The Leeds University International Medieval Congress takes place on Monday 7 July to Thursday 10 July 2025 with excursions and workshops at both ends. The workshops include one on sprang, and the stalls at the medieval fair on the Thursday include one on opus anglicanum. This year the Congress is fully hybrid: in person and on line. Registration closes Wednesday 11 June.

Details from www.imc.leeds.ac.uk
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Some papers perhaps of interest to members of MEDATS

MONDAY 07 JULY 2025: 11.15-12.45

Session: 104 Newlyn Building: 1.07
Title: TEXTILE WITH MEANING
Sponsor: Discussion, Investigation & Study of Textile Arts, Fabrics & Fashion (DISTAFF)
104-a: The Fleohnet in the Old English Poem
Judith Claire Davis, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto
104-b: Dressing the Ladies Honestly: What Vision of the Respectable Woman Do Books Inculcate in the Female World?
Élodie Gidoin-Barale, Centre d’Études Supérieures sur la Fin du Moyen Âge (CESFiMA), Pouvoirs, Lettres, Normes (POLEN – EA 4710), Université d’Orléans
104-c: Reconfiguring Figural Art from the 10th-12th Centuries
Millie Horton-Insch, Department of History of Art & Architecture, Trinity College Dublin
104-d: Emblems of Queenship and Fragments of Faith: The Needlework of Mary Queen of Scots and Its Custodians from 1587 and Beyond
Amy Parkes, National Trust / Faculty of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Session: 145 Parkinson Building: B.09
Title: THE ‘GLOBAL MIDDLE AGES’ FROM CHINESE PERSPECTIVES
145-b: When and How Did Muslim Merchants Take Over the Eastern Silk Road?
Ma Fu, Department of History, Peking University

MONDAY 07 JULY 2025: 14.15-15.45

Session: 222 Newlyn Building: 1.01
Title: TEXTILE ADJACENT: MEDIEVAL WORLDS OF LEATHER
Sponsor: Discussion, Investigation & Study of Textile Arts, Fabrics & Fashion (DISTAFF)
222-a: The Art of Cuoidoro in Medieval Venice: Jewish Leatherworkers at the Giudecca Island
Elisa Palomino, Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center, Washington, DC
222-b: Learning about Leather and Sharing Knowledge
Angela Middleton, Investigative Science Team, Historic England
222-c: Learning through Observation, Interaction, and Reconstruction: Activities at the Shoe Museum, Lausanne Marquita Volken, Gentle Craft Centre for Historical Leather, Shoe Museum, Lausanne

TUESDAY 08 JULY 2025: 09.00-10.30

Session: 508 Esther Simpson Building: LG08
Title: TACTILITY AND THE EARLY MEDIEVAL ENGLISH TEXT, I: SENSING ENVIRONMENTS
508-c: The Physicality of the Workspace
Gale Owen-Crocker, Centre for Medieval & Early Modern Studies, University of Manchester

Session: 522 Esther Simpson Building: 3.02
Title: THREADS OF KNOWLEDGE: MEDIEVAL TEXTILES, 400-1400, I
522-a: Dressing Cuthbert’s Shrine
Tracey Davison, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York
522-b: Colour and Construction of Early Medieval Archaeological Textiles: Multi-Sensorial Decoration from Early Medieval Francia
Olga Magoula-Bamford, Department of Archaeology, University of York

TUESDAY 08 JULY 2025: 11.15-12.45

Session: 622 Esther Simpson Building: 3.02
Title: THREADS OF KNOWLEDGE: MEDIEVAL TEXTILES, 400-1400, II
622-a: On the Multicultural Origins of the Byzantine Turban
Jamie Meade, Independent Scholar
622-b: Judging a Friar by His Hood: Communication Strategies and Settlement Plans in Urban Contexts – The Case of the Carmelite Order
Vittoria Pipino, Storia Dell’Arte, Scuola Normale Superiore di
Pisa 622-c: Reproducing the Littlest Holes in History: The Reconstruction of c. 13th- to 14th-Century Silk Mesh Hairnets
Sue Lamberton, Independent Scholar

TUESDAY 08 JULY 2025: 14.15-15.45

Session: 722 Esther Simpson Building: 3.02
Title: THREADS OF KNOWLEDGE: MEDIEVAL TEXTILES, 400-1400, III
722-a: The Exotic in Early Medieval Wales: The Networks of the Llangorse Crannog Textile
Georgia Gould, Department of Scandinavian Studies, University College London
722-b: Let’s Talk Socks: Textile Production Networks in the Anglo Scandinavian World
Daisy Bonsall, Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic, University of Cambridge
722-c: Cloth and Currency: Exploring the Economic Status of Textiles in Viking-Age Ireland
Hannah S. Evans, Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool

Session: 732 Esther Simpson Building: 3.01
Title: ARMS, ARMOUR, AND THE ARTS OF COMBAT, III: SPIRITUALITY AND COMBAT
732-c: The Arming Scene as Ritual in Medieval Poetry
Paul McFadyen, Independent Scholar

Session: 741 Stage@leeds: Stage 3
Title: MEDIEVAL SICILY, III: INTERPRETING IVORY
741-c: A Textile-Lined Ivory Pyxis and What It Might Tell Us about ‘Sicilian Ivories’
Anna McSweeney, Department of History of Art & Architecture, Trinity College Dublin

TUESDAY 08 JULY 2025: 16.30-18.00

Session: 814 Parkinson Building: 1.08
Title: RECIPES AS RESOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE, IV: ARTISANAL RECIPES IN THEORY AND PRACTICE
814-b: Colours and Their ‘Antidote’: Dyeing and Bleaching in Early Arabic Technical Treatises
Sara Fani, Dipartimento di Filosofia, Università di Bologna
814-c: The Art of Stain Removal: An Anonymous Artisanal Arabic Recipe Collection and Its Contexts
Leonie Böttiger, International Max Planck Research School ‘Knowledge & Its Resources’, Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Berlin

Session: 822 Esther Simpson Building: 3.02
Title: THREADS OF KNOWLEDGE: MEDIEVAL TEXTILES, 400-1400, IV
822-a: Pin Beaters in Specialised Weaving
Mary Valante, Department of History, Appalachian State University, North Carolina
822-b: Tangible Threads of Textile Archaeology: Recreating Norwegian Migration Period Clothing
Magnus Hansen, Independent Scholar
822-c: Some Sticks, Bits of String, Maybe a Couple of Stones: Teaching Medieval Textile Techniques at Heritage Sites
Carey Fleiner, School of History, Archaeology & Philosophy, University of Winchester

WEDNESDAY 09 JULY 2025: 09.00-10.30

Session: 1022 Esther Simpson Building: 1.08
Title: TEXTILIAN WORLDS OF LEARNING, 450-1400, I: KEEPING SKILLS ALIVE
Sponsor: Discussion, Investigation & Study of Textile Arts, Fabrics & Fashion (DISTAFF)
1022-a: High-Tech Gold Threads from the Early Medieval Period: The Challenge of Processing Gold Textile Thread and Making Samples
Lorena Ariis, Independent Scholar
1022-b: Experimental Learning and Teaching: Early Medieval Embroidery – A Case Study
Alexandra Makin, Department of History, Politics & Philosophy, Manchester Metropolitan University

WEDNESDAY 09 JULY 2025: 11.15-12.45

Session: 1122 Esther Simpson Building: 1.08
Title: TEXTILIAN WORLDS OF LEARNING, 450-1400, II: MEDIEVAL KNOWING
Sponsor: Discussion, Investigation & Study of Textile Arts, Fabrics & Fashion (DISTAFF)
1122-a: The War Loom and Early-English Ideal Femininity: Textile Language as Ironic Metaphor in Exeter Riddles 35 and 56
Ann Thomson, Department of English & Philosophy, Idaho State University
1122-b: ‘Trame dans la tenture’: Opulent Semiotics in Narrative Tapestry
Sofia Carbonell-Realme, Department of English, Harvard University
1122-c: Practice and Presentation: The Franciscan Habit in the Late Middle Ages
Cordelia Warr, Art History & Cultural Practices, University of Manchester

WEDNESDAY 09 JULY 2025: 14.15-15.45

Session: 1222 Esther Simpson Building: 1.08
Title: TEXTILIAN WORLDS OF LEARNING, 450-1400, III: MEDIEVAL LEARNING
Sponsor: Discussion, Investigation & Study of Textile Arts, Fabrics & Fashion (DISTAFF)
1222-a: The Craftsmanship of the Makers of Early Medieval Egyptian Tunics: Masters and Apprentices
Anne Kwaspen, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge
1222-b: Academic and Embodied Ways of Understanding Geometric Ornament: Insular Women Textile Makers and the Transmutation of Patterns
Cynthia Thickpenny, Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh

WEDNESDAY 09 JULY 2025: 16.30-18.00

Session: 1316 Newlyn Building: GR.07
Title: NARRATING GENDER AND LIFE CYCLES IN MEROVINGIAN GAUL, IV: MATERIALITY
1316-b: Fabricating Gender: Textiles in Late Antique Literature
Hope Williard, Departement Talen, Literatuur en Communicatie, Universiteit Utrecht

Session: 1322 Esther Simpson Building: 1.08
Title: TEXTILIAN WORLDS OF LEARNING, 450-1400, IV: TEACHING AND LEARNING
Sponsor: Discussion, Investigation & Study of Textile Arts, Fabrics & Fashion (DISTAFF)
1322-a: The Evolution and Transmission of Aso-Oke Weaving Skills: A Study of Yoruba Textile Practices, 450-1400
Idowu Jamiu Diyaolu, Department of Family, Nutrition & Consumer Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria
1322-b: Teaching and Learning about Early Medieval Textiles through Experimental Archaeology
Austin Mason, Digital Arts & Humanities, Carleton College, Minnesota
1322-c: From Looms to Labs: Exploring Experimental and Experiential Methods in Medieval Textile Learning
Marg Galbraith-Hamilton, Independent Scholar and Erin McGuire, Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria, British Columbia

WEDNESDAY 09 JULY 2025: 19.00-20.00

Session: 1422 Esther Simpson Building: 1.08
Title: TRANSFORMING TEXTILE ARCHAEOLOGY: HOW DO WE PUSH THE BOUNDARIES OF TEXTILE RESEARCH? – A ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION
The field of textile archaeology is a blossoming area of study, with research spanning all regions and time periods. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the various ways in which we can enrich our study of textiles through an interdisciplinary lens. This panel brings together a range of textile specialists with a variety of backgrounds in order to discuss how we can take emerging methodologies and create a collaborative approach to medieval textile research. Considering traditional methods of studying textile archaeology, the impact of conservation on textile research, art history, experimental archaeology, and more, this round table discussion aims to establish networks of knowledge among textile researchers, in which we can engage with and learn from each other. We invite active participation from the audience. Participants include Tracey Davison (University of York), Carey Fleiner (University of Winchester), Georgia Gould (University College London), Magnus Hansen (Independent Scholar), Millie Horton-Insch (Trinity
College Dublin), Olga Magoula-Bamford (University of York), and Alexandra Makin (Manchester Metropolitan University).

THURSDAY 10 JULY 2025: 09.00-10.30

Session: 1522 Esther Simpson Building: 1.08
Title: OBJECT EPISTEMOLOGIES, I: NEGOTIATING AMBIGUITY
1522-a: Burning Clothes: Learning from the Other Side through Inscribed Materials in the Reuner Relation and Other Miracle Texts
Philip Reich, Germanistisches Seminar, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
1522-b: Textile Knowledge and Narrative Ambiguity in the Vitae Offarum duorum, Mai und Beaflor, and Emaré
Antonia Murath, Institut für Deutsche und Niederländische Philologie, Freie Universität Berlin

Session: 1546 Maurice Keyworth Building: G.02
Title: WRITTEN ADVICE ON CORRECT ATTIRE
Sponsor: Discussion, Investigation & Study of Textile Arts, Fabrics & Fashion (DISTAFF) / Medieval Dress & Textile Society (MEDATS)
1546-a: The Codification of Liturgical Colours in the Later Middle Ages
Thomas M. Izbicki, School of Arts & Sciences, Rutgers University, New Jersey
1546-b: ‘The very great destruction and impoverishment of the land’: Medieval Sumptuary Law and Moral Panic
Laurel A. Wilson, Center for Medieval Studies, Fordham University
1546-c: Learning How to Avoid Infernal Faux Pas
Tina Anderlini, Independent Scholar

THURSDAY 10 JULY 2025: 14.15-15.45

Session: 1736 Esther Simpson Building: 3.08
Title: IMAG(IN)ING THE LIBERAL ARTS
1736-a: Interwoven Philosophies: Late Antique Education on Romanesque Tapestry
Marie Wickern, Institut für Kunstgeschichte und Archäologien Europas, Martin-Luther-Universität
Halle-Wittenberg