Oxford Medieval Graduate Conference 2023: Names & Naming

THURSDAY, APRIL 20

9:30-9:55 Registration (in-person)

9:55-10:00 Opening Remarks

10:00-11:30 Session 1: Individual & Unique

• Tristan Alphey, ‘Nicknames in Early Medieval England and Social Regulation’
• Will Hoff, ‘In the name of Robin Hood: a new look at byname evidence for the outlaw tradition’
• Sebastian Dows-Miller, ‘Jean from Saint-Quentin: who was he, and does it matter?’

11:30-12:00 Break with refreshments

12:00-13:30 Session 2: Patterns & Variations

• Madeleine Killacky, ‘Rubricating Names in Malory’s Le Morte Darthur’
• Birger Mård, ‘Name-phrase variation in the Arboga municipal court records (1450–1569)’
• Marina Ilia, ‘Naming Patterns in Venetian Cyprus’

13:30-14:30 Lunch

14:30-16:00 Session 3: Reading the Land

• Abigail Lloyd, ‘How to find a medieval settlement by the name of a hill? A challenge to the Gelling and Cole hypothesis’
• Christophe de Coster, ‘‘Hic Sunt Dracones’: data-driven analysis of the (un)changing nature of toponyms and its implications for toponym-based landscape-reconstructions
• Em Horne, ‘An Examination of the value of place-names as evidence for the history, landscape and, especially, language(s) of the Lancashire Coast’

16:00-16:30 Break with refreshments

16:30-17:30 Keynote Address 1

Dr David Zakarian, ‘The World through the Eyes of Medieval Armenian Scribes’

17:30 Drinks Reception

19:00 Conference Dinner (optional)

FRIDAY, APRIL 21

10:00-11:30 Session 4: Genealogies & Histories

• Claire Lober, ‘Monuments to Meaning in the Historia and Brut y Brenhinedd’
• Deepashree Dutta, ‘The Little Kingdom of Bishnupur: Naming, Self-Fashioning and Making of a Vaishnava Devotional Realm’
• Jodie Miller, ‘Naming and Moral Lineage in Les Enfances de Renart

11:30-12:00 Break with refreshments

12:00-13:30 Session 5: Identification & Definition

• Jack Nunn, ‘Anthological Identities: Naming Names in the Robertet Manuscripts’
• Wyn Shaw, ‘Naming, Gender and Transition in Old French Chansons de Geste’
• Nancy Michaud, ‘Masons’ Marks in the York Minster: Using masons’ marks to understand the construction of the York Minster’

13:30-14:30 Lunch

14:30-16:00 Session 6: Unseen & Unknown

• Hillel Feuerstein, ‘Satan is a List: Naming Demons in Medieval Kabbalah’
• Ilinca-Simona Ionescu, ‘Naming Household Spirits: a Lexicographic Perspective on Late Medieval Spain’
• Rodrigo Ballon Villanueva, ‘Naming God: A More Radical Medieval Theory?’

16:00-16:30 Break with refreshments

16:30-17:30 Keynote Address 2

Professor Richard Dance, 'The Name Game: The Etymologist vs. the Vikings'

17:30-17:45 OMGC 2024 Theme Selection + Closing Remarks

SATURDAY, APRIL 22

12:00-17:00 Oxford Medieval Mystery Cycle (St Edmund Hall)