Co-Chairs:
Toby Donegan-Cross & Sarah McAllister
Thesis: I am interested in late medieval Benedictine monasteries and especially their food consumption
Medieval or Early Modern foe: Oliver Cromwell
Favourite spot in Durham: Flass Vale
Fun Fact: I was once asked for directions by travel writer Bill Bryson.
Who would you go to dinner with if you could pick anyone in history? J. S. Bach, in the hope there was a keyboard nearby, or Cromwell, so I could serve him something awful.
Thesis: I’m look at depictions of Old Norse mythology in British Culture c. 1750-1830.
Medieval or Early Modern foe: I have a complex relationship with Frank Sayers at the moment as I love his poetry, but hate the fact he had his papers destroyed before his death.
Favourite spot in Durham: Vennel’s Cafe (or Cuth’s Bailey Bar)
Fun Fact: I had a piece of artwork in the same exhibition as a drawing from Judi Dench
Who would you go to dinner with if you could pick anyone in history?
Frank Sayers – so I can actually find out more about him since he destroyed his papers and letters.
Co-Conference Coordinators:
Grant Jones and Amy Doyle
Name: Grant Jones
Studying: I am a 4th-year PhD History student at Durham, co-supervised by English both here and at Newcastle My thesis explores the allegorical language of spiritual warfare c.1100-1250, and how these allegories developed alongside the nascent aristocratic culture of chivalry. I explore this across a variety of Latin and vernacular religious texts and artworks created for both clerical and lay audiences, including women.
Medieval or Early Modern foe: Simon de Montfort!
Favourite spot in Durham: I can’t decide, but it’s definitely a pub
Fun Fact: I was once employed to wear a 10-foot high giant inflatable clown outfit and parade through the town of Cockermouth for 2 hours…
Who would you go to dinner with if you could pick anyone in history? Henry III – he loved an extravagant feast and always made sure there was plenty of wine available.
Name: Amy Doyle
What are you studying/what’s your thesis: I’ve just started my PhD in Medieval Literature, in which I’ll be analysing the ways in which contemporary medievalist fiction depicts chivalry and its relationship to gender.
Medieval or Early Modern foe: Ælla of Northumbria
Favourite spot in Durham: The Cathedral.
Fun Fact: I hate baked beans.
Who would you go to dinner with if you could pick anyone in history? Thomas Malory, if only to ask what he did to end up in prison.
Co-Outreach Officers:
Isaiah Silvers & Rhys Sutton-Harry
Name: Isaiah Silvers
What are you studying/what’s your thesis: I research subscription charities and civic cultures in the port cities of the 18th century Atlantic world.
Medieval or Early Modern foe: Philip II, for reasons unrelated to the Spanish Armada.
Favourite spot in Durham: the Willow Miner in Gary’s Wood
Fun Fact: On two different occasions when working as a gardener I ran over a wasp nest with a lawn mower.
Who would you go to dinner with if you could pick anyone in history? Baruch de Spinoza
Co-Journal Editors
Lottie Thompson & Callum Bowler
Name: Lottie Thompson
What are you studying/what’s your thesis: My thesis explores the world and works of Lawrence of Durham (d. 1154), a major twelfth century Anglo-Latin writer and monk who lived here in Durham. I am particularly interested in traditions of classical reception, the history and development of literary genres, and the manuscript circulation of Lawrence’s works. (A portrait of Lawrence survives in Durham University Library, Cosin MS. V.iii.1 and can be seen on the left-hand-side of the IMEMS logo!)
Medieval or Early Modern foe: A cliché, but it has to be Henry VIII for his role in the dissolution of the monasteries.
Favourite spot in Durham:
Finchale Priory.
Fun Fact: I am from Guernsey in the Channel Islands. There are plenty of peculiarities about this little island – we still use one pound notes, our coins are embossed with crabs and tomatoes, our vehicle number plates do not contain any letters, and the speed limit is only 35mph. Most interestingly to me, we were also a part of the Duchy of Normandy.
Who would you go to dinner with if you could pick anyone in history? After spending so much time with Lawrence’s writings I truly feel that I know him so intimately – his sense of humour, his literary and intellectual Muses, his attitudes towards life, love, and death. I would love the opportunity to meet him and show him around Durham. So, for right now, it has to be my man, Lawrence of Durham (…or Taylor Swift).
Press Officer:
Charles Marshall
Name: Charles Marshall
What are you studying/what’s your thesis: MA in Literatures, Languages, and Cultures
Medieval or Early Modern foe: Chrétien de Troyes (this is very recent cuz I had to slog through the prose of his unfinished poems this week lol)
Favourite spot in Durham: the running track along the River Wear, or anywhere I can see the cathedral in the skyline
Fun Fact: was a huge band kid: classic, jazz, and marching
Who would you go to dinner with if you could pick anyone in history? Tolkien, he’s my literary idol and I’d love to pick his brain about his translations and inspirations
Social Secretary:
Emma Yeo
What is your thesis about?
I look at mortality crises in early modern north east England, exploring the applicability of global narratives of crisis in the 17th century to the demographic history of this region. It’s great to live in the area I study as I come across parishes from my case studies each week.
Who is your medieval or early modern foe?
My early modern foe is a particular record keeper for Durham consistory court in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Some of the court deposition books alternate on a page by page basis between a lovely easy to read hand and his… chicken-scratch.
My the court deposition books alternate page by page between a lovely easy to read hand and his… chicken-scratch.
Where is your favourite spot in Durham?
The river walk along by Old Durham Gardens!
What is something people wouldn’t guess about you?
As a kid I was once on a CBBC game show and lost the game, so got covered in silly string on TV.
If you could go to dinner with anyone in history who would you go with any why?
Quite a cliche one and maybe inspired by too much time listening to Six the Musical, but Anne Boleyn to know what actually happened in her relationship with Henry VIII.
Medieval and Early Modern Student Association 