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  • News
    • News & Views
    • Reviews
    • Highlights
  • Blogs
    • Manuscript Studies
      • Manuscript Studies: Contents List
    • International Congress on Medieval Studies
      • Abstracts of Congress Papers
        • Abstracts of Papers Listed by Author
        • Abstracts of Papers Listed by Year
  • About
    • Mission
    • People
      • Mildred Budny — Her Page
      • Adelaide Bennett Hagens
    • Activities
      • Events
      • Congress Activities
        • Sponsored Conference Sessions (1993‒)
          • Panels at the M-MLA Convention
        • Co-sponsored Conference Sessions (2006‒)
    • History
      • Seals, Matrices & Documents
      • Genealogies & Archives
    • Contact Us
    • RGME Privacy Policy Statement
  • Bembino
    • Multi-Lingual Bembino
  • Congress
    • Sponsored Conference Sessions (1993‒)
    • Co-sponsored Conference Sessions (2006‒)
    • Abstracts of Congress Papers
      • Abstracts Listed by Author
      • Abstracts Listed by Year
    • Kalamazoo Archive
    • Panels at the M-MLA Convention
      • Abstracts of Papers for the M-MLA Convention
  • Events
    • The Research Group Speaks: The Series
    • Seminars, Workshops, Colloquia & Symposia (1989–)
      • Seminars on ‘The Evidence of Manuscripts’
      • Symposia on ‘The Transmission of the Bible’
      • The New Series
        • 2019 Anniversary Symposium Program: The Roads Taken
        • 2019 Anniversary Symposium Registration
        • 2019 Anniversary Symposium Registration Open
    • Abstracts of Papers for Events
      • Abstracts of Papers for Seminars on ‘The Evidence of Manuscripts’
      • Abstracts of Papers for Symposia, Workshops & Colloquia
    • Receptions & Parties
    • Business Meetings
    • Photographic Exhibitions & Master Classes
    • Events Archive
  • ShelfLife
    • Journal Description
    • ShelfMarks: The RGME-Newsletter
    • Publications
      • “Insular, Anglo-Saxon, and Early Anglo-Norman Manuscript Art at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge” (1997)
        • Mildred Budny, ‘Catalogue’
        • The Illustrated Catalogue (1997)
      • The Illustrated Handlist
      • Semi-Official Counterfeiting in France 1380-1422
      • No Snap Decisions: Challenges of Manuscript Photography
    • History and Design of Our Website
  • Galleries
    • Watermarks & the History of Paper
    • Galleries: Contents List
    • Scripts on Parade
    • Texts on Parade
      • Latin Documents & Cartularies
      • New Testament Leaves in Old Armenian
    • Posters on Display
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    • Orders
  • Links
    • Catalogs, Metadata, and Databases: A Handlist of Links
    • Manuscripts & Rare Books
    • Maps, Plans & Drawings
    • Seals, Seal-Matrices & Documents

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"Centered". Photograph Ⓒ 2014 Mildred Budny. Image of Dew at the center of Sedum.
2023 Autumn Symposium “Between Earth and Sky”
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Episode 13: Bridget Whearty on “Digital Codicology”
Berlin, Gemäldegalerie. Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/1498 - 1543), oil on oak wood. Portrait of the merchant George Gisze, 1532. Image via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
2024 International Congress on Medieval Studies: Call for Papers
2024 International Medieval Congress at Leeds: Call for Papers
Martin, Slovakia, Slovak National Library, Fragment of the Picatrix, circa 1400 CE. Image Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Episode 12: Vajra Regan on Engraved Magic and Astrological Images
Rhythmomachy Simulation (Player 1's turn). Image © 2023 Michael A. Conrad.
Episode 11: Michael Allman Conrad on “Gamified Numbers”
Façade of the Celsus library, in Ephesus, near Selçuk, west Turkey. Photograph (1910): Benh LIEU SONG, via Creative Commons.
2023 International Congress on Medieval Studies: Program
Photograph of the stems and white blooms of Snowdrops emerging from a patch of bare ground in the sunlight. Photograph Ⓒ Mildred Budny.
2023 Spring Symposium: “From the Ground Up”
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Barbara Heritage on Charlotte Brontë’s Fair Copy of “Shirley”
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Two Pages from a Roman Breviary in Gothic Script
Donncha MacGabhann at work on his close study of letter forms in the Book of Kells. Photograph via his publisher, Sidestone Press (Leiden 2022)
Donncha MacGabhann on the Making of “The Book of Kells”
2022 Autumn Symposium Program Booklet
The Weber Leaf from “The Warburg Missal” (Otto Ege Manuscript 22)
Folio 4 with Latin Blessings for Holy Water and an Exorcism for Salt
Portfolio 93 of Ege’s “Famous Books in Eight Centuries” in the Collection of Richard Weber
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Episode 14: “Translating the Latin Hermetica by Committee”

September 19, 2023 in Manuscript Studies, Uncategorized

The Research Group Speaks
Episode 14
Sunday 19 November 2023 online
1:00–2:30 pm EDT (GMT-5) by Zoom

“Translation by Committee:
The Latin Hermetica“

David Porreca, Dan Attrell, and Brett Bartlett

[Posted on 18 September 2023, with updates]

We invite you to attend Episode 14 in our series.

The Series:

  • The Research Group Speaks

The Eventbrite Portal for this Series:

  • The Research Group Speaks

Meet the Committee

This time, a team of scholars — including two of our RGME Associates — will speak about their current project of translating a complex occult text from Latin to English.

They are:  The Teacher, his Former Student, and his Student.

  • David Porreca
  • Dan Attrell (see also Congratulations and Podcasts with Dan Attrell)
  • Brett Bartlett (see also Brett Bartlett)

Over the years, David Porreca has organized or co-organized Sessions for the RGME and our frequent co-sponsor, the Societas Magica, at the annual International Congress on Medieval Studies. He has presented Papers for them or other Sessions which we have sponsored or co-sponsored.  He has contributed regularly to our online Symposia and Episodes of “The Research Group Speaks”.  A good number of his students and former students have contributed, and continue to contribute, to RGME activities, including our events and work behind the scenes enabling them.

Poster for "Visualizing Learned & Popular Magic" Congress Session (May 2014)Some of his contributions:

  • Porreca (2023 Congress)
  • Porreca (2022 Congress)
  • Porreca (2021 Congress)
  • Porreca (2020 Congress)
  • Porreca (2018 Congress)
  • 2023 International Congress on Medieval Studies Program
  • 2022 International Congress on Medieval Studies Program
    (Etc.)

David serves on the RGME Editorial Committee, where his experienced advice about texts and handling them effectively for publication comes in handy.

Dan Attrell also has presented reports on his work for the RGME.

  • Attrell (2018 Congress)

Brett Bartlett, when we first met years ago in Kitchener, Ontario, demonstrated quick and erudite acumen when, almost at once, he pointed out a small mistake in the Old English portion of our then-new publication of Multi-Lingual Bembino; it was swiftly corrected in a next issue, which we, as the publisher, could make very soon.

In this context, we will be able to see that, when it comes to the demands of (and for) the translations, “Not Two but Three [Talking] Heads are Better Than One”.

Martin, Slovakia, Slovak National Library, Fragment of the Picatrix, circa 1400 CE. Image Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Martin, Slovakia, Slovak National Library, Fragment of the Picatrix, circa 1400 CE. Image Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

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Tags: History of Magic, History of Translation, Latin Hermetica, Manuscript studies, Marsilio Ficino, Textual Studies, The Research Group Speaks
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2024 International Congress on Medieval Studies: Call for Papers

July 8, 2023 in International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, POMONA, Postal History at Kalamazoo, Societas Magica, Uncategorized

2024 International Congress on Medieval Studies: Call for Papers

59th ICMS (9–11 May 2024)
To occur in ‘hybrid’ form
(with some Sessions in Person, some Online)

[Posted on 7 July 2023, with updates]

Façade of the Celsus library, in Ephesus, near Selçuk, west Turkey. Photograph (1910): Benh LIEU SONG, via Creative Commons.

Façade of the Celsus library, in Ephesus, near Selçuk, west Turkey. Photograph (1910): Benh LIEU SONG, via Creative Commons.

Building upon the successful completion of our activities at the 2023 ICMS (see our 2023 International Congress on Medieval Studies Program and 2023 International Congress on Medieval Studies: Report), we announce the Call for Proposals (CFP) for next year’s Congress, which will take place in a modified hybrid format from Thursday to Saturday 9–11 May 2024.

For information about the Congress, see its website.  There you can also find information and instructions about submitting your proposals.  See especially Submissions.  Your proposals for papers are due by 15 September 2023.

After the close of the CFP, we will select the accepted papers and design the programs for the Sessions.  Notifying you of the decisions about your proposals will come before the deadline for us to submit the Programs for our Sessions to the Congress Committee is 15 October 2023.

Next, normally by the turn of the year toward the year of the Congress, we publish the selected Programs for our Sessions and announce our other Activities, while we await the promulgation of the official Schedule for the 2023 Congress as a whole.  Accompanying our announced Programs are the Abstracts for the Papers.  Then, with the publication of the Congress Program (or its traditional ‘Sneak Peek’), we can add the times and venues for our Sessions.  As the 2024 Congress approaches, new information can guide announcements and updates on our website and social media.

For 2024, with some Sessions on line and some in person in a transitional ICMS, we prepare:

  • four Sessions, sponsored and co-sponsored
  • a customary Open Business Meeting at the Congress
  • and perhaps a Reception.

In 2024, the RGME celebrates an Anniversary Year, for which the chosen Theme is “Bridges”.

One Session is our own (Item I).  With one session each, our co-sponsors for ICMS Sessions in 2024 are:

  • Societas Magica
  • Polytheism-Oriented Medievalists of North America (P.-O.M.o.N.A.)
  • Postal History at Kalamazoo

This year marks Year 20 of our co-sponsorship with the Societas Magica, Year 3 of co-sponsorship with P.O.M.o.N.A.,  and the first year of co-sponsorship with the newly founded Postal History at Kalamazoo.

Both our own RGME Session (Item I here) and the Session co-sponsored with Postal History at Kalamazoo (Item IV) are designed to continue the tradition of our long-term series of RGME Sessions at the ICMS on “Medieval Writing Materials”, which began in 2014.  (See, for example, our Congress Activities and 2022 International Congress on Medieval Studies Program.)

The Organizers and Co-Organizer of the two Sessions this year include all three founders of that series.  It was proposed to the RGME Director Mildred Budny in 2013 by Eleanor A. Congdon and David W. Sorenson.

Here we announce the subjects of the Sessions and invite your Proposals for Presentations.

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Tags: Blood in Books, Book History, Classical & Medieval Studies, Datini Archives, Fugger Archives, History of Commerce, History of Correspondence, History of Curtains, History of Magic, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Medici Archives, Medieval Sources for Pre-Christian Practices, Paston Letters, Postal History, Powers of Blood
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Episode 12: Vajra Regan on Engraved Magic and Astrological Images

May 30, 2023 in Manuscript Studies, Research Group Speaks (The Series), Uncategorized

The Research Group Speaks
Episode 12
Saturday 12 August 2023 online
1:00–2:30 pm EST (GMT-5) by Zoom

“The Sources of the Engraved Magic and Astrological Images
in the Book of Sigils (Liber Sigillorum)
and the Ghāyat al-Hakīm (The Goal of the Wise)”

Vajra Regan

[Posted on 30 May 2023, with updates]

We invite you to attend Episode 12 in our series.

  • The Research Group Speaks

Our Associate, Vajra Regan will speak about the subject of his new joint publication, which has now appeared in early August 2023, a few days before our event.  Vajra’s presentation about this project and the process towards its publication explores explore the subject of visual imagery for astrological magic as transmitted across time, languages, and cultural settings.

Over the years, Vajra has presented papers and organized Sessions for the RGME and our co-sponsor, the Societas Magica, since 2019.

  • Regan (2019 Congress)
  • Regan (2020 Congress)
  • 2022 International Congress on Medieval Studies Program

These activities allow us to continue to learn about Vajra’s research as it continues to expand, to deepen, and to unfold.  We are glad for his offer to talk with us for the Episode.

Vajra’s Plan for the Episode, in his Own Words

The Title

“The Sources of the Engraved Magic and Astrological Images
in the Book of Sigils (Liber Sigillorum)
and the Ghāyat al-Hakīm (The Goal of the Wise)”

The Abstract

The twelfth century saw the translation into Latin of a group of Arabic texts on astrological image magic with titles such as The Book of Planets (Liber Planetarum), The Stations of the Cult of Venus (De stationibus ad cultum Veneris), and The Book of Venus (Liber Veneris). These texts, usually attributed to Hermes or one of his retinue, provided detailed instructions relating to the liturgy of the planets and the fabrication of engraved astrological images or talismans. Unfortunately, in the following centuries, they were systematically suppressed to such an extent that today many survive in only one or two late manuscripts.

Although long recognized as important to the history of learned magic in the West, these texts have so far received little scholarly attention.  Consequently, the precise nature and extent of their influence have remained largely a matter of conjecture.

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Tags: Alfonso X, Astrological Images, Engraved Magic, Firenze Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale II.III.214, Ghāyat al-Hakīm, History of Magic, Jupiter Enthroned, Lapidaries, Liber Planetarum, Liber Sigillorum, Picatrix, The Research Group Speaks
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2023 International Congress on Medieval Studies: Program

January 15, 2023 in Conference, Conference Announcement, International Congress on Medieval Studies

2023 International Congress on Medieval Studies: Program

58th ICMS (11–13 May 2023)

To occur in a transitional ‘hybrid’ form
with Sponsored and Co-Sponsored Sessions
—  to be held either in person or online (with some options) —
and with an Open Business Meeting
and Co-Sponsored Reception

[Posted on 17 January 2023, with updates]

Façade of the Celsus library, in Ephesus, near Selçuk, west Turkey. Photograph (1910): Benh LIEU SONG, via Creative Commons.

Façade of the Celsus library, in Ephesus, near Selçuk, west Turkey. Photograph (1910): Benh LIEU SONG, via Creative Commons.

Building upon the successful completion of our activities at the 2022 ICMS (see our 2022 International Congress on Medieval Studies Program), we announce our Activities for the 2023 International Congress on Medieval Studies, following our Preparations for them, with the completion of the Call for Papers (15 September 2022) and the selection and submission of the Programs for our Sessions (by 15 October 2022).

For information about the Congress, registration for it, and the current version of the 2023 Congress Program (plus the extra Corrigenda), see the Congress website.

With the turn of the calendar year toward the year of the Congress, we published the selected Programs for our Sessions and announced our other Activities, while we awaited the promulgation of the official Schedule for the 2023 Congress as a whole.  With the publication of a Sneek Peak for the Congress Program, we can add the times and venues for our Sessions.  As the Congress approaches, new information guides additional features of our planning, with Virtual options now possible for some of our In-Person events, through extra arrangements by the RGME.

This year, with some Sessions on line and some in person in a transitional ICMS, we prepare six Sessions, an Open Business Meeting, and a Reception. Our co-sponsors:

  • Societas Magica:  2 Sessions and the Reception
  • Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies (SIMS): 2 Sessions
  • Polytheism-Oriented Medievalists of North America (P.-O.M.o.N.A.): 1 Session
  • Index of Medieval Art at Princeton University: Reception

This year marks Year 19 of our co-sponsorship with the Societas Magica; the second (non-consecutive) year of co-sponsorship with POMONA, the third of co-sponsorship with the Index of Medieval Art, and the first year of co-sponsorship with SIMS.

As always, we thank the host, organizers, co-sponsors, presiders, speakers, respondents, advisers, and participants for our activities at the Congress, along with the Congress staff and support staff.

Here we list our Sessions (arranged in the order in which they are scheduled for the Congress), with the Links to the Abstracts for the individual Papers, then turn to our other Activities (Open Business Meeting and Reception).  A Note on our Congress Sessions describes the Indexes of the Abstracts for Papers as published on our website, listed both by Alphabetical order of Author’s Surname and by Year.

Logistics

This year, the partly in-person, virtual, and hybrid modalities to the Congress add to the complexity, tasks, resources, and expenses for preparing for our events there.  The complexity encourages us to create more flexible and resourceful our arrangements for some events held in person or virtually, so as to accommodate attendance in these different modalities directed by the Congress, while any fully hybrid event is not permitted for us in the arrangements by this online/offline Congress.

1) Optional RGME Zoom Meeting Room in live time for some In-Person events.  For Congress participants unable to travel to the place, but registered for the Congress, we offer an optional Virtual Meeting Room by RGME Zoom subscription.  In this way, an In Person Congress event might be accessed virtually — with registration for each of them through our RGME Eventbrite Collection.

We provide the RGME Zoom option (by specific registration, without charge) for

  • our In Person Open Business Meeting on Thursday lunchtime and
  • our pair of co-sponsored In-Person Sessions on Saturday afternoon.

2) Especially Reserved In-Person Room for In-Person Attendees of the Congress who will log-on to our Virtual Sessions.  These reserved rooms are prepared (in different, but adjacent, buildings) for:

  • our first, Virtual Session on Thursday morning, with an In-Person option (Session 50 / Schneider 1220)
  • the pair of our co-sponsored Virtual Sessions on Thursday afternoon, with In-Person option (Sessions 87 + 137 / Fetzer 1030)The second dedicated room is located a few steps away, on the same floor, in the same building, from the two In-Person events before and after that pair of Sessions, namely the Open Business Meeting and the Reception.

Details below, including information about how to register with us for the access by Zoom for the In-Person events.

In brief:

Day 1 of the Congress (Thursday 11 May) has a full set of events. They open with the Morning Session, lead to the RGME Open Business Meeting (with lunch provided), follow with a pair of Sessions, and round out with the co-hosted Reception.

  1. Session 50 on “Words as Agents”
    held Virtually
    from 10:00-11:30 am EDT (GMT-4)
    — with In-Person option:  By arrangement, Schneider 1220 is reserved for us for that time period for those attending the Congress in person, to be able to gather for accessing the online Sessions with their own computers
  2. RGME Open Business Meeting
    held In Person
    in Fetzer 1035 from 12:00-1:00 pm EDT, with catered lunch (donations are welcome)
    — We recommend registering if you plan to attend in person, so that we could know how many to expect.
    In Person Reservation for RGME Open Business Meeting
    — We also offer the option to attend virtually through the RGME (not via the Congress), for Congress participants unable to travel.  With your registration for the event itself, we will send the Zoom link ahead of time.
    Virtual Registration Option for RGME Open Business Meeting
  3. Sessions 87 and 137 on “The Eloquence of Medieval Book Bindings”, Parts 1-2
    (“Bindings from German Lands” and “Diverse Regional Techniques”)
    held Virtually from 1:30-3:00 pm and 3:30-5:00 pm EDT (GMT-4)
    — with In-Person option:  Fetzer 1030 is reserved for us for the afternoon for those attending the Congress in person, to gather for accessing the online Sessions with their own computers
    Update on 7 May: The order of the three Papers in Session 87 is changed from that advertised in the Congress Program Booklet. The Paper by William H. Campbell, formerly in first position, has moved to third, as indicated below.
  4. Co-hosted Reception
    held in Person
    in Fetzer 1035-1045 from 5:30-7:00 pm EDT (GMT-4).

For the RGME Open Business Meeting held In Person, open to to Congress attendees, it would help us to know how many to expect if you would please register for it through the RGME Eventbrite collection.  See below.

Day 3 of the Congress (Saturday 13 May) has a pair of Sessions.

  1. Sessions 369 and 419 on”Moving Parts and Pedagogy”, Parts I–II (“Teaching Magic and Other Occult Arts” and “Teaching Astrology and Other Liberal Arts”)
    held In Person in Fetzer 2040 from 1:30-3:00 pm and 3:30-5:00 pm EDT (GMT-4)
    (If requested, we will set up an RGME Zoom Room for these Sessions.)

Note:  If you have questions about these arrangements, we apologize for the complexity, and ask that you contact director@manuscriptevidence.org.  Safe travels!

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Albert the Great, Archaeology of Bindings, Astrology, Board Games, Catalogues & Metadata & Databases, Chieromancy, Datini Collection, Ephesia Grammata, Ephesus, Fairy Summoning, Fragmentology, Gutenberg Bible, History of Games, History of Magic, Index of Medieval Art, Islamic Bookbindings, Liberal Arts Curriculum, Ludwig Millich, Manuscript studies, Medieval Writing Materials, Otto Ege Fragments, Pedagogy, POMONA, Quadrivium, Quire Signatures, Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, Seven Liberal Arts, Societas Magica, Trivium, William Fulke, Witchcraft
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2023 International Congress on Medieval Studies: Preparations

July 7, 2022 in International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Uncategorized

2023 International Congress on Medieval Studies: Preparations

58th ICMS (11–13 May 2023)

To occur in a transitional ‘hybrid’ form
with Sponsored and Co-Sponsored Sessions
To be held either in person or online

(Note:  Only, by special permission,
do some Sessions occur in ‘blended’ and verily ‘hybrid’ form)

Call for Papers

Proposals due by 15 September 2022

[Posted on 7 July 2022, with updates]

With the successful completion of our activities at the 2022 ICMS in May (see our 2022 International Congress on Medieval Studies Program), we begin preparations for the 2023 ICMS.

First, we thank the organizers, sponsor and co-sponsor, presiders, speakers, respondents, and participants of those activities, which included four Sessions and an Open Business Meeting.  Sessions co-sponsored with the Societas Magica marked Year 18 of our co-sponsorship with that organization; one Session was co-sponsored for the first time with the Ibero-Medieval Association of North America (IMANA).

Next, we assemble proposed Sessions to be sponsored or co-sponsored for next year’s Congress.  With proposals to be submitted by 1 June 2022, we would expect to hear decisions from the Congress Committee in July for sessions approved for the general Call for Papers, with a deadline for submissions of proposals for papers, via the Congress website, by 15 September.

On 1 June, the proposals were successfully submitted.  We waited, hopefully, for the acceptance of these proposals.  Today we learn that they are.  And so, we announce them and their plans.

They are these, both sponsored and co-sponsored.

For the Congress, the listings of Sessions site the Sponsor and then any Co-Sponsor, so that finding specific Sessions among the groups of offerings on the Congress website would progress through the name of the organization, grouped primarily by the Sponsor, then the Co-Sponsor.

For information about how to propose papers for these sessions, see below.  First:  the sessions we prepare.  Then the instructions.

I.  Session Co-Sponsored with the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies

This session represents a new co-sponsorship with the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies at the Congress.  The proposal is designed to continue the series of RGME Sessions at the Congress on “Medieval Writing Materials”.

Front cover and ties of French notebook for 'Recettes' reusing a vellum bifolium from a medieval Latin Psalter. Photography © Mildred Budny

Front cover and ties of French notebook for ‘Recettes’ reusing a vellum bifolium from a medieval Latin Psalter. Photography © Mildred Budny

1. “Bound but not Gagged:
The Eloquence of Medieval Book Bindings”

Sponsor:  Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
Co-sponsor:  Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies

Organizer:  William H. Campbell (University of Pittsburgh — Greensburg) and
Co-Organizer:  Mildred Budny (Research Group on Manuscript Evidence)

Modality: Online

Medieval books communicate far more than the words on their pages.  They were frequently subjected to damage and repair, to loss and addition, to division and recombination. Their bindings bear witness to the moments in their history that altered and shaped them, or — in the case of still older books recycled into binding material — destroyed them. This session is dedicated to everything about the codex that is not its text, to what J. A. Szirmai called The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding.

[Note:  On the image shown here, see our blog:

  • A Reused Medieval Psalter Bifolium and its French Notebook.]

II.  Sessions Co-Sponsored with the Societas Magica

Logo of the Societas Magica, reproduced by permission

Societas Magica logo

In Year 19 of our Sessions co-sponsored with the Societas Magica, we prepare for three Sessions.

2. “Ars magica sub philosophia”?
The Rise of Learned Magic in the Late Middle Ages

Sponsor:  Societas Magica
Co-sponsor:
Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
Contact: Vajra Regan (University of Toronto, Centre for Medieval Studies)
(vajra.regan@mail.utoronto.ca)

Modality: In person

The Late Middle Ages saw the rise of increasingly sophisticated and intellectual forms of magic. Inevitably, this prompted a number of important thinkers to situate certain types of magic under philosophy. This session aims to bring together papers from scholars in diverse disciplines so as to better understand the various cultural, intellectual, and institutional causes responsible for the construction of medieval learned magic.

3–4. “Moving Parts and Pedagogy, Parts I–II”

Sponsor:  Societas Magica
Co-Sponsor:  Research Group on Manuscript Evidence

Organizer:  David Porreca (University of Waterloo)

Modality:  In person

Part I: Teaching Magic and Other Occult Arts

Poster for "Astrology and Magic" Congress Session (7 May 2013)

Poster for “Astrology and Magic” Congress Session (7 May 2013)

Magic, alchemy, geomancy, and other occult arts were never part of the official curriculum in any medieval university faculty. Moreover, magical treatises abound in claims of legitimacy in terms of belonging alongside other more overtly recognized sciences. Nevertheless, the abundance of surviving treatises, manuals, and commentaries suggests that there must have been some means outside the bounds of officially recognized institutions for these bodies of knowledge and practices to have been taught, learned, and transmitted, despite the negative light often cast upon them in ‘mainstream’ circles. This session aims to investigate the pedagogy of such arts and practices.

Part II:  Teaching Astrology and other Liberal Arts

During the later Middle Ages, astrology began to play an ever more prominent role in university curricula. It was frequently merged with astronomy as one of the Seven Liberal Arts, and it became required knowledge for the practice of medicine. These developments created a need for new masters capable of rendering its intricacies intelligible to the next generation of doctors and other practitioners.  This session aims to examine how the pedagogy of astrology functioned, and how the teaching of that discipline fits alongside the rest of the Liberal Arts curriculum.

III: Session Co-Sponsored with Polytheism-Oriented Medievalists of North America (P.-O.M.o.N.A.)

This session would be the second (non-consecutive) year of co-sponsorship with this organization.

Poster for 'Classical Deities' Session co-cponsored with Pomona at the International Congress on Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo 2019.

Pomona Session Kzoo 2019

5) “Words as Agents”

Sponsor:  Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
Co-sponsor
: Polytheism-Oriented Medievalists of North America (P-OMoNA)

Organizer:  Phillip Bernhardt-House
Co-Organizer
:   Mildred Budny

Modality:  Online

The idea of words as agents of specific actions, changes of status, or as means via which changes occur in the wider world is inherent in many forms of literate and verbal communication, underlying human social phenomena as diverse as legal systems, religious community formation and practices, and the practice of magic, amongst others.  Textual amulets, deeds, dedicatory inscriptions, and other written matter (even entire alphabets!) can convey notions of words’ agency.

This session explores a variety of these, reflected in specific examples from pre-modern periods and cultures, from the Iron Age to the Renaissance and across wide geographic ranges.

*****

Watch this space for developments in the progress of preparations for the 2023 Congress.

Presenting Submissions for Papers

You can submit your proposal for any one of these Sessions on the official Congress website through its submission portal.  The deadline for proposals is before or by 15 September 2022.  Then the choice of the program for each Session, with the Presenters and the Presider, will be submitted to the Congress Committee by 1 October 2022.

According to the Congress website (as of 20 July 2022):

A full list of all sessions of papers and roundtables (including their delivery modalities) can be viewed on our website (wmich.edu/medievalcongress/call)

You are welcome to correspond with potential session participants through other channels, but an official proposal can only be made and accepted through the Confex proposal portal (icms.confex.com/icms/2023/cfp.cgi)

This portal is also linked from our website. The deadline for submission is Thursday, Sept. 15.

2023 Congress Sessions

We hope for strong responses to the Call for Papers, in a suite of sessions co-sponsored by the Research Group, in accordance with our many years of participation in the Congress, both in person and online.  That tradition is described in our ‘archive’ of Events and Congress Sessions.

  • Congress Activities
  • Sponsored Sessions at the International Congress on Medieval Studies
  • Co-Sponsored Sessions at the International Congress on Medieval Studies

Our tradition includes the publication of Abstracts, as their authors allow, for the Papers and Responses of Sessions sponsored and co-sponsored by the RGME.

  • Abstracts of Congress Papers

As they appear, you may find individual Abstracts by Name and/or by Year of Presentation in our Lists of

  • Abstracts arranged alphabetically by Author
  • By Year.

*****

Post Script:
The Stories that Bindings Can Tell

Verso of Leaf from the Dialogues of Gregory the Great, Book III, chapter 7. Photography by Mildred Budny

Reused Bifolium, Verso, turned Sideways, as the Cover for a missing volume of Euthymius on the Psalms. Photography Mildred Budny.

[Note:  For information about this image, see our blog:

  • A Leaf from Gregory’s Dialogues reused to bind Euthymius.]

More stories to tell. Watch this space!

*****

Tags: History of Bindings, History of Magic, International Congress on Medieval Studies, POMONA, Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, Societas Magica
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2022 International Congress on Medieval Studies: Program

November 23, 2021 in Ibero-Medieval Association of North America, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Societas Magica, Uncategorized

2022 Congress Activities
Sponsored and Co-Sponsored by the RGME

at the 57th International Congress on Medieval Studies
Online
Monday, May 9 – Saturday, May 14, 2022

Le Parc Abbey, Theological Volume, Part B: Detail of Vellum Leaf.

Private Collection, Le Parc Abbey, Theological Volume, Part B: Detail of Vellum Leaf. Photography Mildred Budny.

Posted on 22 November 2021, with updates

Following the close of the 2022 Congress Preparations: Call for Papers, then the selection of proposals and arrangement of sequence of papers within the sessions, for the submission of their programs to the Congress Committee, we announce the Programs for our Sessions at the 2022 ICMS online in May 2021. As in previous years, we plan to hold a Business Meeting at the Congress.

All activities are to take place online, like 2021. See our 2021 Congress Report.

When appropriate, we can report the assignment of the scheduling of Sessions within the Congress Program overall.  Meanwhile, we publish the Abstracts of the Papers and Responses, as the authors might be willing. Note that the Abstracts for Congress Sessions are Indexed on our website by Author (in progress for 2022) and by Year (2022 included).

Now that [4 February 2022] the Congress Program has become available (see its website), we can post the assigned days and times for our activities, along with the assigned Numbers for the Sessions.  All our activities are scheduled for Wednesday and Friday, 11 and 13 May 2022.  Times are in Eastern Daylight Time.

Wednesday 11 May 2022

  • Session 173 (1 pm).  Medieval Writing Materials:   Processes, Products, and Case-Studies
  • Open Business Meeting (3 pm).  All are welcome.
  • Session 193 (7 pm).  Alter(n)ative Alphabets in the Iberian Middle Ages (co-sponsored with IMANA)|

Friday 13 May 2022

  • Session 310 (1 pm).  The Iconography of Medieval Magic (co-sponsored with the Societas Magica)
  • Session 324 (3 pm).  Pressing Politics:
         Interactions between Authors and Printers in the 15th and 16th Centuries

In due course, sometime in March, registration for the online Congress will commence.  After the close of the Congress, recorded content will be available to registrants from Monday, May 16, through Saturday, May 28.

Watch this space for updates. Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Aljamiado, Business Meeting, Divinatory Games, Hernán Núñez, History of Divination, History of Documents, History of Magic, History of Paper, Ibero-Medieval Association of North America, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Italian Paper, Libro del juego delas suertes, Manuscript studies, Marsilio Ficino, Medieval Writing Materials, Merchants of Venice, Morisco Manuscripts, Morisco Spells, Polish Coronation Sword, Societas Magica, Szczerbiec, The Lay of the Mantle, Venetian Documents
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2022 Congress Preparations

July 16, 2021 in Announcements, Conference, Conference Announcement, Ibero-Medieval Association of North America, IMANA, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Societas Magica

Call for Papers (CFP) for Sessions
Sponsored or Co-Sponsored by the RGME

at the 57th International Congress on Medieval Studies (Online)
Monday, May 9, through Saturday, May 14, 2022

CFP Deadline:  15 September 2021
[Deadline for Session Programs:  1 October 2021]

Le Parc Abbey, Theological Volume, Part B: Detail of Vellum Leaf.

Private Collection, Le Parc Abbey, Theological Volume, Part B: Detail of Vellum Leaf. Photography Mildred Budny.

[Update on 22 September 2021:
Following the close of the CFP on 15 September, we can welcome the received proposals for papers, observe their strength and range, and prepare the programs for each session.  With the selection of proposed papers accomplished, it comes time to arrange their sequence within the given Sessions, assign the Presiders for them, and submit the programs to the Congress Committee by 1 October 2021.

When appropriate, we can announce the Programs, report the assignment of their scheduling within the Congress Program overall, and publish the Abstracts of the Papers and Responses, as the authors might be willing. The Congress Program will become available in due course, and registration for the online Congress might commence.

Update on 1 October 2021:
At the close of the deadline for submission of the programs to the Congress, we report that each of our Sessions has three or four Papers; three sessions also have Responses; and we plan to hold a Business Meeting at the Congress, as in previous years.  All these activities are to take place online.]

[Posted on 15 July 2021]

After accomplishing the 2021 ICMS Online, with 5 Sponsored and Co-Sponsored Sessions, plus our Open Business Meeting, we produced the 2021 Congress Report, as we turned to preparations for the 2022 Congress.  We proposed Sessions, and received answers in stages.

Through the Confex system for the 2022 International Congress on Medieval Studies, we have learned that all but one of our proposed sessions have been accepted.

One of the accepted sessions resumes a series (“Medieval Writing Materials”) which a rejection for the 2015 Congress disrupted.  That rejection interfered with the momentum of our series of sessions on the subject at the 2011–2016 Congresses.  (See Sponsored Sessions.)  The interval between then and now is a long time to wait.  We had to turn to other subjects, as the momentum for their own action not only gathered to produce the proposals to sponsor or co-sponsor them, but also found favor by the Congress Committee, so that it could become possible to move to the phase of the Call for Papers for them. With the Pre-Congress Business Meeting in May 2021, as we prepared for this year’s Congress, we aimed to resume that series, as well as to explore other sessions as their subjects and proponents might direct.

So, we can resume the series on Medieval Writing Materials for 2022.  But a new rejection of another subject for the Congress leads us to reconsider our approach to its current momentum.  This time, learning from experience, we could choose what to do, but elsewhere, before long, with the subject not accepted this time around, rather than waiting for some other year — or decade — at the Congress.

And so, now, we announce the Call for Papers for the 2022 Congress.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Ars Notaria, History of Alphabets, History of Magic, History of Paper, History of Paper Manufacture, History of Watermarks, Manuscript studies, Medieval Studies, Medieval Writing Materials
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2021 International Congress on Medieval Studies Report

July 7, 2021 in Conference, Conference Announcement, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Reports

Report

Activities of the
Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
at the
56th International Congress on Medieval Studies
(10–15 May 2021)

#kzoo2021 / #kazoo2021

Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum, MS W.782, folio 15r. Van Alphen Hours. Dutch Book of Hours made for a female patron in the mid 15th century. Opening page of the Hours of the Virgin: "Here du salste opdoen mine lippen". Image via Creative Commons. At the bottom of the bordered page, an elegantly dressed woman sits before a shiny bowl- or mirror-like object, in order, perhaps, to perform skrying or to lure a unicorn.

Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum, MS W.782, folio 15r. Van Alphen Hours. Dutch Book of Hours. Image via Creative Commons.

We report the accomplishment of our activities at the 2021 ICMS, held entirely online. Individually and collectively, we have attended the Congress for many years.  Our ICMS blog records activities sponsored and co-sponsored by the RGME along the way.

This year’s Congress presented the first time for a totally “virtual” process.  Next year’s Congress will be the second.

The new format posed challenges, mostly surmounted.  Gladly we observe that, albeit with several technical glitches and scheduling issues, the activities of the RGME, both sponsored and co-sponsored, succeeded as we had wished.  The Sessions and Business Meeting proceeded smoothly, with time and scope for feedback and discussion.

How We Prepared

First, there was the cancellation of the 2020 Congress itself.  See our 2020 Congress Program Announced.

Then came the re-planning for the 2021 Congress.  Initially, it was designed to be held in person, like the 2019 Congress, and others before it.

Only after all the re-submissions of our intended 2020 Sessions to the Congress Committee, the completion of the 2021 Congress Call for Papers, the selection of the Session Programs, and the bookings for our Reception and Business Meeting (see our 2021 Congress Planning), did there come the decision that the 2021 Congress had to take place only online.

That choice led all 3 co-sponsors for our planned Reception —RGME, Societas Magica, and Index of Medieval Art — to agree that it makes sense to wait, instead, for such an event until a suitable occasion in person.  Likewise, a few rearrangements were required for the Sessions as had been planned.

Preparing for the 5 Sessions and our Open Business Meeting, we announced our Activities for the 2021 Congress Program.

Next came the Congress itself, as described in its own Program (plus Corrigenda), with further information on its website.

Sessions

Recorded Sessions

Vajra Regan presents his Paper for his 2021 Congress Session on “Prologues”.

With the virtual format, some Congress events were recorded, so as to be available for viewing by Congress Registrants from 17 to 29 May.  According with the participants’ wishes, 2 of our Sessions were recorded.  

  • Medieval Magic in Theory:
    Prologues to Learned Texts of Magic

Congress Session 103

  • Revealing the Unknown, II

    Congress Session 279

Thus were available, for a time, the chances to view and to re-view, a few of our activities ‘there’ this year.  For them and the others, this Report describes the accomplishment of the plans, already for the 2020 Congress, which had to be cancelled.  This year’s Congress gave the opportunity to complete the plan, with some changes as appropriate.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: 'Toulouse deformity', Bibliomancy, Ephesia Grammata, Headbinding, History of Documents, History of Magic, Manuscript studies, Matthew Paris, Medieval Lapidaries, Medieval Prologues, Medieval Seals, Picatrix, Reused Antique Gems, Scrying, Seals and Signatures, Sortilège, Thomas Hoccleve
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Medieval Magic in Theory

May 6, 2021 in Abstracts of Conference Papers, Conference, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Societas Magica

Medieval Magic in Theory:
Prologues to Learned Texts of Magic

Session Organized by Vajra Regan

***

Hermes Trismegistus. Frontispiece image (Lyons, 1669) via Wikimedia Commons and Wellcome Images (Wellcome_L0000980).

Hermes Trismegistus. Frontispiece image (Lyons, 1669) via Wikimedia Commons and Wellcome Images.

Session (1 of 3) Co-sponsored by
the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
and the Societas Magica
at the
56th International Congress on Medieval Studies
(10–15 May 2021)

2021 Congress Program Announced

Congress Session 103, Virtually on
Tuesday, 11 May at 11:00 am EDT

= 2021 Congress Program, pages 38–39

Our plans for this 2021 Session adapt its plan for the cancelled 2020 Congress. Now it is co-sponsored by the Research Group and the Societas Magica, and parts of the contents have been updated.

Scope & Aims

The prologues to medieval texts of learned magic could serve a variety of functions. They were a space for their authors to announce the theme of the work, to situate the work within a specific literary, philosophical, or theological landscape, and to lay special claim to the reader’s attention. Consequently, these prologues have much to tell us about the traditions and beliefs underlying certain magical texts. Moreover, because many magical texts are substantially anonymous compilations, their prologues often provide unique access to the lives and contexts of the men and women behind the parchment.

The aim of this session is to explore these still largely understudied prologues which testify to the variety of medieval approaches to ‘magic’. We are especially interested in how magic is theorized in these prologues. What insights do these prologues offer into contemporary debates about the epistemological status of magic? Moreover, what can they tell us about the social, religious, and institutional contexts of their authors and readers?

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Tags: Areola Diagram, Astral magic, Bartholomei de Ripa Romea, Book of Hermes, Collected Treasures, Glossa ordinaria, Hermes Trismegistus, History of Magic, History of Prologues, Lapidaries, Liber dabessi, Magicians in History, Picatrix, Saint Gall Incantations, Sorcerers, The Emerald Table
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2021 Congress Program Announced

December 16, 2020 in Abstracts of Conference Papers, Announcements, Business Meeting, Conference, Conference Announcement, Events, Index of Medieval Art, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Societas Magica

Activities of the
Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
At the
56th International Congress on Medieval Studies
(10–15 May 2021)

Following the Call for Papers
(due by 15 September 2020)
and the Selection of Papers (due by 1 October 2020)
We announce the Program for our Sessions

#kzoo2021 / #kazoo2021

Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum, MS W.782, folio 15r. Van Alphen Hours. Dutch Book of Hours made for a female patron in the mid 15th century. Opening page of the Hours of the Virgin: "Here du salste opdoen mine lippen". Image via Creative Commons. At the bottom of the bordered page, an elegantly dressed woman sits before a shiny bowl- or mirror-like object, in order, perhaps, to perform skrying or to lure a unicorn.

Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum, MS W.782, folio 15r. Van Alphen Hours. Dutch Book of Hours. Image via Creative Commons.

Following the 2021 Congress Call for Papers, the Selection of proposed Papers, and the submission of the Programs for our Sessions to the Congress Committee (see our 2021 Congress Planning), we announce the Program for our Sessions and our other Activities for the 2021 ICMS Congress.

All activities at the Congress are scheduled to take place only “virtually”.  For such virtual plans, see the Congress page of the Medieval Institute. 

Watch this space. We await instructions from the Congress Committee regarding the revised approach to Sessions.

Note that, once the Committee announced that the Congress would have to go ‘virtual’, all 3 co-sponsors for our planned Reception agreed that it would make sense to wait for such an event until some suitable occasion in person.  However, we continue to plan for all 5 Sessions and our Open Business Meeting.

Update on 26 March 2021:
The Program of the Congress is now available. For information about the Congress, see its website.

*****

In a Nutshell

Open Business Meeting:  All are Welcome

Thursday, 13 May at 12:00 pm EDT.

  • 2021 Congress Program, page 99.

Sessions

Seal the Real, I–II

Congress Sessions 259 and 279, Virtually on
Thursday, 13 May at 11:00 am EDT and at 1:00 pm EDT

  • 2021 Congress Program, pages 92–93 and 100–101.

Medieval Magic in Theory:
Prologues to Learned Texts of Magic

Congress Session 103, Virtually on
Tuesday, 11 May at 11:00 am EDT

  • 2021 Congress Program, pages 38–39.

Revealing the Unknown, Parts I–II

Congress Sessions 181 and 201, Virtually on
Wednesday, 12 May at 11:00 am and 1:00 pm EDT

  • 2021 Congress Program, pages 66 and 73.

Details follow here.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Bibliomancy, History of Documents, History of Magic, Manuscript studies, Matthew Paris, Medieval Lapidaries, Medieval Prologues, Medieval Seals, Picatrix, Reused Antique Gems, Scrying, Seals and Signatures, Sortilège, Thomas Hoccleve
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