The British Archaeological Association will hold the fourth of its biennial International Romanesque conference series in Oxford on 4-6 April, 2016. The theme is Romanesque: Saints, Shrines and Pilgrimage, and the intention is to examine the material culture of sanctity over the period c.1000-c.1250. The Conference will be held at Rewley House in Oxford, with the opportunity to stay on for two days of visits to Romanesque buildings on 7-8 April.

The papers fall into three broad categories: the geography of sanctity – more specifically the construction of architectural settings for the display of relics, along with the corresponding spatial, scenographic and mnemonic arrangements devised for pilgrims, for the most part at individual sites; cults and reliquaries – considerations of the ways in which reliquaries helped to define a cult, and how they might be designed to draw attention to the particular attributes, virtues or miracle-working character of individual saints; visual hagiography – the public representation of sainthood, how and where this is found, and how and why this changed over the late 11th and 12th centuries.

Speakers include Javier Martinez de Aguirre, Claude Andrault-Schmitt, Mañuel Castiñeiras, John Crook, Gaetano Curzi, Øystein Ekroll, Meredith Fluke, Barbara Franzé, Richard Gem, Deborah Kahn, Jeremy Knight, Ryan Lash, Nathalie Le Luel, Gerhard Lutz, John McNeill, Montserrat Pages, Marta Poza Yagüe, Arturo Carlo Quintavalle, Neil Stratford, Béla Zsolt Szakács, Elizabeth Valdez del Álamo, Michele Vescovi, Rose Walker, Tomasz Weclawowicz and Susanne Wittekind.

LECTURES, LUNCHES AND RECEPTIONS

The conference will open at 09.30 on Monday, 4 April with lectures in the main auditorium at Rewley House (corner of Wellington Square and St John’s Street, Oxford). Teas, coffees and lunches will be provided on all three days, and there will be dinners in Oxford college halls on the Monday and Wednesday.

VISITS

There will be an opportunity to stay on for two days of visits to Romanesque buildings on 7-8 April, including Malmesbury and Tewkesbury Abbeys, Old Sarum, Iffley, Kempley and Gloucester Cathedral.

BOOKING FORMS

These are available to download from the BAA website here.

SCHOLARSHIPS

A limited number of scholarships for students are available to cover the cost of the conference. Please apply by 30 November 2015, attaching a short CV along with the name and contact details of one referee. Applications should be sent to either of the conference convenors; jsmcneill@btinternet.com orrplant62@hotmail.com

The conference welcomes professional and amateur enthusiasts equally.