ‘expressivity’ in late-medieval sculpture. Whereas the figures on Romanesque portals stare back at the viewer impassively, their Gothic counterparts beam with radiant smiles, wipe away bitter tears or grimace and gurney with uncontrolled rage. The nature and significance of this shift has been much debated in recent years, in particular the extent to which the heightened representation of emotion was designed to provoke an equivalent emotional response.

This talk explores these ideas through the gesture of joined hands on medieval tomb monuments. I first address the issue of why hand-joining tombs are almost entirely restricted to a fifty-year period in England, before going on to place these amorous effigies in dialogue with wedding rings and dresses, changes to matrimonial ritual, and the new economic opportunities offered to widows. What emerges is the careful artifice beneath their seductive emotional surfaces: the artistic, religious, political and legal agendas underlying the medieval rhetoric of married love.  

Listen the podcast to here.

The English Carthusians And The Art Of Abstinence, Julian Luxford 

May 27, 1:00 PMFacebookTwitter Headliner Embed

Julian Luxford discusses the art and architectural dimensions of Carthusian life. The Carthusian order was founded in the late eleventh century in France. It spread rapidly and widely, and experienced great popularity during the later Middle Ages, when dozens of new charterhouses were founded against a background of sharp decline in monastic foundation in general. The main reason for Carthusian popularity was the order’s consistent adherence to the eremitic precepts and form of living established by its founding fathers. Manifest holiness generated a powerful reputation and patronage to match. The Carthusians also proved adaptable, managing to integrate into urban environments from the thirteenth century onwards without seriously compromising their principles.

This talk covers the art and architectural dimensions of Carthusian life with particular reference to the ten foundations of the order’s English Province. While these monasteries are all largely destroyed, enough survives to give a clear picture of the distinctive layout and elevation of their essential buildings and the sorts of embellishment they received. A fairy large number of Carthusian books and documents has also come down to us, some containing illumination, drawings and seals. Examples of this material that illustrate Carthusian ritual, customs and spirituality will be selected for discussion.

Listen to the podcast here.

Speaker Q&A

Over the upcoming weeks questions are invited for the British Art Talks speakers related to the topics of their podcasts. Email or submit a question via social media and answers will be published on the Paul Mellon Centre website on the dates below:

Friday 3 July
Jessica Barker

Friday 17 July
Julian Luxford

Find out more information about all the podcasts here.

IMC 2020: Medieval Art related papers & panels, 6 – 9 July 2020

Whilst the International Medieval Congress cannot take place in person, the wonderful committee have organised a virtual conference to take place. Drawing medievalists from around the world, the virtual International Medieval Congress 2020 (vIMC) is their first foray into the world of virtual conferencing. There are over 500 speakers across 5 days, as well as virtual exhibitions, book and craft fairs, socialising and networking opportunities aplenty.

We’ve had a look through the programme and have brought together all the Medieval Art related papers and panels. Please let us know if we’ve missed a panel or paper that you think Medieval Art Researchers would like to know about! You can see the full programme here.

vIMC will run from Monday 6 July – Friday 10 July 2020, 09.00-18.00 BST.

Monday 6th July 2020

16.30-18.00

Session: v3-06  |  Virtual Session Room 6  |  Panel: Manuscripts, Texts, and Transmission, III

Paper v3-06-a: Imaging Techniques for the Classification of Ink Types in Medieval Manuscripts: Revealing More than Text, Ivan Shevchuk, Exzellenzcluster ‘Understanding Written Artefacts’, Universität Hamburg

Paper v3-06-b: Deploying Linked Data for Medieval Manuscript Provenance Research, Toby Burrows, Oxford e-Research Centre, University of Oxford

Paper v3-06-c: Within the Limits: Keeping the Outer Edge of Text Straight, Linda Mikulenková, Department of Auxiliary Historical Sciences & Archival Studies, Univerzita Karlova, Praha

Paper v3-06-d: The Protection of Manuscripts during Medieval Times: Techniques Crossing Borders, Hassan Ebeid, Postgraduate Institute of Papyrology, Inscriptions & Conservation (PIPIC), Ain Shams University, Cairo

18.30-19:00

Fringe Session:  Blogging Manuscripts with Polonsky German

Organiser: Oxford Medieval Studies / Bodleian Libraries / The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), University of Oxford

Speakers: Tuija Ainonen, Merton College, University of Oxford, Andrew Dunning, Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, Henrike Lähnemann, Faculty of Medieval & Modern Languages, University of Oxford & Matthew Holford, Bodliean Libraries, University of Oxford

How can we best use the wealth of digitized medieval manuscripts to bring medieval studies to new audiences? The Bodleian Library launches the #PolonskyGerman blogging challenge with reflections on how universities and libraries can expand their public reach through teaching palaeography, the history of the book, and digital humanities. This is the first of three interactive sessions that will give participants the opportunity to collaborate on presenting everyday manuscripts to the public.

Pre-booking is required to attend this free event. Instructions to book your place will be available within the vIMC app.

19.30-21.00

Virtual Session Room 9  |  Discover Cyrillic Calligraphy

Organiser: Anastasija Ropa, Department of Management & Communication Science, Latvian Academy of Sport Education, Riga and Edgar Rops, Independent Scholar, Riga

Cyrillic calligraphy flourished throughout the Middle Ages and well into the early modern period; today, it is experiencing a revival among Slavic practitioners, even though it largely remains a mystery in the western world.

This workshop will introduce the historical and modern practice of Cyrillic calligraphy, not only presenting the alphabet in the uncial and the semi-uncial scripts, but also presenting the numerical symbols and the most common abbreviations. We will also show some traditional decorative patterns using pen and ink.

The workshop will be interesting also for those familiar with other calligraphy traditions, but no prior calligraphy experience or knowledge of Old Church Slavonic is necessary. During the workshop, we will show a step-by-step process of copying a medieval illuminated chronicle or gospel fragment. We will also give the participants a list of recommended materials to practice and produce your own calligraphic work.

Edgar and Anastasija study the medieval and early modern documents produced in Livonia, at the crossroads of eastern and western traditions of writing, and the artistic practices that went into the decoration of historical documents, presenting their research at international venues, with peer-reviewed publications to their credit. Edgar is a lawyer and legal historian by education, with a passion for historical calligraphy. He has also organised calligraphy workshops for general audiences, both with and without experience in calligraphy, and calligraphy-based team-building activities. Anastasija holds a PhD for a study of romance, with a long-standing interest in manuscripts and charters produced and circulated in medieval and Renaissance Livonia.

Tuesday 7th July 2020

11.15-12.45

Session: v5-06  |  Virtual Session Room 6  |  Panel: The Artefactuality of the Codex: Form and Content in Manuscript Making in Medieval Europe

Paper v5-06-a: ‘In my own hand’: Homemade Prayer Books, Anne Mette Hansen, Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, Københavns Universitet

Paper v5-06-b: Mise-en-page as Data Structure: Fredegar’s (Mis)Epitomisation of Jerome, Alessandro Gnasso, Independent Scholar, Rome

Paper v5-06-c: The Codex as a Compilatio: Historiography in Multitext Manuscripts, N. Kıvılcım Yavuz, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas

16.30-18.00

Session: v7-02  |  Virtual Session Room 2  |  Panel: The Fantastic, The Monstrous, and the Grotesque, II

Paper v7-02-a: Borders, Fluidity, and Infinity in the Images of the 10,000 Martyrs, Yael Elias, Department of Art History, Tel Aviv University

Paper v7-02-b: Enslaved Giants: Ascopard’s Monstrosity and Mitigation in the Middle English Bevis of Hampton, Charlotte Ross, Independent Scholar, Bristol

Paper v7-02-c: Dancers from Abroad: Gothic Marginal Illustrations Featuring ‘Others’, Zofia Marianna Załęska, Institute of Art History, University of Warsaw

19.00-20.00

Zoom via vIMC app | Fringe Session: The Trouble with Dragons: Book Discussion and Q&A Session about Paradise: The World of Romanesque Sculpture by Rita Wood

A discussion and Q&A session with Rita Wood, author of Paradise: The World of Romanesque Sculpture. Rita’s interest goes beyond art history and this session will be of interest to medieval historians of religion and society. Attendees will have the opportunity to raise and discuss questions as well as learn more about the author’s reasons for writing the book.

This event will be hosted on Zoom and a link will be available within the vIMC app.

Wednesday 8th July 2020

09.00-10.30

Session: v8-08  |  Virtual Session Room 8  |  Panel: Affect and Effect: Experiencing and Sharing Emotions

Paper v8-08-a: Humour on the Borders of Texts and Images: The Case of the Rutland Psalter, Elena Lichmanova, School of History, Higher School of Economics, Moscow

Paper v8-08-b: Atheism and the Emotions in the Long 12th Century, Keagan Brewer, Medieval & Early Modern Centre, University of Sydney

Paper v8-08-c: An Illuminated Book of Comedies for the Duke of Berry, Kleio Pethainou, Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh

Paper v8-08-d: Humour and the Individual, c. 1150-1250, Peter J. A. Jones, School of Advanced Studies, University of Tyumen, Russia

11.15-12.45

Session: v9-07  |  Virtual Session Room 7  |  Panel: British Archaeological Association: Borders Of Authority and Death

Paper v9-07-a: Life in the Shadow: Power Relations in Medieval Wensleydale, Erik Matthews, Hornby Castle Project, Northallerton

Paper v9-07-b: Havens for Burial: The Convents of Constantinople and Their Female Founders, Cecily Hennessy, Christie’s Education, London

11.15-12.45

Session: v9-08  |  Virtual Session Room 8  |  Panel: Visualising the World in Christianity and Islam

Paper v9-08-a: The Shebanization and the Birth of the Ethiopian Nation, 14th-16th Centuries, Deresse Ayenachew, Institut de Recherches et d’Études sur les Mondes Arabes et Musulman (IREMAM – UMR 7310), Aix-Marseille Université / Department of History & Heritage Management, Debre Berhan University, Ethiopia

Paper v9-08-b: The Legacy of Classical Antiquity in Early al-Andalus, Jorge Elices Ocón, Escola de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas, Universidade Federal de São Paulo

Paper v9-08-c: The Idea of Borders and its Realisation in the Geographical Compendium of the 10th-Century ‘Kitab al-Alak al-Nafisa’ (‘A Book of Precious Things’) by Ibn Rusta, Iryna Arlova, Centre for Medieval Studies, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow

14.15-15.45

Session: v10-08  |  Virtual Session Room 8  |  Panel: Blurred Boundaries Between the Sacred and the Secular, I: Manuscripts’ Decorations and Representations

Organiser: Dafna Nissim, Department of the Arts, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva

Moderator: Vered Tohar, Department of Literature of the Jewish People, BarIlan University, Ramat-Gan

Paper v10-08-a: Secular and Devotional Symbolism in Jewellery Depictions: A Comparison between Flemish and Italian Book Illumination, Serena Franzon, Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali, Università degli Studi di Padova

Paper v10-08-b: The Secular and the Sacred in an Illustrated Opening from the Book of Hours of Louis of Laval, Dafna Nissim, Department of the Arts, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva

Paper v10-08-c: The Economics of Penitential Pedagogy: Accounting for Sin in the Vernon Paternoster Diagram, Haijiang Jiang, Department of English, Northwestern University

Paper v10-08-d: The Heavenly Banquet: Musical Imagery in the Archbishop’s Palace of Santiago de Compostela, Earthly and Heavenly United, Avia Shemesh, Department of Art History, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

16.30-18.00

Session: v11-03  |  Virtual Session Room 3  |  Panel: Ecclesiastical Borders

Paper v11-03-a: Erasing Antiquity: Spolia as a Form of Damnatio Memoriae in the Church of Mary in Ephesus, Mali Skotheim, Warburg Institute, University of London

Paper v11-03-b: The Stave Church as Border Control: An Art-Historical Examination of Norse Church Portals and their Role in Legitimising Christian Norms, Ryan Stone, Independent Scholar, Vancouver

Paper v11-03-c: A Fixed Point in Time: Enclosed Textuality in the Anchorhold, Brenna Duperron, Department of English, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia

16.30-18.00

Session: v11-07  |  Virtual Session Room 7  |  Panel: Patrons and Elites

Paper v11-07-a: Where Did 15th-Century English Patrons Get Their Tapestries From?, Lesley Fraser, School of History of Art, Edinburgh College of Art / Centre for Open Learning (COL), University of Edinburgh

Paper v11-07-b: Stained Glass Patronage in the Late Middle Ages: Salvation and Status in the Church of St Michael-le-Belfrey, Lisa Reilly, Department of Architectural History, University of Virginia

Paper v11-07-c: ‘With modest men they modest be, with sober they be graue’ / ‘With lewd and naughtie companie, they also play the knaue’: Minstrels and Class Boundaries in Renaissance England, Csilla Virág, Department of Medieval & Early Modern History, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest

18.30-19.00

Fringe Session: Teaching the Digital Codex

Organiser: Oxford Medieval Studies / Bodleian Libraries / The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), University of Oxford

Speakers: Mary Boyle (Oxford), Julia Walworth (University of Oxford), Leonor Zozaya-Montes (University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) 

How can we best use the wealth of digitized medieval manuscripts to bring medieval studies to new audiences? Since 2016, Teaching the Codex has brought together teachers to develop more engaging pedagogical approaches to palaeography and codicology, with both regular colloquia and a long-running blog. Mary Boyle shares the knowledge she gained in launching a successful manuscripts movement from scratch, with reflections from Leonor Zozaya-Montes on the process of writing for the project blog. Julia Walworth will present some of Merton’s digitised manuscripts as possible subjects for a blog post. The challenge here would be to use digitised items fora ‘teachable feature’; for examples look at previous ‘teachable features’ blogs. 

Pre-booking is required to attend this free event. Instructions on how to book your place will be found within the vIMC app.

19.00-19:30

Zoom through vIMC app | Online International Summer School in Medieval Palaeography (Università di Verona and Biblioteca Capitolare, 7th-11th September 2020) Presentation

Organiser: Marco Stoffella, Dipartimento Culture e Civiltà, Università degli Studi di Verona

During this event we will briefly present the second edition of the online International Summer School in Medieval Palaeography. Due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak, the 2020 edition is offered only via a digital platform (Moodle). Exploring the outstanding original Late Antique and Medieval writing materials preserved at the Biblioteca Capitolare, the ‘Queen of all Late Antique and Medieval Libraries’ (according to E.A. Lowe), we will provide an overview of the main elements of Latin palaeography. The course consists of pre-recorded talks and lectures and of live Zoom meetings with practical exercises, reading, and transcribing several different types of script. It is also open to students with some experience in Latin and Greek palaeography who wish to refresh or improve their skills.

This event will be hosted on Zoom and a link will be available within the vIMC app.

Thursday 9th July 2020

09.00-10.30

Session: v12-01  |  Virtual Session Room 1  |  Panel: Approaches to Medieval Sculpture

Paper v12-01-a: From Wendron to the Western Isles: Cross-Border Approaches to High Crosses, Christina Cowart Smith, Department of Archaeology, Durham University

Paper v12-01-b: Death, Burial, and Memorialisation at Furness Abbey, Michael Carter, Curatorial Department, English Heritage, London

09.00-10.30

Session: v12-03  |  Virtual Session Room 3  |  Panel: Constructing and Deconstructing Medieval Boundaries

Organiser and Moderator: Rob Meens, Departement Geschiedenis en Kunstgeschiedenis, Universiteit Utrecht

Paper v12-03-c: Draconcopedes in the Iconography of the Fall, Isabelle van Leeuwen, Utrecht Centre for Medieval Studies, Universiteit Utrecht

11.15-12.45

Session: v13-05  |  Virtual Session Room 5  |  Interreligious Relations

Paper v13-05-b: Rebellious and Well-Fortified: Murcia’s Border Architecture in the Prism of Iberia’s Interreligious Relations, Michael A. Conrad, Kunsthistorisches Institut, Universität Zürich

11.15-12.45

Session: v13-06  |  Virtual Session Room 6  |  Panel: Bodily Dimensions: Sensual and Supernatural Borders, I

Organiser: Jack Ford, Department of History, University College London

Moderator: Ann R. Christys, Independent Scholar, Leeds

Paper v13-06-c: Imagined Bodies in Medieval Sufism: Bodily Discipline and Representation in Sufi Dream Manuals, Eyad Abuali, Departement Filosofie en Religiewetenschap, Universiteit Utrech

11.15-12.45

Session: v13-07  |  Virtual Session Room 7  |  Panel: Pagans, Iconoclasts, and Medieval Violence

Paper v13-07-b: The Floor Mosaic in the Church of the Virgin in Madaba, Jordan: A Case of Iconoclasm?, Mathilde Sauquet, Faculty of History / St Stephen’s House, University of Oxford

14.15-15.45

Session: v14-04  |  Virtual Session Room 4  |  Panel: Responses to English Saints

Paper v14-04-a: Replacing Becket: Building a 12th-Century Shrine in 1930s Canterbury, John Jenkins, Centre for the Study of Christianity & Culture, University of York

Paper v14-04-b: Virtual Pilgrimage and After-Vitae: Revisiting Saints’ Lives, Emma Nuding, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York

Paper v14-04-c: Becket in the Holy Land: Recording Thomas Becket in William of Tyre’s Historia, Giles Connolly, Department of History, University of Birmingham

14.15-15.45

Session: v14-05  |  Virtual Session Room 5  |  Panel: Jewish Manuscripts and Manuscript Art

Paper v14-05-a: Beyond the Borders of Jewish and Christian Art and Exegesis in Illustrated Copies of Nicholas of Lyra’s Postilla, 1333-1481, Sarah Bromberg, Department of Humanities, Fitchburg State University, Massachusetts

Paper v14-05-b: Mesianismo judío en los comienzos de la iconoclastia, c. 720- 725 (Language: Espanol) Carlos Martínez Carrasco, Centro de Estudios Bizantinos, Neogriegos y Chipriotas, Universidad de Granada

18.00-18.30

Fringe Session: Iconophilia: Politics, Religion, Preaching, and the use of images in Rome, c.680 – 880: Book Presentation and Discussion

Organiser: Francesca Dell’Acqua, Dipartimento di Scienze del Patrimonio Culturale (DISPAC), Università degli Studi di Salerno, Celia Chazelle, Department of History, College of New Jersey, and Clemens Gantner, Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien

A Presentation and discussion open to all participants of the book Iconophilia: Politics, Religion, Preaching, and the Use of Images in Rome, c.680 – 880, published in May 2020 by Francesca Dell’Acqua with Routledge. By drawing evidence from texts and material culture – some of which have yet to be discussed against the background of the iconoclastic controversy – and by considering the role of oral exchange, Iconophilia assesses the impact of the debate on sacred images and of coeval theological controversies in Rome and central Italy.

This presentation is aimed at early medievalists with interests in Rome, Byzantium, iconoclasm, the power of images, text/image relationship, papal politics, or the cult of the Virgin Mary

This event will be hosted on Zoom and a link will be available within the vIMC app.

18.30-19.00

Fringe Session: Blogging Manuscripts for the General Public

Organiser: Oxford Medieval Studies / Bodleian Libraries / The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), University of Oxford

Speakers: Alison Hudson (University of Central Florida), Alison Ray (Canterbury Cathedral Archive and Library) 

Alison Hudson and Alison Ray distil their wide-ranging expertise from the British Library’s Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms exhibition; the Medieval England and France, 700–1200 project; and and Canterbury Cathedral’s collaborative ‘Picture This’ website. Participants will challenge one another to engage audiences in 280 characters or less with selected images digitized online the British Library’s Medieval England and France, 700-1200 curated website. 

Pre-booking is required to attend this free event. Instructions on how to book your place will be found within the vIMC app.

Evening

Session: v15-06  |  Virtual Session Room 6  |  Panel: Approaches to Medieval Drama

Paper v15-06-a: Blurred Borders between Painting and Performance: Angel Costumes in Mural Paintings, Therese Novotny, Department of English, Modern Languages & Philosophy, Carroll University, Wisconsin

20.30-22.00

Virtual Session Room 9  |  Fringe Session: IMC Virtual Disco

Cinderella, you SHALL go to the ball! The IMC Disco will take place, as always, on the penultimate day of the Congress. South Leeds Radio will be broadcasting the playlist.

Friday 10th July 2020

09.00-10.30

Session: v16-07  |  Virtual Session Room 7  |  Panel: Experiencing Death and Resurrection: Late Antique Initiation as a Spiritual and Embodied Frontier, I

Organiser: Ivan Foletti, Centre for Early Medieval Studies / Department of Art History, Masarykova univerzita, Brno & Adrien Palladino, Centre for Early Medieval Studies / Department of Art History, Masarykova univerzita, Brno

Paper v16-07-b: Dividing the plebs Dei: The Spatial Arrangements of the Basilica Patriarcale at Aquileia, Klára Doležalová, Centre for Early Medieval Studies, Masarykova univerzita, Brno

Paper v16-07-c: A New Beginning: The Mosaics of San Giovanni in Fonte, Naples – Between Art, Architecture, and Ritual?, Chiara Croci, Section d’histoire de l’art, Université de Lausanne

11.15-12.45

Session: v17-04  |  Virtual Session Room 4  |  Panel: Breaking Temporal Boundaries: Medievalism and Modernity

Paper v17-04-a: Receiving the Body: How Medieval Representations of the Exposed Body Inform the Reading of Contemporary Life-Cast Sculpture, Lisi Linster, School of Culture & Creative Arts (History of Art), University of Glasgow

Paper v17-04-b: Thinking Outside the Glass Box: Digital Engagement with Burrell’s Late Medieval Collection, Lynn Verschuren, School of Humanities (Information Studies), University of Glasgow

Paper v17-04-c: Great Expectations: The Imagery of the Book of Kells in the Age of Technical Reproduction, Leila Rangel Silva Geroto, Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas, Universidade de São Paulo

Paper v17-04-d: Tracing the Editorial Origin of Comital Charters in Flanders and Hainaut in the Second Half of the 13th Century: Using a Semi-Automated Technique for Analysis, Rayek Vereeken, Vakgroep Geschiedenis, Universiteit Gent

11.15-12.45

Session: v17-07  |  Virtual Session Room 7  |  Panel: Experiencing Death and Resurrection: Late Antique Initiation as a Spiritual and Embodied Frontier, II

Organiser: Ivan Foletti, Centre for Early Medieval Studies / Department of Art History, Masarykova univerzita, Brno & Adrien Palladino, Centre for Early Medieval Studies / Department of Art History, Masarykova univerzita, Brno

Paper v17-07-a: Purifying Body and Soul: Combing as Ritual and Apotropaic Act, Adrien Palladino, Centre for Early Medieval Studies / Department of Art History, Masarykova univerzita, Brno

Paper v17-07-b: Place of Radical Transformation: Rebirth, Space, and Limits, Katarína Kravčíková, Centre for Early Medieval Studies / Department of Art History, Masarykova univerzita, Brno

Paper v17-07-c: ‘Accessing the Sacred’: Liminal Spaces of Devotion in Georgian Church Architecture, 5th-11th Centuries, Thomas Kaffenberger, Département d’histoire de l’art et d’archéologie, Université de Fribourg

14.15-15.45

Session: v18-06  |  Virtual Session Room 6  |  Panel: The Cistercians and Their World

Organiser: Ivan Foletti, Centre for Early Medieval Studies / Department of Art History, Masarykova univerzita, Brno & Adrien Palladino, Centre for Early Medieval Studies / Department of Art History, Masarykova univerzita, Brno

Paper v18-06-a: Older Cistercian Abbots, the ‘Dying Role’, and Relocation in Later Life, Amelia Kennedy, Department of History, Yale University

Paper v18-06-b: ‘A place of horror and vast solitude’: The Siting of Cistercian Abbeys in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, Glyn Coppack, Independent Scholar, Goxhill

Paper v18-06-c: The Demise of Granges at Fountains Abbey, Mike Spence, Institute for Medieval Studies, University of Leeds

16.30-18.00

Session: v19-02  |  Virtual Session Room 2  |  Panel: Representing the Ineffable

Paper v19-02-a: Crossing Temporal Borders: The Zodiac on 12th-Century Church Portals, Shelley Williams, Department of Comparative Arts & Letters, Brigham Young University, Utah

Paper v19-02-b: Icon Revetments as Iconostases in a Dynamic Sacred Space, Özlem Eren, Department of Art History, University of Wisconsin Madison

Paper v19-02-c: A Divine Presence: Approaches to the Representation of Spiritual Agency in the Buddhist, Christian, and Hindu Traditions, Gamble Madsen, Art Division, Monterey Peninsula College, California

16.30-18.00

Session: v19-05  |  Virtual Session Room 5  |  Panel: Textual Borders

Paper v19-05-a: The Narrative Framework of The Life of Antichrist and Its Iterations in Late 15th-Century German Book Illustration, Britt Boler Hunter, Department of Art History, Florida State University

Paper v19-05-b: ‘As it was written down in old book?’: The Long Life of Prophecies from the 12th Century, Manuel Kamenzin, Historisches Institut, Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Paper v19-05-c: The 1604 Bedford Manuscript of Chester’s Whitsun Plays: A Practical Antiquarian Exercise, Ted Lerud, Department of English, Elmhurst College, Illinois

Exhibitions & Performances available throughout vIMC 2020

Leeds University Library and Galleries – Medieval Takeover

Although we can’t welcome you through the door this July, we still want to invite you to get your cultural fix with Leeds University Library Galleries. Throughout IMC week we will be doing a medieval takeover on our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram – so get involved to see our wonderful medieval collections and more.

Keep an eye on our social media to find out more about:

  • Cecil Roth Manuscripts Collection
  • Digitising Incunabulum
  • Spotlight on… medieval manuscripts
  • Video Treasures: Ovid
  • Elves, witches, and fairy folk
  • And even the opportunity to design your own illuminated letter!

If you want to explore what else we have been getting up to recently, check out this round up, which highlights everything from virtual exhibitions, online activities and free resources: https://bit.ly/2y3B31C

Gold, Garnet, and Lead: A Response to the West Yorkshire Hoard – A Virtual Exhibition of Artwork

Organiser: Lorna Johnson, School of Art, Art History & Cultural Studies, University of Leeds

This exhibition looks to discuss the curated group of objects brought together and then bound together through time and space: a hoard. The focus of this exhibition is the West Yorkshire Hoard, which was buried and found in Yorkshire. Through a series of new artwork, made in response to this hoard, the exhibition and tour aims to spark discussion about the material binds that brought these objects together. By considering their physical and material makeup as the catalyst for their eventual hoard-bound state, this next stage in these objects’ use-life can be contemplated.

Lorna Johnson is a visual artist and practice-led PhD student at the University of Leeds, based at the School of Fine Art, Art History & Cultural Studies. Working predominantly to make artist-made objects and sculptural installations/assemblages, Johnson’s work is inclusive and experimental. Her instinct is to cherry-pick, and she sees this as part of her role as an artist. She is drawn to objects and materials where the monetary value is questionable; visually this is explored through the combinations of materials and quantities of items that she chooses to use and make, and the associations people may have with both material and object. This is currently taking a central role in the work she is conducting as part of her practice-led thesis research: Yorkshire Hoards – Understanding the objective / subjective value of the objects we continue to earmark, lay, maintain, stow, put away through the artist’s edit. Johnson exhibits both nationally and internationally.

To take a virtual walk round the exhibition please click on this link -TBC

For further information about the artist’s work, please visit www.lornamilnerjohnson.com

Virtual Booths: The Publishers

Here are just a few of the publishers and their discounts that are available throughout the virtual conference. For more information, click here.

Boydell & Brewer are providing 40% conference discount and FREE worldwide delivery (on every order that includes a hardback). Browse a selection of highlights or view many more in our new Medieval Studies catalogue – all are included in the special offer, just use code BB870. Offer ends 31 July 2020.

Yale University Press is delighted to offer 30% off a selection of our Medieval Studies titles. To redeem the 30% discount online, enter Y2083 at the checkout. See all the titles here. Offer ends on 31st August 2020.

From the 1st of June to the 31st of August University of Wales Press have up to 70% off our Medieval titles while stock lasts. Click here to view our Medieval Titles flyer. More information here. Offer ends on 31st of August.

Princeton University Press is offering 30% off plus free shipping with coupon code IMC20. Discount ends 15 August 2020. Browse the titles here.

Cambridge University Press are offering up to 30% off their Medieval related books. You can see the collection of books here.

Combined Academic Publishers are offering an exclusive 30% off on any of their Medieval Studies titles through the CAP website with the discount code CSF2020IMC. Browse all the titles here.

Liverpool University Press are offering 30% conference discount available online (UK & RoW: IMC30 / USA: ADISTA5) as well as 50% off ebooks (EBOOKLUP)! Discount codes valid for the entirety of July 2020. Browse their titles here.

Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library are offering all their volumes are available for 20% off from July 1 to July 31 2020. Browse the titles here.

The University of Chicago Press are offering 20% off their IMC journals as well as other deals on books that that would have been displayed at IMC. Click here for their full medieval studies book list.

Call for Papers: Caused Selves: Embodying the Material World in the Middle Ages, Seminar Series at Sewanee Medieval, deadline: 1 Oct 2020

Over the course of the Middle Ages, the interchange between the physical body and the natural world was variously conceptualized and imagined. Medicine was the discipline dedicated to the fact that, as humans, we’re made out of material stuff and susceptible to physical forces. But all kinds of discourses and practices circled around the natural body, seeking to ameliorate, understand, or reimagine it on their own terms. This seminar stages a conversation about the Middle Ages’ varied tactics for embodying the material world, both in medicine and in other spheres. We’ll inquire into the entailments and possibilities of the Middle Ages’ multiplicitously “caused selves,” especially as these were understood to participate in physical, material environments.

Each seminar participant will focus their presentation on a primary source (artifact, text, image, building, etc.). These sources will be circulated (in some version) in advance, among seminar participants. The two hours of the seminar itself will be spent in each participant presenting their source to the audience, staging the questions it enables us to ask; in reflecting collectively as a panel on the net effects of reading these sources alongside one another; and in Q&A with the audience and continued conversation among panelists.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to: plague and pandemic imaginaries, the interface of sickness and death, medicine as science and craft, vernacularizing medicine, humoral identities, embodying affect, emotion, feeling, or thought textual genres of healing, material cultures of healing, medieval disability studies, divine healing, spiritual health, history and culture of hospitals, “history of the body” vs. “history of bodies,” sexing bodies, racializing bodies, escaping or refusing the natural body and collectivity and the natural body. We welcome submissions dealing with the medieval period from any geographical location. 

Interested participants are invited to submit :

  • An abstract (250-300 words) proposing a medieval primary source for the seminar and sketching some of the questions it opens up about caused selves and embodying the material world in the Middle Ages.
  • Include a CV as well (which will be consulted to ensure a diversity of academic ranks and positions).

Abstracts are requested by October 1. Abstracts can be submitted through our abstract portal

Find out more information here.