The Medieval French Seminar meets on a fortnightly basis during term-time, bringing together medievalists, including staff members, researchers, and postgraduate and undergraduate students, with interests in fields such as literature, language, music, art history, manuscript studies, and more. Our meetings usually involve presentations by guest speakers from the full range of career stages, from local postgraduate students to established scholars from abroad, with visitors in recent years including Keith Busby, Eliza Zingesser, and Bernard Cerquiglini. The papers are followed by lively debate, conducted over refreshments in the convivial setting of the Maison Française.

Michaelmas Term begins with the annual Oxford Medieval Studies welcome event in Week 1, followed by our regular seminars on Tuesdays in Weeks 3, 5, and 7 at the Maison Francaise d’Oxford (refreshments from 5pm, presentation starting at 5.15pm):

13 October Oxford Medieval Studies (OMS) Welcome event (5pm, Harris Manchester College) 

27 October Mireille Seguy (Université Paris, Sorbonne Nouvelle), Quelle foi accordait-on aux fictions au Moyen Âge ? Le lecteur au miroir de la métalepse (XIIe-XVe siècles) 

10 November Sebastian Dows-Miller (University College, London), Scribal abbreviation in French manuscripts and its role as a source of data for quantitative palaeography 

24 November Jake Abell (Baylor University) The Nature and Culture of Wood: Toward an Ecocritical Reflection on the Bible historiale