[Posted on 9 August 2023<\/em>]<\/p>\n In 2024 the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence (RGME<\/a>) will celebrate its 25th Anniversary as a Nonprofit Educational Corporation based in the United States and its 35th Anniversary as an International Scholarly Organization founded in England.\u00a0 Among its 2024 Anniversary Celebrations (Events<\/a> such as Symposia, Episodes of our online series \u201cThe Research Group Speaks\u201d<\/a>, and more), the RGME prepares a set of Conference Sessions<\/a> by \u201cSetting Sails for A Double Gig in the USA and the United Kingdom\u201d.<\/p>\n First, we revisit the annual International Congress on Medieval Studies<\/a> (ICMS<\/strong>) at Kalamazoo in May.\u00a0 As customary for many years, we plan for RGME-sponsored and co-sponsored Sessions there. For these plans, see our 2024 Call for Papers<\/a> for these Sessions.\u00a0 Also, for the first time, we prepare to sponsor a Session at the International Medieval Congress<\/a> (IMS<\/strong>) at Leeds in July.<\/p>\n For 2024, the former conference will be held, somewhat confusingly, partly online and partly in-person (with individual Sessions either the one of the other). In contrast, the latter is fully hybrid, with in-person and online participation together. For the thematic subject of \u201cCrisis\u201d<\/a><\/strong> chosen for the 2024 Leeds Congress, we bring our own 2024 Anniversary Theme of \u201cBridges\u201d<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Paris , Mus\u00e9e Carnavalet, Projet pour le Pont Neuf, by an anonymous artist, circa 1577. Image via Wikimedia via Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported.<\/p><\/div>\n Note on the image<\/em>:\u00a0 The Pont Neuf<\/em> (“New Bridge”) was the first Parisian bridge to have no houses; it is the oldest standing bridge to survive in Paris.\u00a0 The painting in the Mus\u00e9e Carnavalet<\/a> shown above depicts the design approved in 1578 by King Henry III<\/a> (1551\u20131589), who laid the first stone on 31 May 1578. The bridge as completed in 1606 had a simpler design, partly in response to constraints and challenges \u2014 crises amidst the French Wars of Religion<\/a> \u2014 during this time in the king’s reign leading, for example, to his assassination. The bridge provided both a thoroughfare for horses and conveyances, and pavements for pedestrians.\u00a0 See Le Pont_Neuf<\/a>.\u00a0 See also below.<\/p>\n For information on how to submit your Proposal for a Paper for our Inaugural Session, see below.<\/p>\n Whenever we speak of bridges<\/a> as structures or constructions over physical objects by land or sea \u2014 rather than, say, a card game<\/a>,\u00a0a trick-taking game<\/a>, some prosthesis for teeth<\/a>, or the pilothouse of a ship<\/a> \u2014 we speak of connections and obstacles. Can we even think of bridges without also thinking of dangers, of collapse, of falling down, of burning?<\/p>\n No bridge is needed where connection is simple and guaranteed, where creeks can be passed easily, where communication flows unhindered. It is only when underlying currents become perilous, when we are to transverse to unknown shores that may challenge our bare existence that we yearn for a bridge to provide us safe passage. In such cases, we might even wonder on occasion if the passage and its direction (let alone its progress) constitutes \u2018coming\u2019 or \u2018going\u2019. With such potential, depending upon how and from whence the traveller approaches a passageway not necessarily unidirectional, the viewpoints for a given bridge might resemble the dual perspectives of the antique Roman god Janus <\/a>, presider over doorways, gates, thresholds, passages, beginnings and endings, war and peace.<\/p>\n Vatican City, Vatican Museums, Museo Chiaramonti, section XIV, no.17. Janus-type Double Herm. Marble, Roman copy after a Greek original. Image via Wikimedia via Creative Commons 3.0 Unported.<\/p><\/div>\n And so, a bridge turns out to be a very ambivalent endeavor (as indeed all crossings and bifurcations are), living in the fuzzy realm between stability and destabilization, between safety and risk. With bridges, we might enter dangerous worlds otherwise inaccessible to us (sometimes for the better), so that the mere existence of bridges as gateways to these spaces can appear dangerous in itself, whilst they create an opening, and thus, opportunities in its original Latin sense as opportunus<\/a>.<\/p>\n Knowing this far too well, we are required to cultivate trust in a bridge\u2019s supports to safely guide us to the other side, but also to return if things turn out harmful. In such conditions we might, if circumstances and structures warrant, call upon the facilities and resourcefulness of a draw-bridge or pontoon bridge, and be prepared for the potential (and sometimes uneasily apparent) insecurity of suspension bridges.<\/p>\n Bear in mind the double-meaning of support here: bridges stand on supports and lend us support. They stabilize passages to cross what otherwise would be uncrossable<\/a> \u2013 and thereby \u201cease your mind\u201d, as Simon & Garfunkel<\/a> sang in Bridge Over Troubled Water<\/a> (1970); see the lyrics<\/a>. Nor need we overlook the implication of the symbol of the Cross<\/a> as the signature of Christ.<\/p>\n That said, shouldn\u2019t all researchers thus be bridge-makers? Since what else is the prototype of a researcher than a person who, driven by endless curiosity, feels a strong inner desire of wanting to pass over to those unexplored realms on the other side?<\/p>\n It is this ambiguous nature of an in-between, of an entity standing in two worlds at once while creating an own space that belongs to none of them fully that make bridges such interesting transitional spaces. Yes, more than that: the bridge is the Urbild<\/a>, the archetype of what transition and transitional spaces mean avant la lettre<\/a>. This condition, by the way, is no less true for the double-identity of the messenger, a figure that embodies both bridge and bridge-maker to create meaningful connections between senders and receivers, between material and immaterial worlds, between heaven and the earth. And how could we forget that the Roman chief High Priest was known as the pontifex maximus<\/a>, the great bridge-builder, a title later related to the Pope<\/a> in Rome?[1]<\/span><\/p>\n Already in antiquity, the ambivalent figure of Hermes<\/a>[2]<\/span> as Olympic Messenger encapsulated the ambiguity of all bridges, as he is the protector not only of human heralds, travelers, merchants, and orators, but also of thieves, pointing out how much all hermeneutics<\/a> convey risky endeavors, since all acts of interpretations may fail, or even be the cause of dangers of their own.<\/p>\n As a model of transition par excellence<\/i>, bridges also remind us negatively of its connective nature, especially whenever we cross the Rubicon<\/a> or burn down bridges<\/a>, and thereby pass the point of no return \u2014 a very current fear in respect to Climate Change and Anthropocene<\/a>. Either way, Hermes makes us aware of the close proximity of commuting and communicating.<\/p>\n “Study on a Medieval Bridge” at Amares, Braga District, Portugal. Image by Pedro Nuno Caetano (2019) via Wikimedia Commons via Creative Commons 2.0 Generic.<\/p><\/div>\n For its next Anniversary Year, the Research Group for Manuscript Evidence has chosen the Theme of Bridges<\/strong> as its guiding symbol. In fact, it has been the mission of the RGME to build bridges since its first beginning \u2014 between disciplines, methods and media, and scholars from different countries, even continents, all driven by their passion for manuscripts and their historical significance, as well as their context among written texts as such and within the course (or coursing) of history.<\/p>\n For its anniversary, the RGME takes this mission one step further, by crossing the great sea in an attempt to bridge the academic cultures of the New World and Old World \u2014 in what could be described as a reversal of the Mayflower\u2019s<\/a> itinerary, from the Americas back to the British Isles, and back again. Let\u2019s hope for calm waters and steady weather! (And is it too far-fetched to remind us that both Cambridge<\/a> and Oxford<\/a> are names that allude to bridge-like passages? Isn\u2019t education always a bridge, a rite of passage?)<\/p>\n In this spirit, we prepare sponsored Sessions, as usual, for the International Congress on Medieval Studies<\/a> (ICMS) at Kalamazoo in May.\u00a0 See our Call for Papers for the 2024 ICMS<\/a>.<\/p>\n Also, for the first time, we prepare an Inaugural Sponsored Session for the International Medieval Congress<\/a> (IMC) at Leeds in July 2024. The chosen Thematic Focus for the Leeds Congress is\u00a0 \u201cCrisis\u201d<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n The Co-Organisers<\/strong> for our Leeds Session are<\/p>\n Ann Pascoe\u2013van Zyl<\/strong> (Trinity College Dublin<\/em>) Under our guiding concept of \u201cbridges,\u201d the RGME invites papers for a Session at Leeds on all kinds of bridges and bridge-related topics. Be it more literally, as physical architectures and landmarks, such as historically significant specimens, or be it more abstractly, as architectural devices of the mind that enable us to make unexpected and unpredicted connections between marginal, off-field, divergent media, methods, and subjects that are usually not made or ignored.<\/p>\n In addition, we ask how bridges answer to different forms of crises, especially, but not only, with regard to communication, travel, social, cultural or political relations, or of the natural environment. In turn, we are also interested in papers that discuss how the establishment and maintenance of bridges may prevent crises or, contrarily, cause new unforeseen forms of crisis<\/a>.<\/p>\n In summary, we welcome all bold bridge-makers willing to traverse pathways that others have not dared to take. In such ways, we might also respond to the opportunities and challenges which the captain and officers on the bridge of a ship can observe directly, better to steer a course in the passage.<\/p>\n Paris , Biblioth\u00e8que nationale de France, D\u00e9partement des manuscrits, MS Lat 10525, fol. 3v, detail. Noah’s Ark. Image Public Domain via https:\/\/gallica.bnf.fr\/ark:\/12148\/btv1b8447877n.<\/p><\/div>\n Note on the image<\/em>:\u00a0 Paris, Biblioth\u00e8que nationale de France, D\u00e9partement des manuscrits, MS Lat 10525, folio 3v. Psalter of Saint Louis, Paris circa 1270. See\u00a0Psautier de Saint Louis: Latin 10525<\/a>. On the genre, see, for example, Noah’s Ark<\/a>; and Noah’s Arkhive<\/a>.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n We invite abstracts of 200\u2013300 words.\u00a0 Your proposals should be made to the Session Co-Organisers to the address below by 31 August 2023<\/b>.\u00a0 Following this Call for Papers, the RGME Session will be selected and submitted to the Congress by 30 September 2023.\u00a0 We will inform you of the selection by this time.<\/p>\n The Congress at Leeds will be held in person, with provisions for online participation. In this way, we hope that you might be able to attend onsite or at a distance, depending upon your travel arrangements.\u00a0 Please indicate in your Proposal if you you would prefer to present your paper or session in-person or virtually.<\/p>\n Deadline for Paper Proposals:\u00a0 <\/b>Due by 31 August 2023<\/b><\/p>\n We look forward to your contributions.<\/p>\n For information about this RGME Session, and to make your Proposal, please contact the Co-organisers<\/strong>:<\/p>\n Ann Pascoe-van Zyl<\/strong> and Michael Allman Conrad<\/strong> rgmesessions@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n [1]<\/span> Originally, this might have been meant literally: the position of bridge-builder was an important one in Rome, where the major bridges were over the Tiber. Considered a deity, only authorities with sacral functions could be allowed to “disturb” the river with mechanical additions. The title of \u201cpontifex\u201d for the Pontiff in Rome was already around for centuries, but did not become a regular title of honor for Popes before the 15th century, which is probably linked to the Fall of Constantinople<\/a> in 1453 and the death of the last East Roman Emperor.<\/p>\n Fun fact: Pope Benedict XVI<\/a> adopted @pontifex<\/span> as his Twitter<\/a> handle, which has been maintained by his successor Pope Francis<\/a>.<\/p>\n Prague, National Gallery, Kinsk\u00fd Palace, NM-H10 4742. Marble relief of triplicate Hekate. Image via Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0 Unported.<\/p><\/div>\n [2]<\/span> There is something strange to be observed when we look at antiquity in this regard. The areas of expertise and responsibility for Greek and Roman Gods with respect to bridges is not clear-cut.<\/p>\n In fact, Janus<\/a> seems to be the more suitable candidate if we want to know what God was actually related to bridges, as he generally was the God of motion, of pathways, doors and gates, of beginnings and endings, devoted to spatial and temporal transitions.<\/p>\n However, if we think about the mitigation, communication between different realms, dominions, and areas, this job would be that of Hermes<\/a> as mitigator and messenger.<\/p>\n But, thirdly, there\u2019s also Hecate<\/a>, as the dark Goddess of crossings, of magic and witchery. Sometimes represented as triple-formed, her associations include crossroads, entrance-ways, night, light, sorcery, witchcraft, necromancy, graves, and protection from witchcraft. These powers extended her realms of transitions to stretch beyond the worlds of the living.<\/p>\n The lines seem to be a bit blurred here, and it seems to depend on what aspect of bridges interests us exactly to know which God to tend to: the dark aspects of all crossings (as mixing things that should be kept separate), the mitigation and moderation in communicative acts (Hermes), or transition and ambivalence in general?<\/p>\n We invite you to join the conversation.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Munich, Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Nikoxenos Painter, Attic red-figure belly-amphora, ca. 500 BC, Side B, detail of Council of the Gods on Mount Olympus: Hermes with his mother Maia. Image via Wikimedia via Creative Commons.<\/p><\/div>\n Note on the image<\/em>:\u00a0 See Council of the Gods<\/a>.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n RGME Poster for 2015 Session on “Ideal Kingship”.<\/p><\/div>\n The ornate sculptural masks (mascarons<\/em>) on the sides of Le Pont_Neuf<\/a> in Paris inspired the series of posters for our Sessions at the 2015 ICMS at Kalamazoo.\u00a0 See:<\/p>\n For the photographs in the posters, we thank Ilya V. Sverdlov<\/a>.<\/p>\n The 381 original and individual Renaissance mascarons<\/em> were replaced in the complete rebuilding of the bridge in 1851\u20131854 with copies by 19th-century sculptors. At the time, some of the 16th-century originals \u2014 attributed to the French Renaissance sculptor Germain Pilon<\/a> (1525\u20131590) \u2014 were placed in the Mus\u00e9e Carnavalet<\/a> (six originals and eight molds of others) and the Mus\u00e9e de Cluny \u2013 Mus\u00e9e national du Moyen \u00c2ge<\/a> (eight originals); the latter were transferred later to the French National Museum of the Renaissance in the Ch\u00e2teau d’\u00c9couen<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n The masks are said to “represent the heads of forest and field divinities from ancient mythology, as well as satyrs<\/a> and sylvains<\/a>.” (Le Pont_Neuf<\/a>.) With elaborate beards, enlarged ears, and animated and often threatening expressions, the faces of the mascarons<\/em> stand constant watch both upstream and downstream on \u201cThe New Bridge\u201d.\u00a0 It is as if \u2014 from their stable supports on the stone structure \u2014 they pose both troubled and troubling outlooks for the waters below, as well as toward all passengers upon or beside them.<\/p>\n In two spans, that construction links opposite sides of the River Seine<\/a> with the western (downstream) end \u201cof the \u00cele de la Cit\u00e9<\/a>, the island in the middle of the river that was, between 250 and 225 BC, the birthplace of Paris, then known as Lutetia<\/a> and, during the medieval period<\/a>, the heart of the city.\u201d\u00a0 (Le Pont_Neuf<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Le Pont Neuf, 5 Corbel Heads All in a Row. Photography by Ilya V. Sverdlov. Reproduced by permission.<\/p><\/div>\n *****<\/p>\n We look forward to your contributions.\u00a0 We invite Proposals for Papers in our Inaugural Sponsored Session on \u201cBuilding Bridges \u2018Over Troubled Waters\u2019 \u201d at the 2024 International Medieval Congress at Leeds.<\/p>\n Please be sure to submit your Proposal by 31 August 2023<\/strong> to the address above.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Please leave your Comments or questions here, Contact Us<\/a>, or visit<\/p>\nA Tale of Two Congresses<\/b><\/h2>\n
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Building (and Rebuilding) Bridges<\/b><\/h2>\n
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Bridges Then and Now<\/b><\/h2>\n
CFP for a RGME Session at the 2024 ICMS <\/b>
\n<\/b>(1\u20134 July 2024 in hybrid format)<\/h2>\n
\nand
\nMichael Allman Conrad<\/strong>
\n(Research Group on Manuscript Evidence<\/em> and\u00a0Universit\u00e4t St. Gallen<\/a><\/em>)<\/p>\nBridges and \u201cTroubled Waters\u201d<\/b><\/h2>\n
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Proposals Invited for Papers
\nfor our 2024 Session at Leeds
\n\u2014\u00a0Due by 31 August 2023
\n<\/b><\/h2>\n\n
\n<\/b>https:\/\/www.imc.leeds.ac.uk\/imc-2024\/<\/a><\/li>\n
\nhttps:\/\/www.imc.leeds.ac.uk\/proposals\/criteria\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\nfor the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence<\/p>\nFootnotes<\/h3>\n
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![\"2015](\"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/2015-Ideal-Kingship-Session-Poster-232x300.png\")
Note on Le Pont Neuf<\/em>
\n(see image above)<\/h3>\n\n
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