On Friday 2nd May, the Department served
as the venue for the launch of a new graduate-led project ‘Mapping Miracles’; judging by the crowds in attendance, it seems probable that saints and
sinners continue to exercise the interests, if not the consciences, of medievalists.
While it was noted during proceedings that one of the saints whose
commemoration fell on 2nd of May was Saint Zoe who died a martyr having
been roasted alive, no roasting of speakers or delegates occurred last week.
The smoked duck served at the conference dinner in Trinity Hall was the only
flesh consumed by flames!
The AHRC and
Chadwick Fund sponsored ‘Mapping the Miraculous: Hagiographical Motifs and the
Medieval World’ was organised by three ASNC graduate students, Robert
Gallagher, Julianne Pigott and Sarah Waidler, with their colleague at the
University of St Andrews, Jennifer Key. The ambition for the day was to
generate and facilitate discussions about the theoretical and practical utility
of a planned database of miracle accounts in saints’ lives, composed in the
Insular world between 600 and 1300. The organisers invited speakers from a
diverse range of scholarly backgrounds to ensure the broad appeal of the day’s
programme to students and established academics alike. Given the heaving masses
spied in the faculty social area throughout the course of the day, we’d have to
say that ambition was realised.
Fresh from the
televisual glory of The Plantagenets on BBC 2, Professor Robert Bartlett of the
School of History at St Andrews opened proceedings with a masterful survey of
hagiographical miracles. Any reader who has had recourse in the last six months
to Bartlett’s Why Can the Dead Do Such
Great Things? is familiar with his astonishingly detailed knowledge of the
corpora of European hagiology, but to witness him deliver this fifty minute
survey of the genre, without pause for breath or even to play the scales on his
water glasses, was a genuine privilege for all present. Spanning accounts from
the seminal Life of Saint Martin of Tours to that of Edward the Confessor,
Bartlett posited that scholars are best advised to approach textual accounts
from both a literary and ‘forensic’ perspective, with appropriate
acknowledgement of the conventional topoi of the genre. Ultimately, he argued
that the burden of proof of sanctity shifted over time from measures of the
persuasiveness of narrative accounts to the provision of witnesses and material
evidence. He characterised this transition as being from the ‘congenial to cold
reality’. Professor Bartlett brought equal measures of both to the day.
The second
session of the morning saw papers presented by ASNC’s own Dr Rosalind Love and
by Thomas Clancy, Professor of Celtic and Gaelic at the University of Glasgow.
Both chose to focus their attentions on individual saints and, consequently, we
were treated to two meticulously researched and intricately argued papers. Dr
Love expertly and entertainingly offered an analysis of the series of miracles
associated with the Anglo-Saxon Eadburh of Lyminge and in doing so, offered
some tantalising hints as to the possible authorship of the saint’s Life.
Professor Clancy’s paper on Adomnán, meanwhile, was a testament not only to the
continued purchase of Iona and her abbots on the collective imaginations of
Insular scholars but on the enduring value of the island’s hagiographical
output, and how what Clancy termed the ‘textual stratigraphy’ of the canonical
texts might best inform our understanding of the changing priorities and
pragmatics of the miraculous.
Any anticipation
of a post-prandial slump was diminished by the lively delivery of papers from
Professor Catherine Cubitt and Dr Christine Rauer. In what was arguably the
most historicist of the papers presented on Friday, Cubitt examined the textual
origins and narrative development of the account of Pope Martin’s martyrdom in
the Life of St Eligius. Her arguments elicited some interesting discussion
about the most expeditious route to sainthood, though none of those present
volunteered for martyrdom. Christine Rauer deserves plaudits for the most
audacious product-placement of the day: The
Old English Martyrology was firmly on display throughout her authoritative,
and occasionally irreverent, survey of the complexion and context of miracles
in what she argues was potentially a preacher’s handbook for para-liturgical
use.
The final formal session of the afternoon saw delegates turn their
attentions to Wales and Ireland, respectively. Dr Barry Lewis of the Centre for
Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, and a much loved member of the ASNC family,
examined accounts of church formations in Wales and the miracles associated
with these narrative accounts in different hagiographical genres. As always,
Lewis brought an incredible command of detailed analysis to the fore and we look
forward to hearing more from his Welsh Saints project in due course. The final
speaker of the day, who had traversed the Atlantic Ocean to be present, was
Professor Dorothy-Ann Bray, whose name will be familiar to all who seek to
unlock the mysteries of Irish hagiography. Professor Bray’s 1992 volume ‘A List
of Motifs in the Lives of Early Irish Saints’ retains a central importance in
the library of current researchers. With an astonishing degree of generosity
and not a little self-deprecation, Professor Bray outlined her personal
experience of developing a motif index, and none could fail to appreciate the
extent to which she under-sold her contribution to the field.
Having listened
to experts all day, the graduate organisers braved the lion’s den to share
further details of the project and to open to the floor to general discussion.
Sarah Waidler and Jennifer Key outlined the team’s ambitions and were met with
an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response. Though no cheques were immediately
forthcoming, a variety of contributors offered practical advice on funding
applications, and the team hopes to have positive, though not miraculous, news
in this regard soon. The tone of the discussions made it very apparent that a
substantial demand exists for this research resource and ASNC’s role in
delivering this database is testament to the positive consequences of the
Department’s interdisciplinarity.
And what of the
saints and sinners mentioned at the outset? We are pleased to report that the
only sin in evidence was overindulgence in biscuits. Some have been heard to
suggest the unending provisioning might have been due to saintly intervention,
but we can neither confirm nor deny a miracle at play.
The organisers of ‘Mapping the Miraculous’ would
like to take this opportunity to publicly thank all of the speakers, their
supervisors and the Department, the delegates, and the undergraduate helpers
for all the support and assistance that made the day possible.
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