The Annals of Clonmacnoise
Lecture focusing on Armagh Robinson MS A – the oldest manuscript of Conall Mag Eochagáin’s English translation of Irish Annals
John Ball and the Peasants’ Revolt
This public lecture will look at how Ball’s ideas about the Bible and apocalyptic transformation would have been understood in 1381, particularly among peasant audiences.
Leonardo da Vinci, the Last Supper, and the Art of Throwing a Great Dinner Party
This presentation will explore the evolution of the Last Supper in Italian art, beginning with early Christian images through to the late Renaissance, including one of the world’s most famous works of art: Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper.
The Crusades and Apocalyptic Thought in the Middle Ages
My research is concerned with how medieval perceptions of the end times interface with ideas concerning the brand of pre-modern holy warfare known as the Crusades
The Irish at the Carolingian Court and the Europeanization of Europe
During the eighth and ninth centuries, Irish clergymen and theologians such as Virgil of Salzburg, Dicuil, Sedulius Scottus, and John Scottus Eriugena were drawn to the courts of the Carolingian kings and emperors.
Making “Aristocracy” of Koryŏ Dynasty (918-1392) in Korean Historiography
This talk will analyse this Korean historiography debate and suggest discussion points to better understand the ruling class of Koryŏ dynasty and as a result rethink the development of Korean history.
The Codex in the Classroom: Practical Dimensions of Medieval Diagrams
As demonstrated by a wide range of medieval schoolbooks, diagrams had a secure place throughout the curriculum, in which they served not simply as didactic aids but also a means of inculcating enduring patterns of thought.
Results of Recent Scientific Analysis of the Vinland Map: Can You Judge a Manuscript by its Ink?
Science cannot be used to prove a work of art is genuine, but it is possible to establish that an object is likely a forgery if the materials from which it is made are inconsistent with the time period and geography of its purported origin.
Light from the Dark Ages: medieval dispatches for difficult times
Stefania Gerevini walks you through a journey in the “Dark Age”, showing examples of how, indeed, light permeated Middle Age artistic production, scientific studies, and metaphysical theories.
Metaphor and Metonymy in Names
Using examples from The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, the lecture discusses surnames from bird-names, animal names and fish-names.
Hidden Hands: The Secret Lives of Manuscript Makers and Owners
Mary Wellesley will trace the stories of the people who made, loved and sometimes destroyed medieval manuscripts, which are some of the most engaging artefacts ever made by human hands.
Potions and Poisons: ‘Magical’ Drinks in Medieval Norse Literature
Perceiving the ordinary or the magical as discrete separate categories is a modern way of thinking that could impede our understanding of the past.
Believing rulers and the political theology of the Qur’an within its Byzantine context
Zishan Ghaffar speaks about Believing rulers and the political theology of the Qur’an within it’s Byzantine context at the conference Unlocking the Byzantine Qur’an.
Landscapes of Defence in Early Medieval England
Beacons, lookouts, assembly sites and ‘army’ roads played key roles in the networks of local and regional civil defence of England during the Viking Age.
Building the Parish Church, 1150-1300
Estimated somewhere between 8000 and 9000 examples, parish churches containing at least some medieval building fabric are ubiquitous in the English landscape.
The ‘Nuclear’ Hillforts of Early Medieval Scotland
The ‘nuclear’ fort was first proposed by R.B.K Stevenson (1949) as consisting of a central citadel that sits at the summit or centre of a hill with outworks connecting and looping off the central enclosure, thus creating a descending hierarchical organisation of space through terracing and multivallation.
Spinning Destinies: Norns, Valkyries and the Art of Textile Production in the Viking Age
What we’re particularly interested in for the purposes of this lecture is the way in which the role of women as spinners and weavers is represented on the Osberg ship.
A Mediterranean Divide: Islamic versus Christian Experiences of the Black Death
How the disease was received in different areas, however, differed dramatically. This talk will present evidence from an epidemiological history of the Black Death as a pan-Afroeurasian pandemic.
Sources of Life: Food and water sustainability in Abbasid Baghdad
Managing access to clean water and large quantities of grain and other foodstuffs was essential for the development of an exceedingly large city such as Baghdad under the Abbasids.Managing access to clean water and large quantities of grain and other foodstuffs was essential for the development of an exceedingly large city such as Baghdad under the Abbasids.
Bees in the Medieval Mediterranean: Economic, environmental and cultural perspectives
Bees and bee products were of tremendous cultural significance in the Later Middle Ages
Identity, kinship and community: early medieval death and burial across south-eastern and north-western England
Oxford Archaeology’s fifth research seminar focused on early medieval cemeteries in south-eastern and north-western England.
Blacks Britannica: Diversity in Medieval and Early Modern England
This lecture will critically assess the myth of England’s story as a ‘sacred white space’ and examine the evidence for diversity in medieval and early modern history.
Mass Production of Books Before Printing
The question that this led me to pose is it not likely that there is a whole world of book production by Franciscans, Dominicans and similar people who are capable of writing like professional scribes and do but unlike professional scribes they don’t change it?
Bringing the Middle Ages to Life: Reenactments and Costuming
The Middle Ages are very much alive today, continuing to inspire film, books, and historical and theatrical reenactments. But how do today’s creators interpret the medieval period to make it feel both real and relevant for modern audiences?
The Medieval Cathedral as Museum
During the Middle Ages, a pilgrimage provided the most popular and convenient form of travel for people with means. The destinations were cathedrals and their collections of relics, reliquaries, and, coincidentally, great works of art.