Events Sponsored and Co-Sponsored
by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
at the 50th International Congress on Medieval Studies

14–17 May

[First published with the Announcement of Programs on 6 January 2015, with updates; revised with Schedule Assignments on 1 February, with updates; and now issued with Program Changes and the Abstracts of Papers on 7 April, also with updates]

For the 50th International Congress on Medieval Studies, the Research Group has 2 sponsored and 3 co-sponsored Sessions.  They build, in part, upon the accomplishments of the 2014 Congress in our Anniversary Year, described in the 2014 Congress Report. The aims of the sessions are described in our 2015 Congress Call for Papers.

As before, we co-sponsor sessions with the Societas Magica (since 2006) and with the Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Florida (since 2014).  Our Business Meeting (open to all) will take place at Friday lunchtime.  Like last year, we sponsor a Reception — now with both the Societas Magica and the Index of Christian Art at Princeton University.

Here we announce the events, with their assigned times and rooms.  We also begin to post the Abstracts of Papers.
A new Feature of our website are the indexed lists of the Authors of Abstracts for our Congress Sessions searchable
By Author and
By Year.

The Congress program as a whole appears in the Congress Schedule.  As changes to the scheduling emerge, they are reported both here and in the Congress Corrigenda.
Please watch this space for updates.

[After Words. Now the ensemble is archived as the 2015 Program + Corrigenda.]

The photographs of corbel heads from Le Pont Neuf in Paris are reproduced here by permission, for which we thank Ilya V. Sverdlov.

I. Sponsored Sessions

Photography by Ilya V. Sverdlov

1.  Predicting the Past: Dream Symbology in the Middle Ages

Session 117 (Schneider 1135):  Thursday 3:30–5:00 p.m.

Organizer: Valerio Cappozzo (Department of Modern Languages, University of Mississippi)

This session resumes a theme explored in the session on ‘Dream Books’, co-sponsored with the Societas Magica, at the 2012 Congress.

Presider: Claire Fanger (Department of Religion, Rice University)

Presenters:

1. Boyda Johnstone (Department of English, Fordham University)
‘Possessed by Dreams: Dream Interpretation Manuals in Late Medieval England’ Abstract of Paper

2. László Sándor Chardonnens (Department of English Language and Culture, Radboud University Nijmegen)
‘Seeing is Believing: Dream Symbols and their Perception in Medieval Alphabetical Dream Books’ Abstract of Paper

3. Valerio Cappozzo
‘A Dictionary for Dream Interpretation: The Somniale Danielis in Its Manuscript Sources’ Abstract of Paper

Photography by Ilya V. Sverdlov

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2. Making It or Faking It: The Strange Truths of ‘False Witnesses’ to Medieval Forms

Session 193 (Schneider 1125): Friday 10:00–11:30 a.m.

[Please note:  As reported in the Congress ‘Corrigenda’,

Neither Sarah M. Anderson nor David Benétéau will be able to attend the Congress, so his paper has been withdrawn, and David Porreca will preside.

Organizers: Mildred Budny (Research Group on Manuscript Evidence) and Sarah M. Anderson (Princeton University)

Presider: Sarah M. Anderson > David Porreca (University of Waterloo)

Presenters:

1>0. David Benétéau (Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, Seton Hall University)
‘Pseudo-Aristotle’s Secret of Secrets]⠠

2>1. David Sorenson (Allen G. Berman, Numismatist)
‘Semi-Official Counterfeiting:  “False” Coinage Produced within the French Mints, 1380‒1422, and What It Tells Us’  Abstract of Paper

3>2. Mildred Budny
‘The Truth Will Out:  Verity or Verisimilitude in Pre-Photographic Reproductions’ Abstract of Paper

The session will include a demonstration of some original materials under discussion.

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II. Business Meeting of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence

Friday, 15 May, 12:00 p.m (Fetzer 2016 > Fetzer 1035)
[The room assignment has moved from Fetzer 2016, as now reported in the Congress Corridenda.]

Refreshments will be provided.
All are welcome, including newcomers.

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III. Reception

Friday, 15 May, 9:00 p.m. (Bernhard Faculty Lounge) with open bar

Co-sponsored by the Societas Magica, the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, and the Index of Christian Art at Princeton University

The success of our Anniversary Reception co-sponsored with the Societas Magica last year led us to plan a similar event this year, now also with the Index of Christian Art, our co-sponsor frequently for events. Those events include several events in our 2014 Anniversary Year:

• a Symposium in May
• a Colloquium in November
• a Seminar in December.

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Photography by Ilya V. Sverdlov

IV. Co-Sponsored Sessions

3.  The ‘Good’, the ‘Bad’, and the ‘Ugly’ Ruler: Ideal Kingship in the Middle Ages

Session 357 (Schneider 1125):   Saturday 10:00–11:30 a.m.

Session co-sponsored by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence and
The Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Florida

Organizers: Mildred Budny (Research Group on Manuscript Evidence) and Florin Curta (Department of History, University of Florida)

Presider: Vlada Stankovic (Faculty of Philosophy, Универзитет у Београду / Univerzitet u Beogradu, Serbia, and School of Historical Studies, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton)

Presenters:
1. Gerald Schwedler (Department of History, Universität Zürich, Switzerland)
‘Speech is Silver, Silence is Golden:
Usurpers’ Deeds and Historians’ Verdicts in Merovingian and Carolingian Chronicles’ Abstract of Paper

2. Grischa Vercamer (Department of History and Cultural Studies, Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany)
‘One Man’s Villain is Another Man’s Hero:
Concepts Employed by Medieval Historians to Construct the Images of Central European Princes as Good or Bad’ Abstract of Paper

3. Robert Antonín (Department of History, Ostravská Univerzita, Czech Republic)
‘Wise as Solomon / Cruel as Rehoboam:
Ancient and Biblical Models for Portraying Good and Bad Rulers in Medieval Central Europe’ Abstract of Paper

4. Rebecca Huffman (Department of English, University of Michigan)
‘In Search of Rule Models in Saint Erkenwald (circa 1386) and Lydgate’s Saints Edmund and Fremund (1433)’ Abstract of Paper

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4. Efficacious Words: Spoken and Inscribed

Session co-sponsored by the Societas Magica and the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence

Session 416 (Schneider 1130): Saturday 1:30–3:00 p.m.

Organizer: Jason E. Roberts (Department of Germanic Studies, University of Texas at Austin)

Presider: Marla Segol (Institute for Jewish Thought and Heritage, State University of New York at Buffalo)

Presenters:

1. Lea T. Olsan (English and Foreign Languages Emerita, University of Louisiana at Monroe)
‘Four Approaches to the Power of Words’ Abstract of Paper

2. Alison Harthill (School of History, Archaeology, and Religion, Cardiff University)
‘Magic, Prayer, and the Power of Words’ Abstract of Paper

3. Collin Brown (Department of Germanic Studies, University of Texas at Austin)
‘Mid uuorrdun endi mid uuercun: The Introduction of Christian Holy Words into Germanic Folk Prayers and Charms’ Abstract of Paper

4. Jason E. Roberts
‘The Power of God’s Name and the Problem of God’s Favor: A Diachronic Examination of the Tradition(s) of Solomonic Magic’ Abstract of Paper

5.  Magic Sung, Spoken, Inscribed, and Printed

Session co-sponsored by the Societas Magica and the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence

Session 475 (Schneider 1130):  Saturday 3:30–5:00 p.m.

Organizer: Frank Klaassen (College of Arts and Sciences, University of Saskatchewan)

Presider: Mildred Budny (Research Group on Manuscript Evidence)

Presenters:

1. Brett Lawrence Wisniewski (Department of Classics, New York University)
‘Voces Magicae in Greek Magical Papyri: Performance, Literacy, and Authority’ Abstract of Paper

2. John Haines (Faculty of Music and Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto)
‘Medieval Astrological Songs’  Abstract of Paper

3. James Weldon (Department of English and Film Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University)
‘Magical Anxieties: Problems with Magic in Naples, Biblioteca Nazionale, MS XIII.B.29’ Abstract of Paper

4. Frank Klaassen
‘How Print Changed Magic:  The Case of Reginald Scot’s Discoverie of Witchcraft‘

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NOTE: A third Session is Sponsored by the Societas Magica.

Materiality and Magic

Session 548 (Fetzer 1045): Sunday 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Organizer: Marla Segol (State University of New York at Buffalo)

Presider: Frank Klaassen (University of Saskatchewan)

Presenters:
1. Thomas B. de Mayo (J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College), ‘Inscribed and Spoken Magic in the Icelandic Sagas’

2. Katherine Hindley (Yale University), ‘ “Let it Be Made Secretly”: The Efficacy of Unread Words in Medieval England’

3. Claire Fanger (Rice University), ‘The Matter of Prophecy: Props, Practices, Representations’

4. Marla Segol, ‘Body as Amulet in the Shiur Qomah‘

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Two more Sessions are sponsored by the Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Florida.

The Archaeology of Early Medieval Europe:  New Advances in Avar Archaeology (I and II)

• I.  Session 87 (Bernhard 212): Thursday 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

• II.  Session 135 (Bernhard 212): Thursday 3:30–5:00 p.m.

Organizer: Florin Curta (University of Florida)

Presider: Florin Curta

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Please join us for these activities at the Congress.
Information about the Congress as a whole appears from time to time [Update:  those current URLS are now out-of-date], with updated Corrigenda posted as appropriate [but replaced in stages and taken offline after the Congress, to accompany the full Program + final Corrigenda once archived].

Updates for our events will also appear on the Research Group’s Facebook Page.  Please visit us there, too.

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P.S.  Our very own multi-lingual font Bembino, which you see in place here, is designed to respect and to reflect our international associations, interests, and contributors.

You can download Bembino for FREE here. We are preparing an updated version of the font, to include recent requests for astrological and related symbols.  A preview of some specimens appears here.

You could sign up for our RGME-Newsletter and information about our activities here.

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