The American Society for Irish Medieval Studies seeks an Associate Editor and Book Reviews Editor for its peer-reviewed journal Eolas.

• The Associate Editor should be either a PhD or PhD candidate with expertise an area of Irish medieval studies, and a record of publication in the field of medieval studies. Previous editorial experience is preferred.
• The Book Reviews Editor must have a PhD in hand with research interests and expertise within the field of Irish medieval studies, and a record of publication in the field of medieval studies.

All applicants must be a member of ASIMS upon the time of their appointment.

These positions will remain open until filled. To apply for any one of them, please send a letter of interest and c.v. directly to ASIMS President, Larissa Tracy via email: kattracy@comcast.ne

Congratulations to Donncha MacGabhann on his forthcoming publication of The Book of Kells – A Masterwork Revealed: Creators, Collaboration, and Campaigns. The book is scheduled to publish in late September and is available for preorder through Sidestone Press.

 

Abstract:

Sublime calligraphy, marvellous art, and amazing initials, have charmed and captivated the audience of the Book of Kells for over twelve hundred years. This remarkable illuminated Gospel book attracts the attention of scholars as well as those more generally interested in the fabulous artefacts of the past.

Everybody knows it was made by an extensive team of scribes and artists. Donncha MacGabhann knew that too. However, he was certain that a thorough examination could clearly identify the various contributions of its creators.

His life and work as an artist and teacher inspired the belief that a close visual study could solve some of its enduring puzzles. The deeper he delved, the more he was convinced that Kells is entirely the work of two individuals. This evolved into a novel paradigm through which he came to know and understand the manuscript. Following years of meticulous research, this book tells the story of Kells’ two Masters and their collaboration to create a Gospel book of unprecedented magnificence. Most poignantly, it reveals the struggle of the lone survivor of the two-man team to attempt the completion of their magnum opus.

The most important outcomes of this book go far beyond the simple attribution of work to different hands. Much more significantly, it affords insights into the imagination which inspired its creators, especially the unique vision of Kells’ great Scribe-Artist. Collectively, these new perspectives reveal a previously unknown ‘Book of Kells,’ one which, as it were, has remained hidden in plain sight.

Challenging long-held theories is no small matter, and in doing so this radical study attempts to be comprehensive. The abundance of evidence may at times seem extravagant in its detail, for both specialists and non-specialists. The reader is therefore encouraged to find their own path in exploring The Book of Kells – A Masterwork Revealed: Creators, Collaboration, and Campaigns.

The Patristic, Medieval, and Renaissance Studies Conference (PMR) at Villanova University

invites you to participate in its 47th International PMR Conference

October 21-23, 2022 at The Inn at Villanova

Deadline for submissions: June 30, 2022

 

**Please Note: Catherine Bodin and June-Ann Greeley are seeking a third or fourth paper to round out an Irish panel for this conference. The current papers are medieval but additional Irish-focused papers could fit any of the conference themes outlined below. Please contact Catherine Bodin with your proposal or submit directly to the conference webpage listed below.**

 

The PMR makes an OPEN CALL to scholars, institutions, and societies to propose Papers, Panels, or Sponsored Sessions in all areas and topics in late antiquity/patristics, Byzantine Studies, Medieval Studies, Islamic Studies, Jewish Studies, and Renaissance & Reformation Studies.

The PMR committee this year makes a special invitation to scholars from all disciplines in these fields to address our plenary theme: “Through the Cross.”

Featured speakers: Khaled Anatolios, University of Notre Dame, author of Deification through the Cross: An Eastern Christian Theology and Rachel J. D. Smith, Villanova University, author of Excessive Saints.

From the Dream of the Rood to Anselm’s Cur Deus Homo to Matthias Grünewald’s Isenheim Altarpiece, the figure of the cross has stood at the center of reflection on the mystery of Christ, not only in theology, but in art, poetry, music, and devotional literature. The figure of the cross places the mysteries of suffering and death both at the center of Christian self-understanding and on the edges of ecstatic movements beyond the self into God. It is a sign of contradiction, and yet it calls the saints to imitation. The figure of the cross has both blessed the shields of crusaders and given Lady Julian comfort that “all shall be well.” It has been a mark of exclusion for Jews and Muslims, a bane to witches and heretics, but also a sign of tender love and holy mercy. This year’s PMR offers a special invitation for papers and panels that explore the figure of the cross, meditation on the Passion, conformity to Christ, and kindred topics in the ancient, medieval, and early modern cultures of Europe, Asia, and the Mediterranean, from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.

As is our custom, the call for papers will be open beyond our plenary theme, and scholars are encouraged to propose papers and panels on all aspects of the premodern Mediterranean and European cultures of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Focusing papers on the figure of the cross and related themes is encouraged, but not required.

Deadline for submissions: June 30, 2022. Please use the online individual or panel abstract form here. Notice of acceptance will be made by July 31, 2022

PMR webpage: villanova.edu/pmr2022

Contact us: pmr.conference@villanova.edu | 610.519.4728

The American Society for Irish Medieval Studies seeks a General Editor for its peer-reviewed journal Eolas.

The General Editor must have a PhD in hand with research interests and expertise within the field of Irish medieval studies, and a record of publication in the field of medieval studies. Previous editorial and design/production experience is greatly preferred, specifically with Adobe In Design. This is a three-year renewable term.

All applicants must be a member of ASIMS upon the time of their appointment.

This position will remain open until filled. To apply for any one of them, please send a letter of interest and c.v. directly to ASIMS President, Larissa Tracy via email: kattracy@comcast.net.

TABULA GRATULATORIA OPPORTUNITY

Work is underway to produce a Festschrift in honor of Morfydd E. Owen, in recognition of her immense contribution to the field of Cyfraith Hywel (inter alia). The volume comprises ten scholarly essays, and is being published by the Welsh Legal History Society as part of its series, and under the editorship of Sara Elin Roberts, Simon Rodway and Alexander Falileyev. While primarily focused on Wales, at least one contribution will include material relating to medieval Ireland.

The volume will also include a tabula gratulatoria of all subscribers who wish to be named. If you wish to become a subscriber and to support this work, please download the flier for further information. You are welcomed to share the flier with other scholars who may be interested in the volume.

 

ASIMS is pleased to announce that the 2020 winner of the Terry Barry Prize for Best Graduate Paper in Irish Medieval Studies is Kate Colbert for her paper “Exploring Relic na nAingel: Relics, Sculpture and Ecclesiastical Power at Clonmore,” which she delivered at a NUI symposium in Dublin. This paper is part of her doctoral dissertation research.

Ms. Colbert earned her bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the College of Charleston in 2005, and her master’s in archaeological excavation from University College Cork (UCC) in 2014. Currently, she is in the final stages of submitting her doctoral thesis at UCC, titled “Early Medieval Sculpture in Southeast Ireland: Identities, Landscape and Memory.” Using the southeast of Ireland as a case study, this work investigates early medieval (c. AD 400–1200) sculpted stones as commemorative technologies and agents of cultural transmission.

ASIMS is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2020 Four Courts Press Michael Adams Prize for best article or essay in Irish medieval studies is Maeve Callan for her article “Making Monsters Out of One Another in the Early Fourteenth-Century British Isles: The Irish Remonstrance, the Declaration of Arbroath, and the Anglo-Irish Counter Remonstrance,” published in Eolas 12 (2019). She delivered an earlier version of this article in a MEARSCTAPA session on medieval monsters at the 2018 Southeastern Medieval Association annual conference held in Nassau, the Bahamas.

Maeve Callan, a professor of Religion and Women’s and Gender Studies at Simpson College in Iowa, received her PhD in Religion from Northwestern University and her MPhil in Women’s Studies from Trinity College Dublin. The author of two books—The Templars, the Witch, and the Wild Irish: Vengeance and Heresy in Medieval Ireland (Cornell University Press and Four Courts Press, 2015) and Sacred Sisters: Gender, Sanctity, and Power in Medieval Ireland (Amsterdam University Press, 2020), and over a dozen articles. She is currently working on a book on ethnic identity and racism in the British Isles from 1000 to 1400.