The Medieval Academy Blog

Grandson of William the Conqueror and brother to King Stephen, Henry of Blois
(1101-1171) was undoubtedly one of the most significant figures in twelfth-century England, yet no substantial academic study of him in English exists. By turns, kingmaker, ecclesiastical politician, diplomat, and elder statesman, Henry of Blois played a central role in shaping the course of the Anarchy that characterized much of his brother’s reign and, towards the end of his life, presided over the trial of Thomas Becket. For over four decades he held the bishopric of Winchester and the abbacy of Glastonbury in plurality and, between 1139 and 1143, effectively governed the English Church as Papal Legate. Raised and tonsured at Cluny, he considered himself a spiritual son of Peter the Venerable and, if no great thinker or writer himself, he was intimately engaged with those that were. Henry’s influence and activities extended across Europe; he travelled extensively and became twelfth-century England’s most prolific collector and patron of the arts. Despite all this, the only major monograph written on him was published in German (by Lena Voss) as long ago as 1932, and remains untranslated. In part, this surprising omission in the literature results from the extraordinary range of Henry’s own activities and spheres of influence. Scholars have tended to focus on his importance only within their discipline, and as such there remains no comprehensive account of this influential and complex figure, nor any study that posits Henry in relation to the wider intellectual and cultural developments associated with the Twelfth-Century Renaissance.

Papers are therefore sought for a volume of collected essays from across the relevant disciplines that explore the breadth of Henry of Blois’ life, influence and legacy. The aim of this volume is to bring together a range of scholars working on Henry of Blois in a variety of disciplines. A number of distinguished academics have already undertaken to contribute, including historians, art and architectural historians, manuscript specialists and archaeologists, from Europe, the United States and Australia.

Please send a brief CV (no longer than 2 pages) and abstracts of no more than 500 words by 15th September 2013 to: henryofbloisconference@gmail.com

We will solicit first drafts in August 2014 in order to go to press in the third quarter of 2015 with a publication date in spring or summer 2016.

For further details please contact the editors: Dr John Munns (Cambridge) and Dr William Kynan-Wilson (Cambridge) on the email address above.

Paper proposals are now being accepted for “Revisiting the Legacy of Boethius in the Middle Ages,” an interdisciplinary conference sponsored by the Department of English and the Committee on Medieval Studies with support from the Morton Bloomfield Fund and the International Boethius Society. The legacy of Boethius in the Middle Ages has been enjoying a resurgence of interest in recent years, with new editions, translations, and studies that place his profound influence in a new light. The Alfredian Boethius project of Oxford University, to pick just one example, has produced a critical edition of the Old English Boethius (2009), and the spinoff database of the commentary tradition will almost certainly change our understanding of the broader reception of The Consolation of Philosophy across medieval Europe. Other recent work has revisited the legacy of Boethius in the fields of music, philosophy, poetry, and theology, and the Companion to Boethius in the Middle Ages (2012) wi  ll stimulate future scholarship and teaching.

The conference will feature plenary addresses by Ann Astell (University of Notre Dame), Susan Irvine (University College London), and Eleanor Johnson (Columbia University). The organizers invite abstracts of c. 250 words for twenty-minute presentations on the early reception of Boethius and his influence on readers and writers in medieval England and continental Europe. Possible topics include vernacular translations and transformations; Neoplatonism and the philosophical tradition; adaptations of Boethian prosimetrum; Boethian afterlives in poetry, music, and the visual arts; and new findings from the Latin commentary tradition. Please send abstracts to HarvardBoethius@gmail.com; the submission deadline is 1 October 2013. For more information, please visit the conference website (http://harvardboethius.wordpress.com).

Call for Papers
Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts Sponsored Session
at the 49^th International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, May 8-11, 2014

The Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts Project at the University of Pennsylvania seeks proposals for the following sponsored session:

Tracking Medieval Manuscript Books and Documents through Time: Networks of Transmission and Practices of Collecting

This session will focus on the mapping of those networks of sale and purchase through which medieval manuscripts have been pursued and on the collectors and collecting that have catalyzed this transmission across the centuries. This session – like The Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts itself – is rooted in the belief that studying manuscripts’ provenance can have dynamic and profound effects not only on our understanding of these medieval materials as objects to be bought and sold but also on their texts through mapping their circulation and reception. We particularly welcome proposals that explore diverse topics from the role of digital technologies such as the SDBM in conducting provenance research, the relationship between institutional and private ownership of manuscripts, specific case studies of collecting practices, the transatlantic travels of medieval materials, collectors’ roles in the dispersal of libraries and the fragmentation of manuscripts, collectors and manuscript preservation, and how a manuscript’s provenance history can effect its value and collectability on the rare books market, to how collectors and the act of collecting can shape and influence interpretations of manuscript evidence.

Please send proposals with a one-page abstract and Participant Information Form (www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/submissions/index.html) to the organizers, Lynn Ransom (lransom@upenn.edu ) & Alexander Devine (aldevine@sas.upenn.edu ) by September 1, 2014.

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