TEMA-Sponsored Sessions at Leeds 2007

Once again, the Texas Medieval Association will sponsor sessions at the International Medieval Congress in Leeds, England. These sessions are open-submission, and you do not have to be a TEMA member to participate in one. The TEMA-sponsored sessions scheduled for Leeds 2007, July 9-12, are listed below.

Session 822 - Tuesday, July 10 - 4:30-6:00pm

Multicultural Aspects of the Medieval City

Organiser: Sally N. Vaughn, Department of History, University of Houston
Moderator: Dolores Jørgensen, University of Virginia / Norwegian University of Science & Technology, Trondheim

• More Than the Normans: Cultural Diversity and Interaction at Caen, 11th and 12th Centuries
  Priscilla D. Watkins, Houston Community College, Texas
  
  
• The Jewish Moneylenders of Chartres: An Overlooked Viewing Community for the Early 13th-Century Portal Sculptures
  Jennifer Lyons, Tufts University
  
  
• Jewish Female Moneylending in 13th-Century English Towns
  Hannah Meyer, Queens' College, University of Cambridge

Abstract: The papers in this session will deal with multiculturalism. The first will outline the various cultures in the city of Caen in Normandy - French, Normans, Italians, Jews, and Muslims are clearly identifiable, along with 'foreign merchants'. It will discuss their self-identity and their role in Caen's development. The second paper will establish a Jewish viewing community at the Cathedral at Chartres and their harmonious relations with their Christian neighbours in Chartres, despite violence against Jews elsewhere in France. The third will discuss the contribution made by Jewish female moneylenders to the 13th-century English urban economy. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis of the nature of the loans made by Anglo-Jewish females, this paper will question how far it is possible to identify a particularly 'female' type of moneylending activity. It will also explore the socio-economic background of the debtors who borrowed from Jewish female creditors and the effect of such credit transactions upon Jewish-Christian relations in 13th-century English towns.

Session 1325 - Wednesday, July 11 - 4:30-6:00pm

Latin Letters and Letter Collections

Organiser: Sally N. Vaughn, Department of History, University of Houston
Moderator: Christof Rolker, Historisches Seminar, Universität Konstanz

• Legal and Social Order in the Letters of St Boniface
  Michael E. Moore, Department of Historical Studies, Southern Illinois University
  
  
• Gerbert of Aurillac's Correspondence: The Collection as a Pedagogic Tool
  Courtney DeMayo, Department of History, University of Houston, Texas
  
  
• The Medieval Letter Collection as a Smörgåsbord: Obligatory Mainstays or Optional Items?
  Lena K. M. Wahlgren-Smith, Centre for Antiquity & the Middle Ages, University of Southampton

Abstract: This session examines Letter Collections, beginning with the social and legal implications of the Letters of St Boniface, and especially their legal applications later. The second paper will suggest that Gerbert of Aurillac (Pope Sylvester II) purposely collected and edited his correspondence as a teaching vehicle, perhaps intended for the young Emperor Otto III. The third will discuss letter collections in general: categories of letters, fictitious letters, and the wider narrative in whole collections.

Y'ALL COME!

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