Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto

09/08/2026

with "Extracting Truth from Poetry: Revisiting Baudri of Bourgueil and the Bayeux Tapestry" by Michael W. Herren

A Collaborative Tapestry in Honour of Shirley Ann Brown / Une fresque brodée en l’honneur de Shirley Ann Brown, eds. Sylvette Lemagnen, Gale Owen-Crocker (Brepols, September 2026)

https://www.brepols.net/products/IS-9782503609669-1

These 16 essays in honour of a distinguished Bayeux Tapestry scholar consider the contexts of the Tapestry’s creation and preservation; new studies of its fabric, also its images; plus accounts of new creative and commemorative works inspired by it. David Bates emphasises the cross-Channel, indeed the European, culture underlying the Tapestry’s creation. Pierre Bouet and François Neveux seek to recognise the role of the Bretons in 11th-century Norman history and the conquest of England. Elizabeth Carson Pastan discusses the lost relics of Bayeux inventoried alongside the Tapestry. Ulrich Kuder and Michael Lewis revisit and evaluate theories about aspects of the Tapestry’s images. Alexandra Lester-Makin uses microscopic images of a single scene to reveal details of how the embroidery was worked. Sarah Keefer explores the liturgy which Harold might have heard when he attended church before setting out to sea. Gale Owen-Crocker analyses the role of boundaries, and the breaking of them, in the Tapestry’s images and Malcolm Thurlby considers its buildings in terms of contemporary architecture. Michael Herren discusses the verisimilitude of art works in classical and medieval poetry and shows how they differ. Anna Henderson and Lise Gjedssø Bertelsen examine recent, Bayeux-inspired historical needlework in the British Isles and Denmark respectively, Bruce Bobick traces the history of an American facsimile. Sylvette Lemagnen addresses novels written under the influence of the Bayeux Tapestry, and Daisy Black the evolution of her own play. Clémentine Paquier-Berthelot considers the various ways in which scholars have attempted to reference precise points in the Tapestry.

CONTENTS:

Introduction in English / Introduction en français

Curriculum vitae and Publications of Shirley Ann Brown

Contributors / Auteurs

Summaries of Articles in English / Résumés analytiques des articles en français

List of Illustrations

Part I. The Physical and Visual

The Bayeux Tapestry as Never Seen Before: What Microscopic Imaging Can Tell Us about the Hanging’s Creation -- Alexandra Lester-Makin

Pushing the Boundaries: Interaction with Frames and Borders in the Bayeux Tapestry -- Gale R. Owen-Crocker

‘Guide in Prosperity the Journey of Thy Servant’: Harold’s Voyage and Mid-Eleventh-Century Liturgy -- Sarah Larratt Keefer

Observations on Architectural Representations in the Bayeux Tapestry -- Malcolm Thurlby

Valuable Discoveries, Plausible Explanations, Transient Hypotheses: Looking Back on Bayeux Tapestry Studies -- Ulrich Kuder

The Ælfgyva of the Bayeux Tapestry -- Michael Lewis

Panorama

Part II. Context

The Cross-Channel World of the Bayeux Tapestry -- David Bates

‘Fuga sacra’: Inventory and Legacy at Bayeux Cathedral -- Elizabeth Carson Pastan

Normands et Bretons au XIe siècle. De la confrontation à la collaboration -- Pierre Bouet, François Neveux

Part III. Inspiration

Extracting Truth from Poetry: Revisiting Baudri of Bourgueil and the Bayeux Tapestry -- Michael W. Herren

Tapestries for Our Times: The Bayeux Tapestry’s Modern British Counterparts and Their Stitchers -- Anna Henderson

From the Bayeux Tapestry to the Swedish Pilgrim Tapestry to the Danish Elsinore Tapestry -- Lise Gjedssø Bertelsen

The University of West Georgia Replica of the Bayeux Tapestry: Its Conception, Creation and Dedication -- Bruce Bobick

La Tapisserie de Bayeux à la source d’une littérature Romanesque -- Sylvette Lemagnen

The Bayeux Tapestry: New Yarns -- Daisy Black

Part IV. Documentation

Se repérer dans la Tapisserie de Bayeux: Sources, références et méthodes de localisation -- Clémentine Pasquier-Berthelot

09/04/2026

Congratulations to CMS PhD Student, Samuel MacPhee, who has been awarded the John E. Murdoch Prize from the History of Science Society for his paper, “Medical Averroism in the 'Defensor pacis'”. 👏
https://www.medieval.utoronto.ca/news/samuel-macphee-wins-john-e-murdoch-prize

09/03/2026

https://english.ubc.ca/news/qa-with-bard-swallow-postdoctoral-fellow/

UBC’s Department of English Language & Literatures (EL&L) is pleased to welcome Dr. Bard Swallow as a new Postdoctoral Fellow. Dr. Swallow recently received the 2026 Leonard Boyle Dissertation Prize for Medieval Studies for their dissertation titled Formal Functions of Latin Poetry in Fourteenth-C...

09/03/2026

📣 Chronica XII now available!
https://www.medieval.utoronto.ca/news-events/cms-chronica
Read it online (accessible .pdf or web version), or drop by and get a printed copy!
Sincere thanks to all of our contributors: Elisa Brilli, Emily Clarke, Giulia Depoli, (Detective) Grace Desa, James Ginther, Thomas Kalil, Peter King, Jack McCart, Anahita Monfared, Cillian O'Hogan, Rebby Onken, Carin Ruff, John Schechtman-Marko, Terri Sanderson, Kristina Sessa, and Kyle Smith!

09/01/2026

Infirmeries monastiques et hospices. Lieux de soin du Moyen Âge à l’époque moderne, eds. Anne Baud, Susan Boynton, Isabelle Cochelin, Anne Flammin (Brepols, August 2026)

https://www.brepols.net/products/IS-9782503619248-1

Summary

How were healthcare spaces set up in medieval and early modern Europe, who worked in them, and who were the patients? These questions were considered by archaeologists and historians during a conference at the abbey of Cluny in 2022. The contributions in this collection display a wide variety of approaches: some chapters focus on specific places, while others address the historical conditions of places of care in specific regions, countries, or religious orders. The first part of the volume is dedicated to Cluny, with seven articles covering the period from the tenth to the sixteenth century. They explore different phases of the monastic infirmary—drawing on manuscripts and material remains, particularly those brought to light by the archaeological excavations carried out between 2015 and 2019—as well as the town’s hospices. The second part broadens the perspective to western Europe, with nine contributions. Reflecting a diversity of approaches, these studies combine specificity with synthesis, greatly enhancing our understanding of places of care in premodern Europe.

CONTENTS:

Introduction -- Eleonora Destefanis

Première partie. Cluny (abbaye et ville), du Moyen Âge central jusqu’au XVIIe siècle

L’infirmerie monastique de Cluny du Xe au XVIIIe siècle -- Anne Baud, Anne Flammin

Infirmerie et infirmier à Cluny au prisme des coutumiers -- Isabelle Cochelin

End-of-Life Care at Cluny, and Today -- Frederick S. Paxton

Infirmeries, malades et édifices : la vision normative des statuts clunisiens depuis Pierre le Vénérable -- Arlette Maquet

Les paradoxes de la table monastique : une enquête archéozoologique à l’infirmerie de Cluny -- Benoît Clavel, Philippe Pauthier

Remèdes et soins autour de l’abbaye de Cluny au XVe–XVIe siècle : Londres, Wellcome Collection, MS. 626 -- Elma Brenner

Établissements d’accueil et de soins dans l’espace urbain et péri-urbain de la ville de Cluny -- Clarisse Couderc

Deuxième partie. Ailleurs en Europe, du Moyen Âge central jusqu’au XVIIe siècle

Au pied du mur : l’ordonnancement des établissements d’accueil et de soin de la ville d’Orléans (VIIe–XIIIe siècles) -- Diane Carron

The Medical Facilities and *domus infirmorum* on the Plan of Saint Gall -- Alfons Zettler

*Cella* – *domus* – *ecclesia*. Remarks on the Architectural Evolution of Cistercian Infirmaries -- Gaby Lindenmann-Merz

La nature des soins hospitaliers en milieu urbain aux XIIe et XIIIe siècles -- Adam J. Davis

Les infirmeries de l’abbaye cistercienne de Beaulieu (Hampshire), d’après ses comptes (1269–1270) -- Arnaud Delerce

Infirmeries et soins de santé dans les abbayes de Wallonie (13e–18e siècle) -- Caroline Bolle, Michel Dubuisson

Capuchin Medical Care: Traditions, Context, and Literary Offspring -- Bert Roest

Entre Mal des ardents et « démembrés ». Le grand hôpital de l’abbaye de Saint-Antoine (Isère), d’après les données historiques et les études archéologiques -- Laurent D’Agostino

La population malade de l’Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon (1529–1629). Archives versus archéothanatologie -- Emma Bouvard-Mor, Cyrille Ducourthial

Conclusions -- Daniel-Odon Hurel, avec la collaboration de Pascale Chevalier

09/01/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Terri Sanderson, who successfully defended her dissertation, "The Evolution of the English Outlaw from c. 800 to c. 1200"! 🎉
https://www.medieval.utoronto.ca/news/terri-sanderson-successfully-passes-foe

08/31/2026

Read "Materiality, Sensory Experience, and the Sacraments in Late Medieval Tournaisian Wills" by Ariana Sider Mésenge in "The Role of the Senses in Medieval Liturgies, Rituals, and Devotional Practices", edited by Zuleika Murat, Valentina Baradel, and Sara Carreño (Brepols, 2026).

Brepols is an international academic publisher of works in the humanities, with a particular focus in history, archaeology, history of the arts, language and literature, and critical editions of historical sources

08/31/2026

We’re jumping into the Odyssey movie discourse, finally! We discuss our reactions to the Nolan movie and what we found interesting about it, and then chat with some podcasters who’ve just released relevant books! Oh, and Marcie has a song about Odysseus.

08/26/2026

Poculi Ludique Societas presents "The Fox and the Wolf (and the Chicken)", a talking animal story adapted from a 13th-century dramatic poem this weekend at the Oxford Renaissance Festival. Not to be missed! 🦊🐺🐔

https://plsplayers.com/2026/08/11/cluck-clonk-and-conquer-pls-takes-the-fox-and-the-wolf-and-the-chicken-on-the-road-this-summer/
https://oxfordrenfest.com/

08/26/2026

Author Talk: Nerd Faith by Rachel Kessler
September 8, Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland

Join Rachel Kessler, known to millions as the Nerdy Priest on TikTok, for a fun and thought-provoking conversation exploring the intersection of faith, fandom, and pop culture. Drawing from her book Nerd Faith: […]