The Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies had a very fruitful year in terms of research output (conferences, seminars, publications), promotion of the early period through its various activities (public lectures, conferences, seminars), and engagement with the public.
The Centre began the academic year with a research workshop organized jointly with the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Bergen and held in College 19-20 September 2012. This workshop, entitled ‘Latin and Vernacular: Texts, Transitions and Tensions in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance’, brought together over twenty-five scholars from various disciplines to discuss the subject in question and areas for future collaborative research.
On Wednesday 3 April 2013, the Centre organized the first of two research workshops focussing on the theme of challenging established views on the past. Entitled ‘Re-evaluating Richard III and the Wars of the Roses: Recovery, Reintegration and Reinterpretation’, the workshop brought together a range of scholars from diverse backgrounds: forensic science, archaeology, Welsh and Celtic Studies, and History. It was particularly topical given the very recent discovery of the body of Richard III in a car park in Leicester.
On Saturday 18 May 2013, the Centre held its second research workshop on this theme. Nick Austin, author of Secrets of the Norman Invasion, presented his challenging findings which call into question the traditional view of where the Battle of Hastings was fought.
The Centre held two Saturday Seminars this year, both of them in Michaelmas Term. The first of these was given by Dr Martine Cypers of the School of Classics on Saturday 24 November 2012. The title of the  talk was ‘Georgius Benedicti, The Exploits of William the Silent (De rebus gestis Guillielmi comitis Nassovii, 1586): Neo-latin Epic and Anglo-Dutch Diplomacy in the late Sixteenth Century’.
On Saturday 1 December 2012, one of the Centre’s Research Associates, Dr Savvas Neocleous, gave a talk on Andronikos I Komnenos (1183-1185): Tyrannus of Twelfth-Century Europe. This talk was wide-ranging in its remit, as it considered Byzantine sources, French, Norman, English, German and Austrian accounts. The talk was chaired by Dr Martine Cypers of the School of Classics and very usefully threw light on a little-known area.
The Centre hosted a further public lecture on Thursday 9 May 2013. The speaker on that occasion, Professor Jane Roberts of the Institute of English Studies at the University of London, is also one of the Centre’s Research Associates. She gave a fascinating andmost  informative talk entitled ‘Fifteen Shades of Gloss and the Anglo-Saxon Psalter’. The talk was chaired by Dr Helen Conrad-O’Briain of the School of English.
‘The Chaucer Seminar’, an initiative launched by the Centre 2011-2012 (and specifically by the Research Network ‘Chaucer in Context’ in conjunction with the Chaucer Hub), continued to run with its usual success. It attracted past and present students and members of the public.
This year saw the publication of Paul Gwynne’s book Nagonius: Prince of Poets in the Centre’s refereed series ‘Medieval and Renaissance Court Cultures’ published by Brepols.
The Centre will be launching a further refereed series (with Peter Lang) in the forthcoming academic year.
.This year, the Chaucer in Context Research Network was particularly prolific, as it has been since its establishment in 2010, the year it was founded: on Friday 10 May, the Centre launched two books arising from the Network, The Shaping of English Poetry Volume II: Essays on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Langland and Chaucer and The Shaping of English Poetry Volume III: Essays on Beowulf, Dante, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Langland,Chaucer and Spenser, bothwritten andedited by Dr Gerald Morgan and published by Peter Lang (Oxford: 2013). Professor Jane Roberts of the Institute of English Studies (University of London) launched the two books in the Long Room Hub. The launch was extremely well attended by colleagues, students past and present, and members of the public.
The Centre’s Research Forum Women in Continental Europe, founded and directed by Dr Eavan O’Brien, saw the publication of a (refereed) volume of articles, Representing Women’s Authority in the Early Modern World (Rome: Aracne, 2013). This volume brings together articles by eminent scholars in the field in a way that reflects the interdisciplinary focus of the Centre’s activities.
With regard to a further Research Network in which the Centre is involved, that uniting researchers on Savoy,  the (refereed) volume of essays arising from the 2010 conference Les Conflits en Savoie 1400-1800 (at which the Network was launched) is currently at press. It was edited by Dr Alyn Stacey.
In June, in her capacity as Director of the Centre, Dr Alyn Stacey was invited to Kells for the opening of Martry Mill, a structure first recorded in the Civil Survey compiled in the mid-1650s. This proved an important opportunity for promoting the Centre’s profile nationally and its collaboration with the public and various public  bodies, notably those involved in tourism and commerce. These discussions have led to concrete plans for collaboration in the forthcoming academic year.
In terms of publications, conference papers and research collaborations, the Centre’s Reseach Associates and Directors of Research Networks were very productive.
As for its support for postgraduates, the Centre was delighted to sponsor a reception at the Postgraduate conference Borderlines held in College 19-21 April 2013. It was also able to advise on publication of the proceedings.
The Centre’s MPhil in Medieval Language, Literature and Culture had a further successful year, showing particularly the Centre’s ability to attract international students.

Dr Sarah Alyn Stacey, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, FTCD, Académie de Savoie,
Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies,
COLLEGE
15 July 2013