The Medieval Academy Blog

Launch of the Digital Index of Middle English Verse

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Chris

Linne Mooney, Dan Mosser, Elizabeth Solopova, and David Radcliffe are pleased to take this opportunity at the Thirteenth Biennial Early Book Society Conference in St Andrews to announce the launch of The Digital Index of Middle English Verse. The project, begun in 1995 under the auspices of funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), has been available as a prototype since 2008, and in its current structure since 2011. Additional support from the University of Maine, the Leverhulme Trust, University of York Department of English and Related Literature, the Association for Manuscripts and Archives in Research Collections (AMARC), the Modern Humanities Research Association (MHRA), College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences (Virginia Tech), and the NEH, have allowed us to realize almost all of what was envisioned in 1995: transcriptions of the first two and last two lines of every witness to every scrap of Middle English verse; a searchable database, with “SEARCH RECORDS” options enabling searches by specific DIMEV, IMEV, and NIMEV numbers, browsing by alphabetic or number ranges, searches by AUTHOR, TITLE, SCRIBE, SUBJECT, VERSE FORM, and VERSE PATTERN (or combinations of these); the “SEARCH WITNESSES” option allows one to search MANUSCRIPTS by LOCATION and/or REPOSITORY; lists of early PRINTED BOOKS and INSCRIPTIONS are also available. Where witnesses (MS shelfmarks, etc.) are highlighted, clicking on the witness name will compile a list of that manuscript’s Middle English verse contents in their order of appearance in that witness.

Where difficult or obsolete words are retained in the standardized headings, these are highlighted and linked to glosses, which may also be accessed by selecting GLOSSARY from the menu on the SEARCH RECORDS page. There, too, are menu selections DELETED RECORDS, or NEW RECORDS. Linguistic information is prepended to many manuscripts when their records are viewed by clicking on their shelfmarks. An extensive BIBLIOGRAPHY of editions and facsimiles of Middle English Verse is also available through a menu selection.

Should users detect any errors or be able to supply any missing transcriptions or other data, or wish to make suggestions for improvement, please feel free to contact us:

Dan Mosser (dmosser@vt.edu)

Linne Mooney (linne.mooney@york.ac.uk)

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Call for Papers – Nineteenth Biennial New College Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Studies

Posted on June 24, 2013 by Chris

Nineteenth biennial New College Conference on Medieval
and Renaissance Studies

*****CALL FOR PAPERS******

The nineteenth biennial New College Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Studies will take place 6–9 March 2014 in Sarasota, Florida. The program committee invites 250-word abstracts of proposed twenty-minute papers on topics in European and Mediterranean history, literature, art, music and religion from the fourth to the seventeenth centuries. Interdisciplinary work is particularly appropriate to the conference’s broad historical and disciplinary scope. Planned sessions are welcome; please see the new guidelines at http://www.newcollegeconference.org/cfp.

In memory of the conference’s founder Lee Daniel Snyder (1933–2012), we are pleased to announce the establishment of the Snyder Prize, which will be awarded for the first time in 2014. The prize carries an honorarium of $400 and will be given to the best paper presented at the conference by a junior scholar. Further details are available at the conference website.

The conference will be held on the campus of New College of Florida, the honors college of the Florida state system. The college, located on Sarasota Bay, is adjacent to the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, which will offer tours arranged for conference participants. Sarasota is noted for its beautiful public beaches, theater, food, art and music. Average temperatures in March are a pleasant high of 77F (25C) and a low of 57F (14C).

More information will be posted on the conference website as it becomes available, including submission guidelines, prize details, plenary speakers, conference events, and area attractions:

http://www.newcollegeconference.org

The deadline for abstracts is 15 September 2013. Send inquiries to info@newcollegeconference.org and abstracts to:

abstracts@newcollegeconference.org

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MAA News – MAA Award Winners

Posted on June 21, 2013 by Chris

Boethius, De Musica, from Naples, Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III, MS V. A. 14.

The MAA is delighted to announce an impressive collection of awards garnered by MAA members during the past fellowship season.

The American Council of Learned Societies announced eleven MAA winners.

Three in the Collaborative Research Fellowship competition:
Heather Blurton (University of California, Santa Barbara)
Hannah Johnson (University of Pittsburgh)
Michael Edward Kulikowski (Pennsylvania State University)

Two in the Frederick Burkhardt Residential Fellowship competition:
Jessica Brantley (Yale University)
Carol Symes (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)

Three in the Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship competition:
Paul A. Broyles (University of Virginia)
Timothy S. Miller (University of Notre Dame)
Benjamin A. Saltzman (Univ. of California, Berkeley)

One in the general Fellowship competition:
Hussein Fancy (University of Michigan)

One in the Digital Innovation Fellowship competition:
William A. Kretzschmar (University of Georgia)

One in the New Faculty Fellows Program competition:
Theresa O’Byrne (Rutgers University)

Karen Sullivan of Bard College was awarded a Fellowship by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

The MAA’s own Dissertation Grant and Schallek Award winners were announced in early May.

Schallek – Richard III Society Awards:
Esther Liberman Cuenca (Fordham University)
“The Making of Borough Customary Law in Medieval Britain”

Karrie Fuller (University of Notre Dame)
“Reading Beyond the Borders: Visions of Christendom and the Shared Reception of Piers Plowman and The Book of Sir John Mandeville”

Cynthia Anne Rogers (Indiana University)
“‘Make thereof a game’: The Lyrics of the Findern Manuscript and their Late Medieval Textual Community”

Kristin Uscinski (Fordham University)
“Recipes for Women’s Healthcare in Medieval England”

Hannah Zdansky (University of Notre Dame)
“Romance Reconsidered: The Religious Significance of a Secular Genre in Late Medieval Britain”

MAA Dissertation Grants:
Hope Emily Allen Dissertation Grant
Katie Ann-Marie Bugyis (University of Notre Dame)
“Ministers of Christ: Women Religious in Early and Central Medieval England”

John Boswell Dissertation Grant
Alexander Harper (University of Toronto)
“Patronage in the re-Christianized Landscape of Angevin Apulia: The Rebuilding of Luceria Sarracenorum into Civitas Sanctae Mariae'”

Helen Maud Cam Dissertation Grant
Lisandra Costiner (Oxford University)
“Vernacular Narratives of the Life of Christ and the Characteristics of Popular Devotion in Late-Medieval Venice'”

Grace Frank Dissertation Grant
A. Sheree Brown (University of Michigan)
“‘That peace shall always dwell among them and true love be upheld’: Charity, Neighborliness, and Lay Fellowship in Late Medieval and Early Reformation England”

Etienne Gilson Dissertation Grant
David Morris (University of Notre Dame)
“Apocalypse Now or Later: The Super Prophetas of Pseudo-Joachim of Fiore”

Frederic C. Lane Dissertation Grant
Talia Zajac (University of Toronto)
“Women between West and East: the Orthodox-Catholic Marriages of the Kyivan Rus Dynasty, ca. 1000-1250”

E.K. Rand Dissertation Grant
Rebecca Scharbach Wollenberg (University of Chicago Divinity School)
“‘And They Became the People of the Book’: Tracing the Turn to Text in Medieval Jewish Genres”

Charles T. Wood Dissertation Grant
Jennifer Lyons (Emory University)
“The Theophilus Legend and the Virgin Mary: Image, Miracle, and Cult in Medieval France”

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The Berlin Prize

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Chris

The Berlin Prize
Call for Applications 2014-2015

The American Academy in Berlin invites applications for its residential fellowships for 2014-2015, as well as early applications for the academic years 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. The deadline is Monday, September 2, 2013 (12 pm EST or 6 pm CET). Applications may be submitted online or mailed to the Berlin office.

The Academy welcomes applications from emerging and established scholars and from writers and professionals who wish to engage in independent study in Berlin. Approximately 26 Berlin Prizes are conferred annually. Past recipients have included historians, economists, poets and novelists, journalists, legal scholars, anthropologists, musicologists, and public policy experts, among others. The Academy does not award fellowships in the natural sciences.

Fellowships are typically awarded for an academic semester or, on occasion, for an entire academic year. Bosch Fellowships in Public Policy may be awarded for shorter stays of six to eight weeks. Fellowship benefits include round-trip airfare, partial board, a $5,000 monthly stipend, and accommodations at the Academy’s lakeside Hans Arnhold Center in the Berlin-Wannsee district.

Fellowships are restricted to individuals based permanently in the United States. US citizenship is not required; American expatriates are not eligible. Candidates in academic disciplines must have completed a PhD at the time of application. Applicants working in most other fields – such as journalism, filmmaking, law, or public policy – must have equivalent professional degrees. Writers should have published at least one book at the time of application. The Academy gives priority to a proposal’s scholarly merit rather than any specific relevance to Germany.

Please note that the next application period for the Inga Maren Otto Berlin Prize in Music Composition will be in 2014. The Guna S. Mundheim Fellowship in the Visual Arts is an invitation-only competition.

Following a peer-reviewed process, an independent Selection Committee reviews finalist applications. The 2014-2015 Berlin Prizes will be announced in spring semester 2014.

For further information and to apply online, please see

http://www.americanacademy.de/home/fellows/applications

or contact:

The American Academy in Berlin
Attn: Fellows Selection
Am Sandwerder 17-19
14109 Berlin, Germany

Telephone +49-30-804-83-0
Fax +49-30-804-83-111

cs@americanacademy.de

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Call for Papers – The Ten Commandments in Medieval and Early Modern Culture

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Chris

International Conference

The Ten Commandments in medieval and early modern culture

Ghent University, Belgium

April 10-11, 2014

Key note speakers:
Robert J. Bast (University of Tennessee, Knoxville)
Uta Störmer-Caysa (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz)

Call for Papers

The Department of Literature at Ghent University is pleased to announce that it will host an international conference on the Ten Commandments in medieval and early modern culture on April 10-11, 2014. We kindly invite paper proposals exploring this theme from any field of medieval and early modern studies. Selected papers will be published in a volume to be included in the peer-reviewed series Intersections. Interdisciplinary Studies in Early Modern Culture (Brill Publishers).

The rise to prominence of the Ten Commandments dates back to the 12^th century. In that period exegetes such as Hugh of Saint Victor emphasized the importance of the Decalogue as a list of moral principles. A century later the Ten Commandments permeated scholastic learning as well as catechetical teaching. They became a useful instrument for the examination of conscience in preparation for the mandatory annual confession introduced by the Fourth Lateran Council (1215). By the second half of the 15^th century, the Commandments were omnipresent in religious culture. Their diverse textual and visual manifestations were found in a variety of media, from manuscripts and printed books, to wall paintings and wooden panels. The prominence of the Decalogue continued amongst the Protestants, albeit with a different emphasis than in Catholic teaching.

The heterogeneity of the preserved Decalogue material inspires numerous research questions, many of which are vital and yet largely unexplored. It also poses methodological challenges to scholars who seek to explore and understand the role of the Ten Commandments within a broader context of medieval and early modern culture. Bearing this in mind, we would like to invite papers that elaborate on various aspects of textual – both Latin and vernacular – and visual manifestations of the Decalogue in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. It is particularly important that the proposed papers put emphasis on the broader cultural context in which the Decalogue functioned, as well as on the methodological and theoretical aspects of the discussed piece of research. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

The relationship (or lack of it) between scholastic and vernacular writings on the Ten Commandments. Recent research has shown that some vernacular writings on the Ten Commandments contain elaborate theological content. Which themes found their way from academic to vernacular theology? Were there independent developments within the vernacular writings on the Decalogue? In which milieus were the ‘learned’ vernacular treatises written and what was their audience?
The Ten Commandments in various textual genres. The typological diversity of writings on the Decalogue is astonishing. These Old Testament tenets were explored in scholastic summae, catechetical mirrors and sermons, put into simple rhymes, combined with images and even interwoven into stage plays. How did different genres treat the Commandments? Was there any genre-specific emphasis on certain aspects of the exegesis of the Decalogue?
The Ten Commandments in visual arts. The act of breaking or obeying the precepts was depicted in diverse media. Did the iconography and/or function of the Ten Commandments scenes change depending on the medium? Did the Reformation and Counter-Reformation affect the iconography of the Decalogue-scenes?
The Decalogue in medieval and early modern popular culture. The Ten Commandments, like other tenets, penetrated popular (religious) culture. How did the abundantly preserved Decalogue rhymes, some of which could in fact be sung, and cheap prints containing a combination of text and image function? Who used them?
The Ten Commandments in early modern theology. The Decalogue played a vital role in Protestant theology. Did the reformers postulate any major shifts in the interpretation of the Old Testament precepts? If so, did it cause any reaction by the catholic theologians?

Papers should be given in English and should be 20-25 minutes long. Please submit an abstract (max. 300 words) accompanied by a brief CV before October 1, 2013 by e-mail to Marta Bigus (marta.bigus@ugent.be). Successful applicants will be notified by November 1, 2013.

We look forward to receiving your abstracts, and to a productive meeting on April 10-11, 2014. We hope that you will support our efforts by notifying your colleagues and students about the conference. You are most welcome to contact the organisers for further details.

Organising committee:

Marta Bigus, MA (marta.bigus@ugent.be)

Prof. dr. Youri Desplenter (youri.desplenter@ugent.be)

Prof. dr. Jürgen Pieters (jurgen.pieters@ugent.be)