Medieval Matters in September 2024

Dear Medievalists,
 

A very warm welcome to Tristan Alphey who will start on 13 October as the new OMS Comms officer and mentor for the MSt. Medieval Studies students! Read here his short introduction to his background and interests. Please, do continue to use the generic OMS email medieval@torch.ox.ac.uk for any updates, entries for the booklet (thanks to all who have already delivered their contribution, all duly noted!) and general queries. I will monitor this until mid-October and then Tristan will take over on the same address. Mark your diaries for Tuesday week 1, 5pm, in Harris Manchester, when we will have a ceremonious hand-over, thanking Dr Luisa Ostacchini, our previous OMS officer.

Here come a few extra announcements for a medieval September in Oxford:

Tuesday, 24 Sept, 11am: The Barmakids – The Bridge between Islamic and Indic Worlds

 You are cordially invited to the 2nd Reza Hosseini Memorial Lecture Series delivered, in hybrid format, by William Dalrymple  in the MBI El Jaber Auditorium, Corpus Christi College, Merton Street, Oxford. Please register here to receive the Zoom link for those joining online: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-barmakids-a-bridge-between-islamic-and-indic-worlds-tickets-1012691907757. The opening statements will be offered by Profs Matthew Weait, Director of Continuing Education, and Arezou Azad, Director of the Invisible East Programme. There will also be a workshop on Friday, 27 Sept. Limited seating, reservation required

Thursday, 26 Sept, 6­–8pm: Come Collect!

The Bodleian Library invites all collectors across the university for an evening to celebrate collecting and sharing. They encourage us to bring along books and records or documents for an expert opinion, donate ephemera (posters, flyers, event tickets… especially if they’re homemade) and offer various perks such as drinks, printing a memento on our historic press and more. Sign up here: https://forms.office.com/e/n63FFwAZCD

Friday, 27 Sept, 10.30–11.30: Coffee Morning

As every Friday, come and meet fellow medievalists, see some of the hidden treasures of the Bodleian Library and enjoy the view from the roof terrace. Approach Chris Fletcher if you also would like to present something from your research into Bodleian holdings!

Sunday, 29 Sept, 6 and 8pm: Dutch Rhetorician’s Play

Come to the Chapel of New College, Oxford, for the rare opportunity to see Man’s Desire and Fleeting Beauty, a short Dutch comedy. The play was written for a dramatic competition in Gouda in 1546 by a Leiden Chamber of Rhetoric, and this performance may only be the second time the play has ever been staged. You are all invited to come and find out whether Man’s Desire can win Fleeting Beauty’s affections and what role Fashion and Custom play in this amorous quest. The play is co-produced by Charlotte Steenbrugge (University of Sheffield) and Elisabeth Dutton (Université de Fribourg). Admission is free.

…and for some infotainment: watch Selena Wismon with a sheep liver divination for the US election (filmed in The Queen’s College kitchen and St Edmund Hall Old Library).

Herzlich, Henrike