Monash Medieval & Renaissance Studies

We're back with big congratulations to @eaburrell.bsky.social, awarded the @austhistassoc.bsky.social Philippa Hetherington Prize for best postgraduate dissertation on a non-Australian topic: “Words for Wellbeing: Charms, Caregiving and Health in England, 1300—1550” 👏👏👏

Abstract: The use of violence aims to attack individuals or groups, causing physical, emotional or psychological harm. This violence serves diverse purposes: annihilating, expelling or integrating opponents. Integrative violence was significant in systematically designed heresy combat during the 12th & 13th centuries. It initially sought to persuade heretics to abandon renegade beliefs & adopt the “rightful” faith, however, this evolved over time, from the “violence” of early episcopal sermons, portraying heretical beliefs as detrimental, to violence with fire & sword, leading to bloodshed, as seen in the Albigensian Crusade. Following this bloody step, the Church turned to mendicant orders like the Dominicans and Franciscans. Dominicans became synonymous with inquisitors, known for causing bloodshed. My presentation aims to elucidate this transformation in applying violent integration measures. Fri 3 May @ 6pm AEST. Email cmrs-postgraduatecommittee@monash.edu for zoom link

Friday 3 May @ 6pm AEST / 5pm JST / 9am BST. A/Prof. Asami Kobayashi (Shujitsu University) “Integrative Violence Through Examples Of Heresy Combat” on zoom. All welcome. Email us for the link!

This week's seminar features another ep. in our continuing collaboration with TUCEMEMS! Unpick book technologies with Prof. Matti Peikola on "Articulating the operation of tables and figures for early modern English readers"! Fri 26 Apr on zoom @ 6pm AEST / 11am EEST / 9am BST. Email us for the link

Exciting news! We will share the official CFP & details as soon as they're available, but followers may like to know that (like IMC, ICMS, RSA &c) this conference traditionally accepts general paper submissions, as well as those on the specific theme.

This project focuses on the connections between female religious and laity in the late medieval Swedish kingdom (which included the area encompassing modern Finland). Remembrance and donations have received significant attention in recent years, and my aim is to explore the culture of donations and remembrance in a region where such studies have been lacking. I wish to delve into the study of female communities and their role in preserving the memory of benefactors and their families, highlighting the crucial link women maintained in caring for the remembrance of their deceased relatives. Anna-Stina Hägglund's research interests centre around Birgittine monasteries in the Baltic Sea region and their interactions with surrounding societies. Currently, she is a member of the research project “Lived Religion in Medieval Finland” at the University of Tampere (2021–2024). Friday 19 April 17:15 AEST (10:15 EEST). For the zoom link email: cmrs-postgraduatecommittee@monash.edu

For our next seminar we join the team at TUCEMEMS, feat. Dr Anna-Stina Hägglund on 'Female Religious Houses and Remembrance in the Late Medieval Swedish Kingdom (1350-1520)'. Friday 19 Apr @ 17:15 AEST / 10:15 EEST / 8:15 BST. #nuntastic #medievalsky

Sometimes historians have to make guesses. This talk uses speculation and circumstantial evidence alongside a close reading of primary sources to explore the possibility of an undocumented military alliance between Pisa in Italy, Denia in Spain, and possibly the Banu Hammad of Algeria. Building on earlier scholarship, it posits that connections formed during the Sardinian War of 1015-16 led to ongoing diplomatic or military links between the principals, aimed at countering the power of the Zirid dynasty of Tunisia and Grenada. This military alliance (if it existed) fell out of Pisan historical consciousness in the twelfth century due to disputes between Pisa and Genoa over the historical justifications for their hegemony in Sardinia. Online via Zoom. Friday 12 April @ 10am AEST. Email: cmrs-postgraduatecommittee@monash.edu to register

This Friday; 12 April! Dr Romney Smith (ANU) on "Diplomacy in the Shadows. A lost Christian-Muslim Alliance in the 12th c Mediterranean?" 10am AEST on Zoom. Email us for the link (details in image/alt) #medievalsky

This Friday 10am AEDT Joe Biggerstaff on "Orphans in an infant society: Crisis and dependency in early Barbados"
Join us in person at Monash or on zoom from anywhere! For details email cmrs-postgraduatecommittee [at] monash [dot] edu.

Coming up on 1 March at 10am AEDT, our first seminar of the semester!
Dr Paige Donaghy (U Queensland) on '"When her ship was laden with wares, then she could take in passengers": pregnant women's sexuality in England, c. 1600-1750.' Email Zoom link: cmrs-postgraduatecommittee [at] monash [dot] edu

Flyer for a series of online & hybrid seminars on medieval & renaissance studies running from 1 March to 17 May 2024, Melbourne time. The flyer includes dates, times, titles etc. Interested parties are encouraged to contact cmrs-postgraduatecommittee@monash.edu for a screen-readable pdf version, and zoom link details.

OK, let's try that again... without the crucial email typo!
Coming soon: Exciting new series of Public Seminars (online and/or hybrid) for 2024. Contact our team at cmrs-postgraduatecommittee [at] monash [dot] edu for zoom details.

Elite Women and the Italian Wars, 1494–1559 Cambridge Core - European History 1000-1450 - Elite Women and the Italian Wars, 1494–1559

Free download until 25 Jan! Elite Women and the Italian Wars, 1494-1559, by Susan Broomhall and Carolyn James: www.cambridge.org/core/element...

5-year job (Lecturer/Snr Lecturer level) available for an Italian Renaissance historian contributing to our Medieval & Renaissance Studies Community! careers.pageuppeople.com/mob/513/cw/e...

The Early Modern Graphic Literacies project, funded by the Reseach Council of Finland, 2021-25, is now on Bluesky! We study English printed books 1500-1800 to find out how graphic devices e.g. tables and diagrams were used in the #EarlyModern period. #BookHistory

Some good news just slipping in as the door closes on 2023 - MMRS members have just secured seed funding with collaborators in Padua for a new project: "Feeling the Middle Ages: Interdisciplinary approaches to medieval devotional culture". Watch this space for its findings! #medievalsky

oh dear...

Congratulations and good luck to Lucy Moloney (@lucyelm.bsky.social) on submission of her MA thesis, "Appeals to the Past in Sovereignty Disputes in Wales, Scotland, and England during Edward I’s Reign (1272–1307)"!

This week for our #MEMSSeminar, our special guest is Dr Gabriele Bonomelli, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Kent. We are absolutely delighted to welcome Dr Bonomelli to MEMS!

📜 Dissent in Late Medieval & Early Modern England
📅 Thur 30 Nov, 5pm GMT
📍 Darwin LT1 & Zoom

Abstract below ⬇️

A close up of four red poppies backlit by evening sun. The rims of each petal gleam gold in the light.

Our seminars are now in summer recess. Looking forward to seeing you again on zoom or in person for our 2024 series. If you're interested to present, get in touch now! #medievalsky #earlymodernsky Meanwhile, have some red poppies, snapped at our recent annual "Med-Ren Feast"!

Natalie Zemon Davis in her home office. Photo by Michael Graydon. Source: https://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/becoming-natalie-davis/

We are saddened to learn of the death of the inimitable Natalie Zemon Davis

www.rensoc.org.uk/natalie-zemo...

Our online series "Euro-Mediterranean Entanglements in Medieval History" continues - have a look at the programme and join us: dhi-roma.it/fileadmin/us...

#medievalsky #medievalmediterranean @DHIParis @MWS

ah nuts... we're hearing reports that the registration link is demanding institutional credentials. Bear with us...

{Under Construction GIF}

Join us from 6pm on 13 November in Melbourne for the annual Bill Kent Memorial Lecture, to be delivered by A/Prof. Nick Eckstein on "Time and Space in Renaissance Florence (and the Mouse in Matteo Cavalcanti's Underpants)". Are you not intrigued?!
www.monash.edu/prato/alumni...

Friday 20 October 10am AEDT (Thurs 19 in USA): Anurag Advani (UC Berkeley) on "The Madness of the Majzūbs: Marginal Sufi Saints in Sixteenth-Century Mughal India". Join us!
(email cmrs-postgraduatecommittee [at] monash [dot] edu for the zoom link or come in person!)

Call for applications! Does a two-day masterclass on developing skills for reading medieval and early modern sources sound good? Hosted by the world-leading MEMS program at ACU Melbourne on 2-3 Nov., application to participate need to be in by 15 Oct

anzamems.org?page_id=5839

Did you know we're running a special Plenary panel for emerging medievalists and early modernists at this conference? Check it out, get involved 👇

www.anzamems.org?p=12336

Get your abstracts in by Friday (NZ time) to join us and @anzamems.bsky.social in Christchurch next Feb!