Mass Production, Clandestine Circulation? Wycliffite Bibles in Oxford Libraries

Colloquium: Vernacular Scriptures in Late-medieval Manuscript Culture

Biblical and liturgical texts were central to the spiritual and intellectual life of all classes of medieval society. Their importance grew with the emergence of vernacular cultures in Europe, when their translation opened new ways of lay and clerical engagement with religion, scholarship and theology. Throughout their politically-charged medieval history, vernacular adaptations of the Vulgate inspired both intense controversy and conventional piety.

This one-day colloquium focuses on vernacular biblical and liturgical manuscripts, with a particular emphasis on copies of the Wycliffite translation, the earliest complete English rendering. The papers will examine artistic, paleographical, codicological and textual aspects of the manuscripts, as well as their use in a range of cultural and devotional contexts.

The colloquium, generously sponsored by the John Fell Fund and Christ Church, Oxford, will take place on 7 May 2011 in Lecture Room 2, Staircase 8, Christ Church, Oxford. Researchers and students are welcome.

Registration here; closing date 28 April.

Programme

9.15-9.45 Registration

Session 1: chair Mishtooni Bose
9.45-10.15 Introductory remarks: Mishtooni Bose (Oxford University) and Elizabeth Solopova (Oxford University)
10.15-10.45 Elizabeth Solopova (Oxford University): Medieval Liturgical Best-sellers for Lay People: the Psalter, the Book of Hours and the Wycliffite Bible
10.45-11.00 questions

11.00-11.30 tea/coffee (Lecture Room 2, Christ Church)

Session 2: chair Anne Hudson
11.30-12.00 Kathleen Kennedy (Pennsylvania State University- Brandywine): The Courtly and Commercial Art of the Wycliffite Bible
12.00-12.15 questions
12.15-12.45 Ralph Hanna (Oxford University): Cataloguing Biblical Manuscripts -- and the Wycliffite Bible
12.45-1.00 questions

1.00-2.30 Lunch break (lunch will be provided in the McKenna Room, Christ Church)

Session 3: chair Kantik Ghosh
2.30-3.00 Sabrina Corbellini (University of Groningen): The Subtlety of the Word and the Illiterates: Italian Vernacular Bible Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library
3.00-3.15 questions
3.15-3.45 Annie Sutherland (Oxford University): English Primers and Wycliffite Material
3.45-4.15 Questions and concluding discussion