Newsletter 3
The Future of the Medieval Chronicle Conferences
Like its two predecessors the 3rd international conference on the Medieval Chronicle was financially supported by Utrecht University as well as by the Research Institute of its Faculty of Arts. But in the letters informing me of the decision that they would once again fill the gaps in the budget both institutions also made it quite clear that this would be the last time. In other words, if the conferences were to have a future after this summer, one or more new sponsors were needed. However, what made the prospects rather gloomy was the certainty that chances to find new resources in the Netherlands were minimal. I should add here that the conference had also been given a generous grant by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, but even if this grant would be continued it would still have to be supplemented by additional funding to obtain sufficient financial security for the organisation of more than just one other conference.
To my great relief, a proposal from the University of Reading was brought to the conference by professor Peter Noble, and it seemed most promising. The proposal was discussed at the General Meeting (see below).
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Minutes of the General Meeting, Doorn 16 July 2002 (Letty ten Harkel)
General Meeting: The Future of the Medieval Chronicle
At the end of the third international conference on the Medieval Chronicle (12-17 July 2002), a plenary session was held. Erik Kooper chaired this meeting. The main point of discussion was the future of the Medieval Chronicle conferences, or rather the question whether there would be a next conference at all. The following report is a brief summary of the problems, suggestions and conclusions of this session.
Erik Kooper opened the meeting by explaining that Utrecht University could not host the Chronicle conference a fourth time. The University has done so three times now, but no more funding is available for a continuation of the series. Unfortunately it was not possible to find adequate financial support elsewhere in the Netherlands, and therefore it was necessary to look for alternatives to ensure that the third Chronicle conference would not end up being the last of these conferences. For this reason Erik sent out a cry for help amongst his colleagues. A promising response came from Peter Noble of the University of Reading, offering to organise the next three conferences in Reading, UK.
Newsletter 2
Deadline Proposals for Papers Extended to March
As it appeared recently, the new conference centre is far more flexible with regard to deadlines. Since they need to know the number of participants staying at the centre later than we were used to, we have been able to extend the deadline for the submission of papers as well. In other words, if you are still in doubt, this is your chance: we can still consider your proposal if you send it within the next few weeks.
Grâce à une plus grande flexibilité du nouveau centre des congrès nous avons pu prolonger la dernière limite pour vos résumés jusqu’à mars.
Wir verdanken es die größere Flexibilität des neuen Kongreßzentrums daß wir den Einsendeschhluß für Ihre Beiträge verschieben konnten bis März.
Keynote Speakers
The conference will be opened on the Saturday with a plenary lecture in English by Peter Ainsworth, instigator of the large-scale Froissart Project. He should be well known to those already attended one of the previous conferences, as he participated in both.
On Tuesday two parallel plenary sessions are envisaged, one in French and one in German. Speaker at the French session will be Gillette Labory of the ‘Institut de Recherche et d’Histoire des Textes’.
Peter Ainsworth a pris sur soi de donner la conférence d’ouverture (en anglais). Le mardi on a prévu deux sessions plénières parallèles, en français et en allemand; Gillette Labory, de l’‘Institut de Recherche et d’Histoire des Textes’ s’adressera à la française; la session allemande et en délibération.
Peter Ainsworth wird den Kongreß öffnen mit einem Vortrag auf Englisch. Am Dienstag sind zwei Parallelsitzungen vorgesehen, auf Deutsch und auf Französisch. Zur Zeit wird über die deutsche Sitzung noch überlegt; Gillette Labory, vom ‘Institut de Recherche et d’Histoire des Textes’ wird vor der französischen Gruppe sprechen.
Executive Committee Needed for the ‘Medieval Chronicle Society’ ?
If the ‘Medieval Chronicle Society’ is considered a useful and desirable body for the purpose of bringing together specialists in the field of chronicle studies it should have an International Executive Committee, consisting of at least a President, a Secretary and a Treasurer. They would be responsible for the coordination of the Society’s activities, the publication of an annual or biennial survey of research projects/interests, the collecting of the membership dues (if we should decide to have these), and the like.
All those who receive a copy of this newsletter are urgently requested to consider these matters seriously, and also whether they would themselves be available or could suggest names of colleagues who are willing to serve in such a committee. The General Meeting, which will take place during the conference, will then decide on how to proceed.
Si on a l’opinion que la ‘Société de la chronique médiévale’ est une organisation utile et désirable il faut considérer comment continuer. Il semble nécessaire d’avoir un Comité Exécutif; pendant le congrès l’assemblée générale décidera.
Wenn man der Meinung ist, daß die ‘Gesellschaft für die mittelalterliche Chronik’ ein sinnvoller und wünschenswerter Verband dastellt, dann sollte man sich fragen wie weiter zu fahren. Ein Executivausschuß ist zu gründen; während des Kongreßes wird das Plenum sich darüber beraten.
Chronicle Projects
At the 1999 conference it was suggested that the triennial conferences would be a suitable moment for scholars to introduce large-scale projects, and/or report on the progress made, to their colleagues. This time at least three such projects will be presented in separate sessions: the Froissart Project, supervised by Peter Ainsworth (Sheffield, UK), Narrative Sources from the Southern Low Countries 600-1500, a joint project of the universities of Ghent and Louvain, and Daniel Embree’s Repertorium Chronicarum.
Pendant le 3ème congrès trois projets de longue durée seront présentés.
Während des Kongreßes wird der Fortgang in drei großangelegten Projekten präsentiert.
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Download Newsletter 2 in PDF format: Newsletter 2 – Feb 2002
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Dr Erik Kooper
Utrecht Centre for Medieval Studies
Trans 10
3512 JK Utrecht
The Netherlands
Fax +31 (30) 2536000
Tel. +31 (30) 2536187
+31 (30) 2538189 (secr.)
E-mail erik.kooper{at}let.uu.nl
Newsletter 1
Utrecht, March 2000
Dear Colleagues,
At last we are able to send you the first Newsletter for the Medieval Chronicle Society. This newsletter is designed to connect the members of the MCS, to give shape to the (activities of the) Society and to update the members on any recent developments. The mailing carries both administrative and academic information. Unfortunately, due to lack of staff, this Newsletter is in English only, but reactions and other correspondence may of course be in German or French, as you prefer.
First of all, the letter contains some ‘Food for Thought’ for those who were not at the 1999 Conference. This document was issued to the participants at the Conference in July of last year and formed the basis of a discussion at the General Meeting.
It is followed by a summary account of that plenary session: ‘The Future of the Medieval Chronicle’. All members are invited to give their reactions to these minutes and on the topics that were discussed during the general meeting.
This report is again followed by a checklist of possible entries for a Chronicle Database, which is essential for any (structured) future research on the extant corpus of chronicles. This checklist was also discussed elaborately during the plenary session. Since the list is not exhaustive, suggestions for additions are very welcome, as is any information on the state of chronicle research.
The informative section concludes with a summary of the pioneering research activities of Professor Dan Embree on the inventory of chronicle manuscripts.
The second part of the newsletter consists of the addresses of participants of the chronicle conferences in 1996 and 1999. The reason for including these lists is twofold. First, we kindly ask you to check that your personal details are complete, up-to-date and fully correct. We aim to have the full address of each MCS member and chronicle researcher. This includes your
- Title
- Name and Surname
- Name of Institute/Department
- Name of University
- Country
- Phone and fax number, with international access codes
- E-mail address.
Please send us information about any (temporary) changes or inadequacies through e-mail (erik.kooper{at}let.uu.nl), by ordinary mail (Dr Erik Kooper, Trans 10, 3512 JK Utrecht, The Netherlands) or by fax (+31 30 253 6000). Note that the details of those of you who participated in both conferences are listed in the 1999 overview.
The other reason for distributing the address database among current MCS members is to facilitate communication among these members, and to allow you to check whether none of your colleagues is missing on this list. In other words, we hope that the body of MCS membership will soon comprise all researchers with an interest in (interdisciplinary) chronicle research.
The Medieval Chronicle 