Leeds International Medieval Congress 2026
7 July 09:00
Panel hosted by Invisible East, Middle East Medievalists and the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies (IMEMS) at Durham University
In these sessions – sponsored by Invisible East at the University of Oxford; Middle East Medievalists and the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies (IMEMS) at Durham University – we explore Fragmentology in a wide sense, from methodology applied to manuscripts to case-studies on textile fragments or pieces of relics. From Latin to vernacular, early to late medieval, East to West, the papers in these sessions offer exciting glimpses of new discoveries, attributions and re-attributions, and reconstructions, across different materials and across time and space.
Session I will explore the lives and afterlives of medieval fragments, taking us on a fascinating journey from Berlin to Utrecht to Oxford and Puerto Rico. We will encounter philosophical fragments and pieces of the Bible, and we will get new insight into the practices of late-medieval bookbinders. The three papers in this session will provide diverse yet complementary views on the study of those fragments that gained an afterlife and have come down to us as part of other manuscripts.
Session II will present three case studies that bring unique perspectives to the study of fragments and manuscripts in the medieval Islamicate world. We will learn more about fragments that inform our knowledge of the development of the Persian chancery during the late Ghurid and early Khwarazmian periods; about multilingualism and multiculturalism in 14th century Anatolia, Transcaucasia and Iran; and the transmission of literary and paraliterary texts in the Islamicate world between the 10th and the 12th centuries.
Session III will explore textile, architectural and relic fragments through case-studies that highlight the interdisciplinary and wide-ranging nature of the field. These fragments, far from being just witnesses to everyday life and devotion, can yield eye-opening insights into power, politics, economy, the material and the immaterial. Starting with an Romanesque architectural fragment in Lugo cathedral in North-West Spain, we will continue our journey with a deep-dive into the division of relics in Italy and will culminate in an exploration of the meaning(s) of block-printed Egyptian textile
Session IV explores cultural and linguistic identity and the transmission of texts. Three case studies uncover the development of Mongol writing practices in an Islamic environment; the transmission of Roman and ecclesial epigrams in England and the Continent; and the relationship between written fragments and inscriptions between Christian communities in and outside of al-Andalus.
Moderator: Manuel Muñoz García, Institute of Medieval & Early Modern Studies (IMEMS), Durham University
Organisers: Arezou Azad, Arts et Patrimoine de l'Afghanistan, Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INaLCO), Paris & Invisible East, Oxford Lifelong Learning, University of Oxford with Manuel Muñoz García, Institute of Medieval & Early Modern Studies (IMEMS), Durham University
Medieval Fragments, I: Lives and Afterlives
Session Number: 536 scheduled for Tuesday, 7 July 2026: 9:00 AM-10:30 AM
| Role | Person | Affiliation | Paper Order | Paper Participation Type | Paper Title |
| Presenting Author | Pieter Beullens | De Wulf-Mansion Centrum voor antieke, middeleeuwse en renaissancefilosofie, KU Leuven | 1 | In-Person | A Case of 19th-Century Biblioclasm and the History of Medieval Aristotelianism in Britain |
| Presenting Author | Renske Hoff | Utrecht Centre for Medieval Studies, Universiteit Utrecht | 2 | In-Person | The Fragmented Afterlives of a Late Medieval Bible |
| Presenting Author | Jemima Bennett | Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford | 3 | In-Person | Recycling, Repurposing, and Reviving in 15th-Century Bookbinding |
Medieval Fragments, II: Palaeography in the Islamicate World
Session Number: 636 scheduled for Tuesday, 7 July 2026: 11:15 AM-12:45 PM
| Role | Person | Affiliation | Paper Order | Paper Participation Type | Paper Title |
| Respondent | Márton Vér | Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC), Universität Hamburg | |||
| Presenting Author | Takao Ito | Graduate School of Humanities, Kobe University | 1 | In-Person | Persianate Fragments from the Ḥaram al-Sharīf Collection |
| Presenting Author | Edward Shawe-Taylor | University of Oxford | 2 | In-Person | Abbasid Continuities and Seljuk Innovations: A Palaeographic Study of the Bamiyan and Firuzkuh Papers |
| Presenting Author | Arezou Azad | Invisible East, Oxford Lifelong Learning, University of Oxford & Arts et Patrimoine de l'Afghanistan, Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INaLCO), Paris | 3 | In-Person | Lost Archives from Afghanistan: Contextualising Fragments of Arabic and Persian Literary and Paraliterary Texts and Their Transmission |
Medieval Fragments, III: Beyond the Written Page
Session Number: 736 scheduled for Tuesday, 7 July 2026: 2:15 PM-3:45 PM
| Role | Person | Affiliation | Paper Order | Paper Participation Type | Paper Title |
| Presenting Author | Celia Vila Fernández | Departamento de Historia del Arte, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela | 1 | In-Person | Fragments of Feline Figures: Rethinking the Romanesque North of Lugo Cathedral through a Displaced Capital |
| Presenting Author | James Drysdale Miller | Faculty of History, University of Oxford | 2 | In-Person | Fragmented Cults: The Division of Relics in 10th-Century Italy |
| Presenting Author | Allison Boroff | Case Western Reserve University, Ohio | 3 | In-Person | Printing Power: An Autocratic and Apotropaic Textile Print from the Mamluk Sultanate |
Medieval Fragments, IV: Transmission, Identity, and Multiculturalism
Session Number: 836 scheduled for Tuesday, 7 July 2026: 4:30 PM-6:00 PM
| Role | Person | Affiliation | Paper Order | Paper Participation Type | Paper Title |
| Presenting Author | Ryoko Watabe | Department of Linguistics, University of Tokyo | 1 | In-Person | Fragments of Mongol Lives in the Middle East: Documentation Practices of the Aduchi Family in the Haram al-Sharif Corpus |
| Presenting Author | Mark Saltveit | Independent Scholar | 2 | In-Person | The Urbana Sylloge: An Important Fragment of Milred's Collection - A Lost 8th-Century Sylloge |
| Presenting Author | Irene Pereira García | Faculty of Geography & History, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) | 3 | In-Person | The Latin Fragments of Escorial MS 1623: Comparative Palaeography and Epigraphic Connections in 11th-Century Córdoba |
