The annual International Medieval Congress hosted by the University of Leeds in July (and known affectionately as the ‘IMC’ or âLeedsâ) is the highlight of the European medieval calendar â and this year saw a particularly large number of Exonian intellectual pilgrims make the journey north. The theme of the 2017 congress was ‘Otherness’, which […]
Recently, on 24 June, I went to the annual mini-conference of the Devon and Cornwall Record Society, held at the Guildhall in Exeter. This yearâs theme was Late Medieval and Reformation Parishes, to reflect the theme of the Devon and Cornwall Record Societyâs next forthcoming volume, Stratton Churchwardenâs Accounts, 1512-1578, edited by Dr Joanna Mattingly. There […]
What happens after empire? In an age in which Europe continues to grapple with its colonial past, there could scarcely be a more timely question. Yet while the Fall of Rome is frequently invoked within political debates (for better or for worse), the same can scarcely be said of the Carolingian Empire, which spanned much […]
In just a few years, family history research has become something of a cultural phenomenon. Proof of this will be apparent to any professional researcher arriving at the National Archives or â perhaps more especially â at a regional record office or heritage centre. Now they will find themselves explaining to the staff that unlike […]
Wednesday 29th March saw medievalists from across the University and the city gather for the climax of the Medieval Studies calendar in Exeter. This annual day of events, generously sponsored by Prof. Nicholas Orme, has long included both a postgraduate seminar in the afternoon and, in the evening, the public Orme Lecture. This year, however, […]
The Medieval Research Seminar has been particularly active of late. Hot on the heels of Anne Lawrence-Mathers’ fascinating discussion of medieval magic and Sarah Hamilton’s insight into reading and understanding rites, we were very fortunate to play host, on 10 March, to Miriam CabrĂ©. Miriam works at the Universitat de Girona, Catalonia, and has published widely on courtly […]
As any veteran of the funding process knows, the next best thing to the elusive gold dust of ‘reveIance’ is the calendar-bound quality of ‘timeliness’. And nothing demonstrates timeliness or engages the public more effectively than a significant anniversary. Anniversaries are potent application fodder for a variety of topics, but have been particularly important for […]
When, at the start of the presentation of my new William the Conqueror, in the Yale University Press English Monarchs series, to the University of Exeter on Wednesday 16 November, Levi Roach asked how long I had been writing the book, I was tempted to answer that it has taken both fifty years and three […]
Having recently passed the viva for my thesis âPainful Transformations: A Medical Approach to Experience, Life Cycle and Text in British Library, Additional MS 61823, The Book of Margery Kempeâ, it seems like a timely moment to reflect on the past few months and years of my postgraduate study at Exeter. I am grateful to […]
Of the many celebrated names connected with medieval Exeter, Bracton is one of only a handful to claim global recognition. Bracton is known to students and practitioners of law throughout the Anglophone world as a founding father of English Common Law and the assumed author of an invaluable compendium ‘On the Laws and Customs of England’. While he is widely […]