Medieval Afterlives at the Medieval Academy of America

With generous support from the European Studies Council I was able to attend Medieval Afterlives, a workshop at the Newberry Library in Chicago organized in tandem with the centennial of the Medieval Academy of America, my field’s largest professional association. Graduate students, faculty, librarians and k-12 educators gathered around tea and madeleines on a crisp fall day to reflect about the history of our field and its role in the American public’s perception of the Middle Ages—for better or for worse. Our discussions and explorations of medieval culture through objects and texts turned back to essential questions for our field: What should the next 100 years of Medieval Studies look like? What is the role of Medieval Studies in society today?  

Christopher Fletcher (Newberry), Shirin Fozi (Metropolitan Museum of Art), Lynley Herbert (Walters Art Museum), and the dedicated staff of the Newberry guided us through discussions of pre-circulated readings and collection sessions. The collection sessions showcased the embarrassment of riches within the Newberry Library for the study of the Middle Ages. During the first collection session we examined medieval manuscripts and objects including a secret ledger and memorial book from 14th-century Florence and a beautifully illuminated book of hours belonging to Margaret of Croy from the 15th century as we pondered the question: what is “medieval” about medieval books? In teams of friars (circulating the room sharing) and monks (remaining with a single object) we discussed the question at length in view of readings by Michael F. Suarez, S.J. and Christopher de Hamel. In the second collection session, Medieval Interventions After the Middle Ages, we were tasked with finding “the medieval” in various post-medieval artefacts. These included “Mi ultimo pensamiento” a poem written by the Filipino writer José Rizal before his execution by the Spanish colonial government, Slave Songs of the United States, collected and edited by William Francis Allen in 1867, and various abortion rights flyers from the Chicago area from the 1970s and 80s.  

I approached the workshop with three goals: (1) gain a more sophisticated vocabulary for articulating the value of Medieval Studies and by extension my research in grant applications and in public writing, (2) connect with others in my profession who share the conviction that the medieval can and does inform our past and guide our future, and (3) begin to get to know the Newberry Library as a resource for my teaching and research. I was able to meet all three. One of the assigned readings, Jonathan Hsy’s Antiracist Medievalisms: From "Yellow Peril" to Black Lives Matter, has been crucial for the development of my concept envirotechnical medievalism. This is the name I give to the (re)creation of the medieval past by working class farmers and plumbers in Granada and Tétouan who actively work with medieval technology in the present-day. During my visit to the Newberry I also obtained information from the fellowships office in preparation for a Newberry grant application. Finally, I have kept in touch with a couple of other attendees and we have plans to share our research at the International Medieval Congress at Leeds in July 2025 in a series of panels called “Medieval Studies and Impact”.