Presentations
Please find below a list of presentations made by the MALMECC team over the course of the project
Radcliffe Humanities Building, University of Oxford, 28 November 2022
After more than six exciting and eventful years of working together, current and former team members of the MALMECC project will reunite one last time at their home base, the Radcliffe Humanities Campus in Oxford, for a closing workshop on 28 November 2022. Participants will include external guests from both Oxford and further afield.
Historisches Institut, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 8 November 2022
Christophe Masson will present a lecture on 'The Avignon cardinals' courtly system during the Great Western Schism (1378-1403). Supporting or challenging the pope?' at Historisches Institut, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, on 8 November 2022.
Musikwissenschaftliches Seminar, Heidelberg University, Wintersemester 2022-23
Karl Kügle will be a visiting professor at the Institute of Musicology, Heidelberg University during the winter semester 2022-23. As part of the teaching and research activities planned for his stay, he will lead an interdisciplinary seminar on late medieval court cultures, contributing to the dissemination of the MALMECC project's results to the next generation of young scholars.
Centre for Advanced Study (CAS) at The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, Oslo, 5-6 May 2022
Karl Kügle will deliver a presentation on 'The Huybens Motet Fragment Revisited: Courtoisie in Lotharingia?' at the Centre for Advanced Study (CAS) of The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in Oslo on 5 May 2022. The presentation will be part of an international conference organized by Young CAS Fellow Catherine A. Bradley (UiO) on Old and New - Musical Sources and Debates in the Decades Around 1300.
97th Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America, University of Virginia and online, 10-13 March 2022
On 11 March 2022, Christophe Masson will deliver an online paper on 'Crisis as Roots of New Developments: The Great Western Schism's Impact on Church Institutions' at the 97th Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America. The presentation will be part of a session with five international speakers entitled Revisiting the Great Western Schism (1378-1417).
The ERC-CoG BENEDICAMUS project, University of Oslo, 15 October 2021
David Catalunya will deliver a paper on 'The Culture of Art Reworking at Las Huelgas: Music and Textiles' at a project workshop organized by the team of the ERC Consolidator Grant project BENEDICAMUS at the Department of Musicology, University of Oslo on 15 October 2021.
International conference on The Codex J.II.9: Origins, Histories, Cultural Context in Turin, 29-30 September 2021
On 30 September 2021, Karl Kügle will present an online paper on 'Codex Turin J.II.9, Church Politics, and Early Quattrocento Humanism' at an international conference dedicated to the origins, histories and cultural context of the famous manuscript Turin, Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria J.II.9. The codex preserves a singular repertory of late medieval music closely associated with the court of Cyprus and its early fifteenth-century Queen Charlotte of Bourbon. His focus will be on the role of two of Charlotte's in-laws, cardinals Hugues de Lusignan and Lancelot de Lusignan, in international diplomacy and cultural politics between the courts of Cyprus, Savoy, France, the papacy, the Italian states of Florence, Milan, and Venice, and the Councils of Basel and Ferrara.
International Immersive and 3D Audio (I3DA) conference in Bologna, 8-10 September 2021
On 8 September 2021, Karl Kügle will deliver on online Plenary Lecture on the topic of 'Hearing (in) the Middle Ages: Towards an Acoustemology of the Past' at the 2021 I3DA conference in Bologna. The International Conference on Immersive and 3D Audio (I3DA) is a high-profile international meeting place for researchers and other professionals active in the area of immersive and 3D audio, representing the most recent stages in the development of new methodologies and technologies in this field.
International Medieval Congress (IMC) Leeds, 5-9 July 2021
On 7 July 2021, Christophe Masson will speak online about 'Defending the Church with Walls and Guns? Pontifical Cities in the 14th Century' at the 2021 edition of the International Medieval Congress (IMC) Leeds. His paper will be part of a series of sessions on Martial Culture through the Middle Ages. The Leeds IMC is the largest regular academic gathering in Europe of scholars working in medieval studies.
New video on music and late medieval court culture in Aragon by David Catalunya
A new video by David Catalunya showcasing his fascinating work with music fragments from the fourteenth century related to the royal court of Aragon is now available on YouTube. Enjoy!
52e Congrès de la SHMESP - 43e Rencontre du RMBLF: Modèles, réseaux et échanges curiaux, Brussels, 20-22 May 2021
On 20 May 2021, Christophe Masson will present a paper on 'Les cours cardinalices d'Avignon entre 1378 et 1403. Des alternatives au modèle pontifical?' at the conference 'Modèles, réseaux et échanges curiaux au Moyen Âge' in Brussels. The event is organized jointly by the French Société des Historiens Médiévistes de l'Enseignement Supérieur Public (SHMESP) Paris, and the Réseau des Médiévistes belges de Langue française (RMBLF) based at Christophe's new home, the University of Liège. Christophe is also a co-organizer of the event on behalf of the RMBLF.
Doctoral seminar, Departamento de Musicología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 15 May 2021
David Catalunya will give an online presentation on 15 May 2021 for members of the doctoral seminar at the Departamento de Musicología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid. He will be discussing the topic of 'Polyphonic music of the 13th century'.
International interdisciplinary conference Sacred Sound: Musikalische Manifestationen des Sakralen zwischen Theorie und Praxis, University of Tübingen, 4-6 March 2021
Karl Kügle will be an online respondent in the closing Round Table entitled 'Sacred Sound - Sacred Space' of the international interdisciplinary conference Sacred Sound: Musikalische Manifestationen des Sakralen zwischen Theorie und Praxis at the University of Tübingen on 06 March 2021. The meeting will be organized by the team of the Exploration Full Fund (Exzellenzstrategie Universität Tübingen) project Sacred Sound at the University of Tübingen. Originally planned for March 2020, the conference was postponed to 2021 and moved online on account of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Seminar in Medieval and Renaissance Music, All Souls College, Oxford, 4 March 2021
Karl Kügle will be one of two respondents to an online paper delivered by Cristina Raurich (Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and University of Würzburg) in the prestigious Seminars in Medieval and Renaissance Music series convened by Margaret Bent at All Souls College, Oxford, on 4 March 2021. The topic of Cristina's paper will be 'Flos vernalis and Robertsbridge intabulation style: ornamentation, diminution and intabulation in the 14th century'.
Seminar in Early Modern Intellectual History, All Souls College, Oxford, 2 March 2021
Grantley McDonald will speak again at All Souls College, Oxford, on 2 March 2021 in the prestigious Seminars in Early Modern Intellectual History series convened by Dmitri Levitin and Noel Malcolm. The topic of Grantley's paper will be 'Georgius Slatkonia and the Viennese Network of Humanists and Natural Philosophers around the Court of Maximilian I Habsburg'. The event will be conducted online.
Seminar in Medieval and Renaissance Music, All Souls College, Oxford, 28 January 2021
Grantley McDonald will present his MALMECC research on 28 January 2021 in the prestigious online Seminars in Medieval and Renaissance Music series convened by Margaret Bent at All Souls College, Oxford. The topic of Grantley's paper will be 'Emperor Frederick III as patron of music'. Reinhard Strohm (University of Oxford), Andreas Zajic (University of Vienna) and Catherine Saucier (Arizona State University) will be Grantley's respondents.
Annual Meeting of the American Musicological Society at Boston, 31 October-3 November 2019
David Catalunya will be presenting a paper entitled 'From Paris to Seville: Polyphonic Music at the Chapel Royal of Alfonso X' at the Annual Meeting of the American Musicological Society in Boston, Mass. on Saturday 2 November. The paper is part of a themed session dedicated to the Ars Antiqua.
2019 Congress of the International Courtly Literature Society, University of Exeter, 22-27 July 2019
The MALMECC team presented a panel at the 2019 ICLS Congress on 'Interdisciplinary perspectives on music at the networked court'. Topics included papal and cardinals' courts, and Archbishop Pilgrim II and the Monk of Salzburg. More information about ICLS 2019 is available at https://iclsweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/XVIth-Congress-of-the-International-Courtly-Literature-Society-programme-FINAL.pdf.
International Medieval Congress, Leeds, 2 July 2019
On 2 July, Laura chaired and presented a panel on 'Women and the Late Medieval Court: Gender, Culture, and Power in 14th-Century England', considering the role of women at the late medieval English court. More information is available at https://www.imc.leeds.ac.uk/.
Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, 16 April 2019
On 16 April, Karl spoke at 'Capturing Sound in the Premodern and Early Modern World', an event organized by the Max Planck research group 'Epistemes of Modern Acoustics'. More information about the event can be found at https://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/event/capturing-sound-premodern-and-early-modern-world.
Colloque - Transnationalité à la cour / Transnationalism at Court, University of Liège, 21-22 March 2019
Our next MALMECC study day will be held on 21st & 22nd March at the University of Liège on the theme of 'Transnationalism at Court', and more information can be found on our EVENTS page.
Konstanzer Arbeitskreis für mittelalterliche Geschichte, Reichenau, 12 March 2019
On 12 March, Karl will be speaking at 'Soundscapes of the Middle Ages', the spring seminar of the Konstanzer Arbeitskreis für mittelalterliche Geschichte.
His paper will be titled 'Musica-vox-cantus-sonus: Klangvorstellungen des Mittelalters, mittelalterliches Hören und der "sonic turn"', and more information can be found on their website by clicking here.
Henri Pirenne Institute for Medieval Studies, University of Ghent, 26 February 2019
On 26 February, team member David Murray will be speaking at the University of Ghent on 'Cultural production at the court of a fourteenth-century Prince of the Church: Salzburg, Pilgrim von Puchheim, and the "Monk'''. More information can be found on the agenda at Agenda Henri Pirenne.
Institute of Historical Research, London, 1 March 2019
On 1 March, David and Laura will be taking part in the Spring Term 2019 seminar series of the Institute of Historical Research, presenting on 'Philippa of Hainault: Music and Manuscript' and 'Sounding out the Court: The Songs of the Monk of Salzburg and the court of Archbishop Pilgrim II'. More information can be found at https://www.history.ac.uk/news-events/ihr-seminars.
Leibniz-Institut für Europäische Geschichte, Mainz, 19 February 2019
On 19 February, PI Karl Kügle will be speaking at the Leibniz-Institut für Europäische Geschichte on 'Das "Problem" Wilhelmi: Mobilität, Marginalität und Transgression im Zentraleuropa des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts und heute'. More information about the talk can be found at https://www.ieg-mainz.de/events/das-problem-wilhelmi-mobilitaet-marginalitaet-und-transgression-im-zentraleuropa-des-15-und-16-jahrhunderts-und-heute/.
Avignon as transcultural hub, Oxford, 8 February 2019
A MALMECC study day considering a range of themes centering around cultural transfers and scientific knowledge in papal Avignon, which will provide fresh insight through interdisciplinary discussion based on a series of short position papers. Please see EVENTS for more information.
'Ancient music' in late medieval Europe, St John's College, 5 February 2019
On 5 February, Karl will be speaking on '"Ancient music" in late medieval Europe: From thirteenth-century Paris to seventeenth-century Silesia' at this term's later medieval seminar. All members of the University are welcome to attend, and more information can be found on the Oxford Talks page at https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/b0cb4ef7-4f0e-4034-b23a-ca9ce389383e/.
Musikwissenschaft JGU Mainz, 15 January 2019
On 15 January, Karl will give a talk on 'Die Koblenzer Fragmente: Neues zur Musikkultur im Rheinland des Spätmittelalters'. More information can be found at https://www.musikwissenschaft.uni-mainz.de/.
Historisches Seminar of the Christian-Albrechts-Universität, Kiel, 15 January 2019
On 15th January, David will speak about 'Das Kulturleben eines geistlichen Hofes im 14. Jahrhundert: Salzburg, Pilgrim von Puchheim und der "Mönch"', at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität. More information can be found at https://www.histsem.uni-kiel.de/de/abteilungen/mittelalterliche-geschichte-und-historische-hilfswissenschaften/aktuelles/ankuendigung-eines-gastvortrages.
Mary of Guelders: Her Life and Prayer Book, Radboud University/Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen, 23-24 November 2018
Both Laura and Karl will take part in this conference, attached to the exhibition at the Museum Het Valkhof which showcases Mary's extraordinary prayerbook. Laura will speak on 'The English Saints in the Prayer book of Mary of Guelders: Courtly Precedent or International Trade?', and Karl will address 'Mary of Guelders and music'. More information can be found on the website of the associated research project, at https://www.ru.nl/en/research/research-projects/mary-of-guelders.
Utrecht Colloquia in the Musicologies, Utrecht University, 22 November 2018
On 22 November the next edition of the Utrecht Colloquia in the Musicologies 2018-2019 will take place. Laura will speak about the visual representation of sound in the manuscripts of Philippa of Hainault, in 'Seeing the Music'. More information can be found at https://www.uu.nl/en/events/seeing-the-music-philippa-of-hainault-and-her-manuscripts.
Towards a new political history of the court, Deutsches Historisches Institut, Paris, 14-16 November 2018
Karl will speak at this event in November on 'The Duchess Virago: Gender, Religious and Cultural Politics, and their Narratives, in Fifteenth-Century Savoy'. The conference programme is available on request.
History Department Seminar Series, University of Reading, 14 November 2018
On 14 November, Laura will speak about 'Courtly Rumours and Reputation Management in Fourteenth-Century England' as part of the University of Reading's autumn seminar series. More details can be found on their website here.
Medieval Church and Culture seminar, Harris Manchester College, Oxford, 6 November 2018
Christophe will speak at this graduate seminar on the topic of 'Cardinals' palaces in Schismatic Avignon (1378-1403): When buildings are weapons'. More information is available on the University website by clicking here.
Translingualism in Late Medieval European Court Cultures: England - Low Countries - Germany - France, 2 November 2018
2 November 2018 saw the second MALMECC study day take place in Oxford. As well as the usual lively discussions, there were presentations from Karl Kügle, Frank Willaert, David Murray, and Elizabeth E. Leach on aspects of the theme of 'Translingualism'. More information is available on the EVENTS page. For the proramme, see
https://malmecc.site.ox.ac.uk/sites/g/files/vzsiac2371/files/malmecc/do…
Berliner Repertorium der mittelalterlichen deutschen Übertragungen lateinischer Hymnen und Sequenzen, Berlin, 24 July 2018
On 24 July, David will speak at the 'Berliner Repertorium der mittelalterlichen deutschen Übertragungen lateinischer Hymnen und Sequenzen' on composers of German-language sacred songs in the Middle Ages ('Geistliche Liederdichter deutscher Sprache in Mittelalter und Früher Neuzeit').
Anne Clifford: Engagements in Culture, Kendal, 16 July 2018
On 16 July, Laura will speak about 'Sacred Geography and the Devotions of the Clifford Women' at an event which was designed to showcase the work of this key figure of seventeenth-century literary and material culture.
St. Robert in his Time, Knaresborough, 14 July 2018
On 14 July, Laura will speak at a conference to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the death of Robert of Knaresborough, a hermit who lived in the 12th and 13th centuries. The subject of her talk will be 'St Robert and the Holy Land', and more information can be found at http://strobertofknaresborough.org.uk/whats-on/st-robert-in-his-time/.
Medieval and Renaissance Music Conference (MedRen) 2018, Maynooth University, 6 July 2018
On 6 July, the team will present a themed session on 'Sounds, spaces and social control in late medieval European courts and cities', which will include papers on sound and power, episcopal Salzburg, the courts of cardinals in Avignon, and the psalter of Philippa of Hainault. You can find information at https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/research/research-news-events/upcoming-events/medieval-and-renaissance-music-conference-medren-2018.
Leeds International Medieval Congress 2018, 5 July 2018
MALMECC are delighted to announce that we shall hold a session at Leeds IMC this year on 5 July. Session 1554 will contain papers from the research team on the topics of 'Philippa of Hainault and Her Manuscripts', 'Organizing Sound in Salzburg under Archbishop Pilgrim II' and 'Courtly Feasts in Avignon, 1378-1403: Cultural Displays as Political Scripts'.
IMAGO PAPAE Colloquium, Université de Liège, 20-22 June 2018
On 21 June, Christophe Masson will speak on 'Une cour avignonnaise parmi d'autres? Pour une étude des rapports culturels entre le pape et ses cardinaux à l'époque du Grand Schisme d'Occident' at the colloquium of the IMAGO PAPAE project (http://web.philo.ulg.ac.be/transitions/imagopapae/). For more information about the colloquium, please scroll to the listing at http://web.philo.ulg.ac.be/transitions/portfolio-item/agenda/.
'The Melodious Middle Ages', UCMS Annual Lecture 2018, Utrecht University, 14 June 2018
On 14 June, Karl will respond to the keynote lecture at the annual Utrecht Colloquiu.m in Medieval Studies, this year given by Prof. em. Frank Willaert (University of Antwerp) on '"Hovedauncis" and "rés d'Alemaigne"'. The theme of this year's colloquium will be 'The Melodious Middle Ages' and more information can be found at https://www.uu.nl/en/events/5th-utrecht-colloquium-in-medieval-studies-the-melodious-middle-ages.
European Research Music Conference, Barcelona, 11-13 June 2018
On 12 June, Karl will speak at the European Research Music Conference, which brings together 20 projects funded by the ERC that have music as their focus.
It will very much be an interdisciplinary event, and Karl will discuss the scope and methodological challenges of the MALMECC project in 'Music (re-)enmeshed: towards a transdisciplinary view of late medieval European court cultures, 1250-1450'.
More information about the event and speakers can be found at https://eventum.upf.edu/19834/detail/european-research-music-conference.html.
Visit of ERC President, 26 April 2018
On 26th April, Oxford will be visited by Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, president of the European Research council. As part of his visit, Professor Bourguignon will give a lecture at the Andrew Wiles building, attended by Laura Slater, where many ERC project posters were on display. MALMECC will be one of those projects providing a poster, and we think it turned out rather well! To find out more about the visit, please see https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2018-04-27-oxford-showcases-european-research-successes.
Soundscapes: New challenges, new horizons, 5-7 April 2018
Laura Slater will take part in 'Soundscapes: New challenges, new horizons' as part of an academic session within the Association for Art History Annual Conference at the Courtauld Institute of Art and KCL in April 2018. Her paper will explore how the Psalter of Queen Philippa framed and evoked the experience of sacred sound, and the ways that it may have shaped ritual public performances of queenly piety. Further information can be found at http://www.forarthistory.org.uk/events/annual-conference-2018/.
Queen Philippa of Hainault and her Psalter, Dr Williams's Library, London, 14 February 2018
Laura Slater will speak at the Dr Williams's Library lecture series to discuss her work with MS Ancient 6, an extremely small psalter first owned by Queen Philippa of Hainault, wife of Edward III of England, and which may have been made as a wedding gift to mark Philippa's marriage to Edward in 1328. This talk examines the contents and imagery of MS Ancient 6 in this context, highlighting the traces it bears of contemporary political upheavals in England, and discussing the devotional practices it may have been prescribing for the new queen. More information can be found at https://dwl.ac.uk/event.php?&event=28.
Plainsong and Medieval Music Society 2018 Study Day and Council Meeting, Oxford, 20 January 2018
This study day will accompany the exhibition Fragments of note: the afterlives of medieval manuscripts at Magdalen College, Oxford, which examines the numerous medieval manuscript fragments held at Magdalen, largely medieval books that have been dismantled in the early modern period and re-used as binding waste or covers. Karl Kügle will speak on 'Courtly perils vs eternal salvation: Reading Degentis vita/Cum vix artidici'. For more information about the Fragments of note exhibition, please see the Magdalen website at https://www.magd.ox.ac.uk/libraries-and-archives/news/new-exhibition-fragments-of-note/.
'Introducing MALMECC' - A feature in The Oxford Musician
We are proud to be featured in this year's edition of The Oxford Musician, the alumni magazine of the Faculty of Music here at the University of Oxford. You can find out more about the project and our research by reading the article: oxford-musician-digital.pdf.
'The Monk of Salzburg and the Schöne Madonnen',Yale University, 5 December 2017
David Murray will speak about late 14th-century Marian devotion at Yale University's Medieval Lunch Series: https://medieval.yale.edu/events/yale-medieval-lunch-series.
'Across Court and Cloister: Jerusalem in Medieval Europe', Cambridge University Medieval Art Seminar, 6 November 2017
On 6 November, Laura will give a talk at the History of Art Department at Cambridge University which explores the transmission and communication of architectural forms from the Holy Land to Europe. Maps, pilgrimage accounts and local architectural replicas of the Christian holy places allowed medieval Europeans to undertake a mental or 'virtual' pilgrimage, walking in the footsteps of Christ while remaining safely at home. Many of these images and replicas were deliberately vague and inexact, encouraging the viewer to imagine Jerusalem for themselves. Yet in the fifteenth century, more precise and 'accurate' (by modern standards) images of the Holy Sepulchre emerged in prints and paintings. Laura will highlight the possible role of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy in encouraging the drawing of Jerusalem 'from life' by artists and officials working at the Burgundian court. Her paper then will examine an unusual portrait of Jerusalem found in a Book of Hours owned by René of Anjou, Duke of Anjou and King of Naples. It presents the holy city as a rare and exotic courtly possession, redolent of political and familial as much as devotional meaning.
'Music and Lay Devotion in Late Medieval England', Somerville College, 15 October 2017
Laura Slater will speak at Somerville College Chapel, Oxford, as part of their evening 'Music and Spirituality' seminar series. The talk is accompanied by readings and music from the Somerville College choir.
The Monk of Salzburg's Marian Sequences and the Schöne Madonnen, British Academy, 26 June 2017
David Murray will give a talk at the British Academy Symposium Eloquence in Sound and Stone: English Music and Alabaster Images c.1380-1520 (2nd Edition) on 26 June.
The symposium will be followed by music performed by the highly regarded Binchois Consort.
'New Directions in Medievalist Research', Utrecht Colloquium in Medieval Studies, Utrecht University, 22 June 2017
On 22 June, Karl Kugle will give the keynote lecture at the annual Utrecht Colloquium in Medieval Studies.
In his lecture 'New directions in medievalist research; Introducing the MALMECC and SoundMe projects', Karl will speak about his current projects, both of which wish to overcome anachronistic constructions of knowledge that remain structural to today's humanities research paradigm. But can transdisciplinary, post-/pre-national(ist) research really be achieved?
Karl will report on the challenges and opportunities presented, and offer some thoughts on the possible evolution of medieval studies in the years to come.
'Don't Look Back in Anger': Art at Court in the Aftermath of the Barons' War, 1258-1266, 12 May 2017
Laura Slater will give a talk at the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art Research Lunch seminar series, 12 May, 12.30-14.00.
This paper will explore the visual commemorations and celebrations of the Barons' War of 1258-1266 found in illustrated devotional manuscripts made for a royal readership.
Considering the Trinity and Douce Apocalypse manuscripts, an illustrated Life of St Edward the Confessor and the early fourteenth-century Queen Mary Psalter, it charts the evolving visual portrayal of the baronial hero Simon de Montfort in art made for the Plantagenet court circle. It also looks at other devotional imagery that may have debated contemporary political problems.
Charles University, Prague, September 2016
During a visit to Prague, the MALMECC team will speak at a workshop for the HERA-financed 'Sound Memories' project, which is also run by Karl Kügle. Laura Slater will give a paper on 'Performing Monarchy in Medieval England', and David Murray on 'Networking the Monk of Salzburg: Actor-Network Theory and the Court as Performance'.