CARMEN is a worldwide network of medievalists, its name being an acronym for the “Co-operative for the Advancement of Research through a Medieval European Network”. It links a number of research institutions, universities, interest groups and individuals with common scholarly interest in the study of the Middle Ages. While based in Europe, it reaches out to all continents to create an open and truly international platform of co-operation in the field of medieval research and teaching. We bring together scholars from universities and academic organisations who are actively involved in research on the Middle Ages (c. 400-1500 AD/CE). We access half of the global body of about 20,000 researchers, with important contributions from Europe, North America, East Asia, Australasia and Latin America. CARMEN successfully promotes the construction of major scholarly collaborative projects. Its Executive Group directs strategies, disseminates information, reports to national associations and major conferences, and organises an annual meeting. It assists nascent projects to reach critical mass and tries to pro-actively shape research agendas.

Between 11 and 14 September 2014 CARMEN is holding its Annual General Meeting in Scotland, the first time it has visited this country. The meeting is being hosted by Dr Alasdair Ross (University of Stirling) and CARMEN is grateful to acknowledge financial support from the School of Arts and Humanities and the Stirling Centre for Scottish Studies (both University of Stirling). A dedicated CARMEN 2014 web page has been provided by the host where practical information about the meeting is currently available and where information about the programme will be posted in the coming weeks:

CARMEN 2014 practical information

To find out more information about the Annual Meeting or to register your attendance please contact Claire McIlroy (CARMEN Congress Manager). Registration closes on 31 July 2014.

And please also click on the link for more information about CARMEN.

“With its religious iconography and ornate throne, the 15th century painting Madonna della Vittoria seems a typical Italian Renaissance work – apart, that is, from the appearance of an Australasian cockatoo in the background.

The discovery of an animal more closely associated with suburban Sydney than Venice is leading historians into a rethink of early trading networks into Europe.

The painting, completed by Andrea Mantegna in 1496 and now hanging in the Louvre, clearly shows what appears to be a sulphur-crested cockatoo perched above Mary, mother of Jesus.”

Read more here: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/19/cockatoo-perched-in-renaissance-painting-forces-rethink-of-history

Dear members, Dr Helen Young (DECRA Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of English University of Sydney), is conducting a survey about teaching and researching in medievalism, and is in search of volunteers. Please see the details below.

I write to ask for your participation in a short survey exploring medievalism in Australian and New Zealand universities. If you currently either teach or research medievalism, have done in the past, or plan to do so in the future, I would be very grateful for 10-15 minutes of your time to answer some questions online.

For the purposes of the survey I have defined medievalism as any research or teaching which examines a post-medieval work – literature, artwork, film, tv, architecture etc – which engages with the Middle Ages as long as the research and/or teaching is focused in some way on that engagement. For example, The Lord of the Rings – novels or films – could be considered a medievalist work, and is relevant to this survey if that medievalism is a topic for discussion in the course, but not if the focus is on, say, the films as adaptations of the novels.

I aim to gain some insights into how, where and why medievalism is researched and taught: in which disciplines, what kinds of courses, at what levels? My hope is to form a broad overview of the field as it exists at present, with an eye to where it may head in future. I will be talking about the results in a roundtable – ‘Medievalism and the Academy Today’ – sponsored by the International Society for the Study of Medievalism at the Kalamazoo ICMS in 2014, and also hope to write an article exploring current and possible future trends.

You can find the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TeachingMedievalism If the link doesn’t work, please copy and paste into the address bar on your browser window. You can give as much or as little information as you choose. If you don’t have time to complete the survey but would like to contribute to the research, you could email me any relevant course outlines on Helen.young@sydney.edu.au. If you do so, please let me know if you are happy to be identified by name, institution, or both, or if you would prefer to remain anonymous when the results of the study are made public.

Many thanks,
Helen

“A tiny drawing of a kangaroo curled in the letters of a 16th-century Portuguese manuscript could rewrite Australian history.

The document, acquired by Les Enluminures Gallery in New York, shows a sketch of an apparent kangaroo (”canguru” in Portuguese) nestled in its text and is dated between 1580 and 1620. It has led researchers to believe images of the marsupial were already being circulated by the time the Dutch ship Duyfken – long thought to have been the first European vessel to visit Australia – landed in 1606.”

To read more about this discovery, click here

Six students from De Montfort University have created a stellar 3D representation of 17th century London, as it existed before The Great Fire of 1666. The three-minute video provides a realistic animation of Tudor London, and particularly a section called Pudding Lane where the fire started.

For more information and to view this wonderful animation, please visit: http://www.openculture.com/2013/11/fly-through-17th-century-london.html

Balingup Medieval Carnivale
Balingup, Western Australia
24th-25th August 2013
10:00am-4:30pm

Entry Fee: $15 per day or $20 for a weekend pass
Free Entry for accompanied Children Under 12

Featuring:

• Market Stalls – Craft, Food & Wine Tastings
• Music and Dance (featuring The Ferrymen Band)
• Daily Grand Parade
• WA Birds of Prey & Aussie Reptiles
• Medieval Re-enactors Combat
• The Blacksmith & Potters
• The Burning of the Dragon (Sat. night 6:30pm-9:00pm)

For more information, please visit: http://www.balingupmedievalcarnivale.com.au

WA Medieval Alliance Annual Fayre 2013
Supreme Court Gardens (Cnr Barrack Street & Riverside Drive,Perth)
March 16
10:00am-9:30pm

A huge range of Medieval-type activities will be on show at the Supreme Court Gardens from 10am, with the day’s festivities leading into a night of entertainment from 5.30pm to 9.30pm.

Crowds can watch sword fighting and fencing displays as well as demonstrations involving birds of prey, sword swallowers and jesters or jugglers and circus acts.

People can also participate in crafts, artisan workshops, camel and pony rides along with many  other activities for adults and children.

Entry fees at the gate are:

• Children under 13 years accompanied with an adult are free
• $5 concession (all cards), student card and adults dressed in costume
• $10 adult
• $25 for large families

For more information, go to: www.wama.asn.au

In August 2012, the University of Leicester in collaboration with the Richard III Society and Leicester City Council, began one of the most ambitious archaeological projects ever attempted: no less than a search for the lost grave of King Richard III. After many weeks of anticipation, it is now officially safe to state that the skeletal remains found in a Leicester carpark are those of Richard III.

Yesterday at a specially convened press conference (broadcast live to the world on the internet, and which trended worldwide on Twitter), Richard Buckley, the lead archaeologist on the project at the University of Leicester, announced that: “beyond reasonable doubt the individual exhumed at Grey Friars on September 12th is indeed Richard III, the last Plantagenet king of England”.

The Search For Richard project official website has since been updated with news, multimedia, and more detailed information about the dig and the process of identifying King Richard III: http://www.le.ac.uk/richardiii/index.html

A fascinating Middle Ages-related news item released this week:

“In 2012 researchers found evidence that our planet had been struck by a blast of radiation during the Middle Ages, but there was debate over what kind of cosmic event could have caused this. Now a study suggests it was the result of two black holes or neutron stars merging in our galaxy. This collision would have hurled out vast amounts of energy.

The research is published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society“

To read this news story in full: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21082617

By examining art printed from woodblocks spanning five centuries, Blair Hedges, a professor of biology at Penn State University, has identified the species responsible for making the ever-present wormholes in European printed art since the Renaissance.

To read more about this discovery: http://science.psu.edu/news-and-events/2012-news/Hedges11-2012

Many thanks to Anne Scott for forwarding this fascinating news item.