Category Conferences

XIV: Fourteenth International Congress of Medieval Canon Law August 5 – 11, 2012 (Toronto, Canada)The Legal Framework of Divorce ‘a mensa et thoro’ and the Administration of Justice within the Low CountriesEmmanuël FalzoneIn a 1471 a court case, a woman was driven out of her marital home and started divorce proceedings against her husband Pierre.

XIV: Fourteenth International Congress of Medieval Canon LawAugust 5 – 11, 2012 (Toronto, Canada)Marriage Impediments in Canon Law and Practice: Consanguinity Regulations and the Case of Orthodox-Catholic Intermarriage in Kyivan Rus’, ca. 1000–1241Zajac, TaliaSummaryThis paper sought to answer the question why Russian marriage alliances were still made with Catholic rulers even after changing to Orthodox worship.

Gender and Medieval Studies Conference 2013Corsham Court, Bath Spa UniversityGender in Material Culture4th-6th January 2013Keynote SpeakersProf. Catherine Karkov, University of Leeds Dr Simon Yarrow, University of BirminghamFrom saintly relics to grave goods, and from domestic furnishings to the built environment, medieval people inhabited a material world saturated with symbolism.

XIV: Fourteenth International Congress of Medieval Canon LawAugust 5 – 11, 2012 (Toronto, Canada)Unity and Diversity in Early Medieval Canonical Collections Wagschal, DavidThe tradition of the first millennium tends to be written as chaotic and with few threads of unity. This is the common view from the high middle ages looking back, i.

Transmission, Translation and Dissemination in the European Middle Ages, 1000–1500 ADUniversity College Cork 28th–29th September 2012Organized by FMRSI: Forum for Medieval and Renaissance Studies in IrelandTransmission, Translation and Dissemination in the European Middle Ages, 1000–1500 AD, is an interdisciplinary, international, two-day conference to be held at University College Cork on 28–29 September 2012.

The Curious Case of Mary FeltonBy Elizabeth MakowskiPaper given at the Fourteenth International Congress of Medieval Canon Law, held at the University of Toronto (2012)Makowski presented her research on the interesting life of a 14th century English lady: Mary Felton was at one point or another during her complex life was married to Edmund Hemgrave, Thomas Breton, Geoffrey Worsley, and John Curson, consectively, though not always exclusively; she was also ‘sometime’ widow, mistress, divorcee, nun, apostate, and mother.

The Australian Early Medieval Association will be holding its ninth conference:Growth and Decay: The Dynamics of Early Medieval EuropeSunday February 10 to Monday February 11, 2013Monash University, Caulfield CampusEarly medieval Europe (c. 400­–1100) was a dynamic era in which the nexus of power shifted away from the Mediterranean-centred Roman Empire to the former ‘barbarians’ of the north.

Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance StudiesSaint Louis University Saint Louis, MissouriJune 17-19, 2013The Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies (June 17-19, 2013) is a convenient summer venue in North America for scholars to present papers, organize sessions, participate in roundtables, and engage in interdisciplinary discussion.

Tolerance for the People of Antichrist: Life on the Frontiers of Twelfth-Century OutremerBy Jay RubensteinPaper given at Religious Tolerance – Religious Violence – Medieval Memories: A colloquium in memory of James Powell, held at the University of Syracuse, on September 28, 2012Professor Jay Rubenstein deals with a fascinating aspect of the early Crusaders – how these Western European holy warriors quickly adopted the lifestyles and practices of the East, just within a few years of conquering the area.

Tolerance of UsuryBy Brian TierneyPaper given at Religious Tolerance – Religious Violence – Medieval Memories: A colloquium in memory of James Powell, held at the University of Syracuse, on September 28, 2012Usury, the loaning on money to be repaid with interest, was considered a major wrong in medieval society, with the Catholic church condemning it as being contrary to both the Old and New Testament as well as Natural Law.

The 19th Annual Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies Conference14–16 February 2013Beasts, Humans, and Transhumans in the Middle Ages and RenaissanceACMRS invites session and paper proposals for its annual interdisciplinary conference to be held 14–16 February, 2013 at the Renaissance Hotel, Phoenix, Arizona.

The Law’s Violence against Medieval and Early Modern JewsBy Ken PenningtonPaper given at Religious Tolerance – Religious Violence – Medieval Memories: A colloquium in memory of James Powell, held at the University of Syracuse, on September 28, 2012Ken Pennington, Professor of Ecclesiastical and Legal History at the Catholic University of America, spoke on the forced baptism of Jewish children in the legal literature from the Middle Ages to the early modern period.

Lay Initiative in the Early Peace of God MovementBy Mary S. SkinnerPaper given at Religious Tolerance – Religious Violence – Medieval Memories: A colloquium in memory of James Powell, held at the University of Syracuse, on September 28, 2012The Peace of God movement, which began in the late tenth-century and helped to reduce endemic violence in parts of Western Europe, has often been perceived by historians as process led by the church.

The Concept of Jihad in the Period of Arab ExpansionBy Ahmed El-Sayed Abdul MeguidPaper given at Religious Tolerance – Religious Violence – Medieval Memories: A colloquium in memory of James Powell, held at the University of Syracuse, on September 28, 2012In Islamic theology, the term Jihad can mean ‘labour’, ‘exerting labour’, ‘exhausting effort’, etc.

Letter Collections in the Middle AgesBy Giles ConstablePaper given at Religious Tolerance – Religious Violence – Medieval Memories: A colloquium in memory of James Powell, held at the University of Syracuse, on September 28, 2012Giles Constable explains that “letters are among the most important sources of medieval history, but also among the most problematic.

“Internal/External Interactions in the Exeter Book ‘Storm Riddles’”James Paz (King’s College London)This paper discussed some of the Riddles in the Exeter Book in relation to storm imagery. Riddles 1-3 detail a series of storms described as related to the “Mod” (mind) of Anglo-Saxons. Anglo-Saxon literature made inner/outer distinctions, shaping and reshaping human bodies in time and space.

Crises in the Pronoun Paradigm and the Transgendered Body: Crossdressing in the Old English Saints’ Lives of Euphrosyne and EugeniaBy Grant Leyton SimpsonPaper given at the Anglo-Saxon Studies Colloquium – Seventh Annual ASSC Graduate Student ConferenceHeld at the University of Toronto, February 12, 2011The author examines two hagiographic works – the lives St.

SESSION 1: Transhistorical Anglo-Saxon England“Where They Please: The Punctuation of Old English Poetry”Eric Weiskott (Yale University)This paper examined the use of the exclamation mark in Old English grammar. The use of the exclamation mark began in late 14th century Italy but its use was erratic. Exclamation marks were also known as “screamers”.

At the Borders of Medicine and Magic: A New Work by Ælfric?By Richard Shaw (University of Toronto)Paper given at the Anglo-Saxon Studies Colloquium – Seventh Annual ASSC Graduate Student Conference (2011)Shaw’s paper offers strong evidence that Ælfric of Eynsham, a 10th century English abbot and writer of many Anglo-Saxon texts, was also responsible for penning the Tables of Lucky and Unlucky Days.

“The Fifteen Signs Before Doomsday and “Post Conquest English Identity”Stephen Pelle (U of T)This paper detailed the fifteen signs before Doomsday and spoke about Anglo-Saxon writing just after the Norman Conquest, between 1066 to 1200. English works written in century & a half after Conquest have been given little merit by scholars.