Plenary Speakers

Prof. Sebastian Sobecki, University of Toronto,

"The Role of Middle English Literature in the Context of Global Medieval Travel Writing" 

Dr. Judith Huber, University of Munich,

"Verbalizing Motion and Travel in Middle English"

Prof. Margaret Connolly, University of St Andrews,

"From Hand to Hand: Movements of Middle English Manuscripts"

From the very moment they were created by the hands of medieval scribes, Middle English manuscripts have been on the move. Some movements from owner to owner or place to place were deliberate whilst others have been accidental, but all have influenced the texts we now read and the physical formats in which those texts survive. Drawing on examples from a wide range of Middle English manuscripts this lecture will reveal how the form of the medieval book has been shaped by the hands of readers, collectors, antiquaries, book dealers, scholars, and librarians. It will also consider why awareness of this process of transformation is important for our understanding of medieval literature.

Dr. Daniel Sawyer, University of Oxford,

"Teaching Middle English Poetry Now"