Call for Papers
Shaping the Word: the Form and Use of Biblical Manuscripts in the Early Medieval West
Durham University, 2-5 July 2026
Due 17 November 2025
St. Matthew, Lindisfarne Gospels, BL Cotton MS Nero D IV, f.25v
In the second half of the first millennium, the Christian scriptures were produced, circulated, and put to use in a diverse range of forms and contexts. A manuscript may accommodate a single biblical text (the psalter, a gospel, the Apocalypse), a collection of texts (the Hexateuch, the fourfold gospel), or, rarely, a complete "New Testament" or "Bible" in the familiar modern sense. The distinctiveness of a manuscript is determined by its content and textual affiliation, its palaeographical and codicological characteristics, and its paratextual features - from illustrations of biblical narratives, author portraits, and illuminated lettering to canon tables, capitula, prefatory materials, and glosses. Once in circulation, a manuscript's contexts of use may include liturgical reading and preaching, meditation and mission, education and scholarship, gift-giving and display. Different uses correspond to different users with distinct and perhaps conflicting priorities and goals. Production and uses) may occur at the same site or at far distant times and places.
This conference aims to explore topics related to both the physical presentation and the use of scriptural manuscripts produced in the Early Medieval period (c. 500-1000 CE).
We welcome paper proposals from scholars working in all areas of this field, including PhD students. Whatever the specific topic, priority may be given to papers that also relate it to the wider focus of the conference on both "form" (or "production") and "use".
We hope to be able to cover presenters' full conference costs with the exception of travel.
Titles and Abstracts of proposed papers should be submitted to Lauren Randall (lauren.m.randall@durham.ac.uk), copied to Francis Watson (francis.watson@durham.ac.uk), no later than Monday 17 November. Abstracts should not exceed 150 words. Our current draft schedule can accommodate up to fourteen 45 minute sessions, with a maximum of 25 minutes for the presentation in order to allow substantial time for discussion. There will also be several keynote papers or presentations. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about this event!
For information, the context of this event is our sub-project "Text, Format, and Reader", focused primarily on Codex Amiatinus and funded by the Glasgow-based "Paratexts Seeking Understanding" project (Templeton Religion Trust). We are grateful to our Glasgow colleagues for their support.