OxByzList: Hilary Week 5 Oxford Listings, 15-21 February
Oxford University Byzantine Society
Monday
16/02/2026, 17:00 - Wharton Room, All Souls College, OX1 4AL; for Teams access join group “Medieval History Research Seminar” (team code rmppucs)
Medieval History Seminar - Jay Rubenstein (University of Southern California): ‘Queen Melisende of Jerusalem and the Wages of Sin’
Tuesday
17/02/2026, 14:00 - New Seminar Room, St John’s College, St Giles, OX1 3JP
Europe in the Middle Ages - Maria Fusaro (Exeter): ‘Maritime Risk Management and Aequitas: the long life of the principle of General Average’
17/02/2026, 16:30 - Online via Microsoft Teams. The link can be obtained by emailing Ugo Mondini (ugo.m...@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk) by the day before each session
JFF Project Euripides Byzantinus: Euripides and the Middle Ages - Chiara Meccariello (University of Exeter): ‘Learning (from) Euripides: Tragedy and education through the lens of Greek papyri’
17/02/2026, 17:00 - Lecture Room B, The Queen’s College, High Street, OX1 4AW
Maghrib History Seminar - Cyrille Aillet (Université Lumière Lyon 2): ‘Ibadism and Medieval Maghrib: a View from Within’
Wednesday
18//02/2026, 12:15 - Lecture Room, Campion Hall, OX1 1QS
Syriac Lunch Seminar - Shane Patrick: ‘Interreligious Polemic and the Virgin Mary: Two Late Medieval East Syrian Treatises’
Participation is open to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers from all academic fields and is by invitation. Those interested in attending are kindly asked to contact Katherine Painter (katherin...@theology.ox.ac.uk) by the Sunday prior to the date(s) they wish to attend so that complementary lunch can be provided.
18/02/2026, 17:00 - Lecture Theatre, Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies, 66 St Giles’, OX1 3LU
Late Antique and Byzantine Seminar - Arietta Papaconstantinou (Aix-Marseille): ‘Dependent Labour in the Late Antique Near East’
Thursday
19/02/2026-20/02/2026, Schwarzmann Centre for the Humanities / Weston Library
Habib G. Ibrahim (Eberhard Karls Universiteit Tübingen): Christian Arabic Manuscripts: Research Skills for a New Generation
Students and researchers are invited to join us for a two-day intensive research workshop at the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities related to Christian Arabic manuscripts. The workshop will include introductory sessions on the foundations and research horizons of the field, as well as sessions introducing the latest digital tools and technologies advancing research. Attendees will have a chance to practice using these tools and technologies with a range of Christian Arabic texts located in the Bodleian Library. Lunch and refreshments will be provided free of charge on both days.
Requirements:
A solid foundation in Arabic (at least 1 year of Classical or Modern Standard)
A studentship or research affiliation with Oxford University or another academic institution; OU participants will receive priority, followed by qualified academics and students from other institutions on a first-come, first-serve basis
Demonstrable interest in Christian Arabic Manuscripts, including those for whom Christian Arabic may be tangential to their overall study or research interests, e.g. those working in Islamic Studies, Patristics, Byzantine Studies, and Syriac Studies
How to apply: Use this link.
Deadline to apply: 9 Feb 2026 (contact the organizer directly after this time if interested)
Questions? Contact Dr Steven Firmin (steven...@theology.ox.ac.uk)
19/02/2026 - Schwarzmann Centre for the Humanities
Patristics Research Seminar - Book Symposium: Matthew Elia's The Problem of the Christian Master Augustine and the Afterlives of Slavery (Yale, 2024).
This is a joint symposium hosted by the Christian Ethics Research Seminar, Patristics Research Seminar, and Historical and Systematic Theology Research Seminar.
19/01/2026, 16:00 - Seminar Room, Corpus Christi College, OX1 AJF
Late Roman Seminar - Tuna Şare Ağtürk (COMU, Turkey / Oxford): ‘After Rome, Before Constantinople: The Archaeology of Diocletian’s Capital, Nicomedia’
19/01/2026, 17:15 - KRC Lecture Room, Khalili Research Centre, 3 St John St, OX1 2LJ
Khalili Research Seminar - Umberto Bongianino (Khalili Research Centre): ‘Wall painting in the Islamic West and the aesthetic of naqsh’
Friday
20/02/2026, 09:30 - Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies, 66 St Giles, OX1 3LU
Byzantine Text Seminar - Dr Bazzani: The seminar sessions will focus on the text of the Miracles of St Artemios.
To sign up and receive the work materials, email marina....@classics.ox.ac.uk
20/02/2026, 12:00 - Visiting Scholars Centre, Weston Library, Broad Street, OX1 3BG
Lectures on the History of the Bible: From Manuscripts to Print - The Bible in Latin: Old Latin and the Vulgate
This course offers an illustrated introduction to the transmission and history of one of the world’s most influential texts: the Bible. Beginning with the Hebrew Bible and the earliest biblical papyri and manuscripts, it traces the development of biblical texts over more than two millennia, from the premodern Mediterranean world to the first printed editions of the Late Middle Ages. Drawing on some of the Bodleian Library’s most remarkable biblical treasures, the lectures provide direct insight into how the copying, translation, and circulation of the Bible shaped the history of the book and, more broadly, human culture. Particular emphasis is placed on first-hand engagement with manuscripts in different languages, scripts, layouts, and visual traditions.
No prior knowledge of biblical languages is required. By the end of the course, participants will have gained a basic familiarity with biblical manuscripts across multiple traditions and will be able to identify key scripts, layouts, and illustrative features, as well as appreciate their cultural and historical significance.
Places are limited. To register interest and secure a place, please contact the lecturer at peter...@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Saturday
21/02/2026, 14:00 - Blackfriars Hall, St Giles Oxford, OX1 3LY
Las Casas Institute - Nature as Neighbour: Past Entanglements and Present Challenges
This seminar brings together emerging scholars of historical ecologies, placing them in conversation to reflect on the relationship humanity has and had with the natural world. By tracing how human–environment relations have been imagined, governed, and lived in the past, the seminar foregrounds nature not as a distant backdrop but as a proximate and entangled neighbour. Responding to one another and in dialogue with attendees, this seminar will workshop how historical perspectives can inform present-day responses to the climate and natural world, offering critical insights into environmental-stewardship, -responsibility, -coexistence, and environmentally-just futures.
This event is open to everyone, registration is required to attend.
If there are any events you would like to share with the OUBS, please get into contact with us.
Kind regards,
Nidanu
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Nidanu O'Shea
DPhil in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
Secretary, Oxford University Byzantine Society
http://oxfordbyzantinesociety.wordpress.com