OxByzList: Hilary Week 8 Oxford Listings, 8-14 March
Oxford University Byzantine Society
Dear all,
We've almost reached the end of Hilary term, just one last push to get through week 8!
Please enjoy the last listings of this term, and please note the interviews happening in week 9.
Monday
09/03/2026, 17:00 - Chequers, 131 High Street, OX1 4DH
Patristics Research Seminar - End of term pub trip
09/03/2026, 17:00 - Wharton Room, All Souls College, OX1 4AL; for Teams access join group “Medieval History Research Seminar” (team code rmppucs)
Medieval History Seminar - Nick Evans (Birkbeck): ‘Cowries, Cloth and Coins: Currency in Medieval Economic Anthropology’
Tuesday
10/03/2026, 14:00 - New Seminar Room, St John’s College, St Giles, OX1 3JP
Europe in the Middle Ages - Mike Carr (Edinburgh): ‘Popes, Ambassadors and Falcons: Trade and Diplomacy between Latin Europe and the Mamluk Sultanate in the Fourteenth Century’
10/03/2026, 17:00 - Lecture Room B, The Queen’s College, High Street, OX1 4AW
Maghrib History Seminar - Conor Dube (University College London): ‘Reading the Qur'an across the Mediterranean: Toward a Maghribi School of Tafsir in Early Islam’
Wednesday
11/03/2026, 17:00 - Lecture Theatre, Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies, 66 St Giles’, OX1 3LU
Late Antique and Byzantine Seminar - Nathan Websdale (Oxford): ‘Unbecoming Roman: Performative Ethnicity and Panspermía in the Byzantine World c.1190-1235’
Thursday
12/03/2026, 14:00 - Catherine Lewis Lecture Theatre, Clarendon Institute, Walton Street, OX1 2HG
Reading Group: Jewish Magical Texts from Antiquity and the Cairo Geniza - Magical Recipes from the Cairo Geniza
This reading group offers an encounter with key types of Jewish magical texts preserved on papyri, metal, clay, parchment, and paper, from Antiquity through medieval Cairo. Together, we will read and analyze these texts, identifying their distinctive features-biblical references, adjurations, magical formulae, angelic and demonic names, magical words and signs, and more. We will also consider the aims these texts were meant to serve, draw comparisons with parallel traditions, and discuss the significance of their similarities and differences. We will present new materials that were not presented in the Michaelmas term.
All are welcome-no prior language knowledge required.
If any queries you have, please contact Professor Piotrkowski at meron.pi...@ames.ox.ac.uk
12/03/2026, 16:00 - Seminar Room, Corpus Christi College, OX1 AJF
Late Roman Seminar - Robin Whelan (Liverpool): ‘Locating Female Political Service in Fifth- and Sixth-century Constantinople’
12/03/2026, 17:15 - KRC Lecture Room, Khalili Research Centre, 3 St John St, OX1 2LJ
Khalili Research Seminar - Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis (Freie Universität, Berlin): ‘A Greek-Orthodox monastery in the desert: Mount Sinai and the material culture of its Arabic (and Islamic) manuscripts’
Friday
13/03/2026, 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 St. Theodore Stratelates by Mercurios the Grammarian
To sign up and receive the work materials, email marina....@classics.ox.ac.uk
13/03/2026, 12:00 - Visiting Scholars Centre, Weston Library, Broad Street, OX1 3BG
Lectures on the History of the Bible: From Manuscripts to Print - The Bible Printed
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
Tuesday (Week 9)
17/03/2026, 09:00 - Lecture Room 2, Taylorian Institute, St Giles', Oxford OX1 3NA
Interview process for the Bywater and Sotheby Professor of Byzantine and Modern Greek Language and Literature
Staff and students are invited to attend presentations from 4 shortlisted candidates from 9.30-11.30am.
We ask you to be fair to all candidates by attending all 4 presentations. A feedback form will be provided on the day, and there will be a briefing on confidentiality at 9.00am, so please ensure you arrive promptly in the morning.
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