Proceedings of The British World Conference held at the University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba in July 2012 are now available online.

The publication consists of 40 articles, and is a selection of those offered at the conference. Many may be of interest to members. The document is available at: http://eprints.usq.edu.au/21992.

Volume Abstract:

This volume present papers which address various aspects of the history, literature, religion and identities of the British world, not simply in the British Isles themselves, but a wider world stretching across both hemispheres. In terms of chronology the earliest paper in this collection deals with the Anglo-Saxon Church; the latest with the impact of war trauma on British journalists in the 21st century.

The University of Auckland’s Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (MEDEMS) is happy to announce the upcoming appearance of a special journal issue on “Understanding Emotions in the Middle Ages” in Digital Philology: A Journal of Medieval Cultures, published by The Johns Hopkins University Press, forthcoming late 2012. The issue has been edited by Associate Professor Tracy Adams of the University of Auckland and originated in the eleventh annual MEDEMS colloquium which took place over the weekend of April 16-17, 2011. The conference attracted speakers from New Zealand, Australia, Belgium, England and the USA, who gathered in Auckland to discuss “Devotion and Emotion in the Medieval and Early Modern Periods.”

This issue is the first of what we hope to be a long series of collaborative on-line projects produced by MEDEMS. Papers from the conference have been brought together in what will be just the second issue of the new journal. Digital Philology is intended as a scholarly venue where “global and interdisciplinary perspective pushes traditional national and temporal boundaries” and which represents the “first such publication linking peer-reviewed research and scholarship with digital libraries of medieval manuscripts”. Digital Philology will be published twice a year and is intended to include “scholarly essays, manuscript studies, and reviews of relevant resources such as websites, digital projects, and books.”

The journal’s website is: http://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/digital_philology/

Two recent books by Helen Cox on the Battle of Wakefield may be of interest to members:

The Battle of Wakefield Revisited: A Fresh Perspective on Richard of York’s Final Battle, December 1460

Medieval history/non-fiction
Paperback, 140 pages, 16 black-and-white plates, 5 line drawings
Published by Herstory Writing & Interpretation/York Publishing Services, 2010
ISBN 978-0-9565768-0-4
R.R.P. £12.00

The Battle of Wakefield Revisited: A Fresh Perspective on Richard of York’s Final Battle, December 1460 is a full history/re-evaluation of the evidence for the battle.

On 30th December 1460, the veteran warlord Richard of York led his small army to catastrophe at the Battle of Wakefield. Traditionally, York is thought to be a poor commander deservedly mocked in nursery rhyme; or an heroic failure who gallantly attempted to rescue a foraging party or avenge insults to his honour. But The Battle of Wakefield Revisited explores a more convincing explanation, using historical and archaeological evidence to dispel popular misconceptions about York and his ill-fated northern campaign.

Walk Wakefield 1460: A Visitor Guide to Battle-Related Sites

Medieval history/non-fiction
Paperback, 50 pages, 16 colour plates, 8 black-and-white plates, 6 line drawings
Published by Herstory Writing & Interpretation/York Publishing Services, 2011
ISBN 978-0-9565768-1-1
Price: £7.50

Walk Wakefield 1460: A Visitor Guide to Battle-Related Sites gives a potted history/interpretation of the battle through sites associated with it in Wakefield and Worksop.

Five hundred and fifty years ago, Richard, Duke of York attempted to take the crown from his cousin King
Henry VI. The outcome, on 30th December 1460, was one of the most decisive encounters in the Wars of the Roses – the Battle of Wakefield. Walk Wakefield 1460 tells the story of this fateful winter campaign, from its opening skirmish at Worksop to the grisly aftermath in York, through sites connected with the battle. Each section of the concise illustrated guide features a brief history, directions to the sites (including maps), and up-to-date information on opening times and admission charges for visiting:

• Worksop Priory & Castle
• Sandal Castle
• Duke of York’s Monument
• The Battlefield at Wakefield Green
• St Mary’s Chantry Chapel
• Pontefract Castle
• Micklegate Bar & York City Walls

For further details about the books and author Helen Cox please visit her website: www.helencox-herstorywriting.co.uk.

Icons of the Holy Monastery of Karakallou
Mount Athos

www.en.iconskarakallou.gr

For the first time in its history Karakallou Monastery of Mount Athos is revealing its iconographic treasures to the general public. Karakallou Monastery, one of the oldest monasteries on Holy Mountain, is celebrating its millennium of uninterrupted coenobitic life with the publication of a richly illustrated volume devoted to its portable holy icons; thereby bringing to light a virtually unknown part of late Byzantine culture and Athonite spiritual heritage.

From among the hundreds of portable icons in the monastery’s possession 152 were carefully selected for this edition and were reproduced at a stunning quality. Historically, they span from the late 14th to the early 19th century and include masterpieces that are inaccessible to most of the monastery’s pilgrims. Quite significantly, the Karakallou monastery’s holdings feature the largest collection of works by Dionyssios of Fourna, a prominent Greek iconographer of the 18th century.

The book’s rich visual content combined with an extensive and well documented analysis of the artistic and historical background of each icon provides a unique insight into post-Byzantine Athonian iconography and imparts a superb experience to admirers of this sacred art.

You may find more information on this edition, view sample pages at: www.en.iconskarakallou.gr.