by Dr Mariana Bodnaruk (Masaryk University Brno), Dr Stephan Bruhn (German Historical Institute London), and Dr Michael Eber (University of Cologne) On 22–23 May, the German Historical Institute in London hosted a conference titled ‘Trans Sainthood in Translation, ca. 400–1500’. Seventeen presenters from eight countries covered the translations and artistic depictions of the lives of the so-called monachoparthenoi. According to their legends, these saints were assigned female gender at birth but lived as monks in male monasteries. While most of their vitae originated in the Greek-speaking regions of the Late Antique Eastern Mediterranean, versions of their stories appear to have circulated in almost every Late Antique and Medieval Christian community. The conference focused on the five monachoparthenoi who received full-length biographies in both Greek and Latin (Eugenia*us, Euphrosyne*Smaragdus, Marina*us, Pelagia*us and Theodora*us), but papers also covered these vitae as they appear in Syriac, Coptic, Ge’ez, Church Slavonic, Old English, Old French, Middle High German and Old Norse. Visual depictions and relics from Constantinople, Cyprus, Palestine, the Balkans, Rome and Iberia were also explored (the programme is available here). Although the stories were literary constructions written mainly by monastic authors, they had an original historical core and a long oral tradition. […]

by the Past & Present editorial team Three of the 2023-25 Past and Present postdoctoral fellows Drs. Lamin Manneh, Ana Struillou and Malika Zehni (Institute of Historical Research, London) have edited a virtual issue of the journal on the subject of Immobility. In their introduction they explain that: “Increasingly, since the early years of the twenty-first century, some have questioned the relevance of historians’ ‘fetishization of mobility’ in an era of closing borders. This has led to greater attention being placed on systems of ‘regulation and intervention’ that shape global migration. Shifting away from the narratives centred on movement and fluidity, we argue that immobility is not a mere lack of movement: it is about the power relations and barriers that enforce, experience, and resist stillness. By delving into the archives of Past and Present, we aim to construct a conversation around the processes of enforcing, experiencing, and challenging immobility. We have found that immobility shapes the experiences of both the historical actors found in the journal and the historians and scholars who write these histories.” Outlining the basis of their interest in the topic and why this should be a matter of interest to historians working in the contemporary […]

by Kate Shore (Lincoln College, University of Oxford) and Dr. Fred Smith (Balliol College, University of Oxford) What have the English ever done for us? This central question guided participants in a one-day workshop, organised by Fred Smith and Kate Shore, exploring the European impact and legacy of England’s early modern reformations. Once seen as insular and introverted, historians have increasingly come to recognise the extent to which England’s reformations, both Protestant and Catholic, developed in close and intimate dialogue with religious changes elsewhere throughout Europe. However, the history of Europe‘s many reformations and counter-reformations is still often told without much reference to England. Indeed, it is often assumed that England’s reformations had relatively little to offer their continental counterparts: as Diarmaid MacCulloch once suggested, ‘the flow of ideas in the [English] reformation seems at least at first sight to be a matter of imports from abroad, with an emphatically unfavourable balance of payments.’ The workshop, held in Balliol College, Oxford, on 27 March 2025, sought to interrogate this narrative by bringing together an international group of historians, literary scholars and theologians. Over the course of 12 papers and lively discussion, a number of things became clear. The first was […]

by Dr. Sasha Goldstein-Sabbah (University of Groningen) From April 6-8 2025, the historic halls of the University of Warsaw became the vibrant meeting ground for sixteen scholars from across Europe converging to rethink and reframe Jewish histories through a Mediterranean lens. The workshop, titled Jewish Dis/Connections across and beyond the Modern Mediterranean, offered more than a gathering of minds—it was an invitation to rethink boundaries, identities, and narratives that have long defined Jewish studies in Europe. Why the Mediterranean, Why Now? Traditionally, European Jewish history has centered on communities in Central, Western, and Eastern Europe. Southern Europe and the Mediterranean have often been either marginalized or treated as outliers in scholarly discourse. This workshop sought to flip that script. Guided by the organizing team—Dr. Magdalena Kozłowska (University of Warsaw), Dr. Noëmie Duhaut (University of Southampton), and Dr. Sasha Goldstein-Sabbah (University of Groningen)—the event proposed an integrative approach to Jewish history. It focused on mobility, not just of people, but of ideas, objects, languages, and institutions. As modern historians turn increasingly toward transnational and transimperial perspectives, this gathering highlighted how Jewish lives in and around the Mediterranean challenge established categories and regional divides. A Crossroads of Scholarship Over three days, participants […]

received from the event organisers We are pleased to announce that the Work, Authenticity, and Social Identity in Early Modern Britain (c.1500-1750) Conference, supported by the Warwick Early Modern and Eighteenth Century Centre, the Doctoral Training Partnership AHRC-Midlands4Cities, the Society for the Study of Labour History, the Social History Society, and the Past & Present Society, will take place in the Scarman Conference Centre at the University of Warwick on 10-11 June 2025. Keynote addresses will be delivered by Professor Steve Hindle (Washington University in St Louis), Professor Jane Whittle (University of Exeter), and jointly by Dr Mark Hailwood (University of Bristol) & Dr Brodie Waddell (Birkbeck, University of London). Over the past several decades, scholars of British social and cultural history have fundamentally reshaped our understanding of early modern labour, social identity, and the self, demonstrating the analytical power of incorporating interdisciplinary approaches into their analyses alongside a diverse range of sources, from ballads to legal records. This conference seeks to develop this important body of work, inviting fresh perspectives on themes that have proven foundational to the study of early modern British social and cultural history. Non-elite early modern people spent a large portion of their lives ‘at work’, and their labouring experiences were often a central component of their identities and mental universes. We are interested in further […]

received from Dr. Michelle Pfeffer (Magdalen College, University of Oxford) Dates: 11-12 July 2025 Location: Seminar Room, Radcliffe Humanities Building, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6GG Programme Registration Overview – Conference Theme and Goals Historians have studied extensively how sciences begin—but how do they end? This is a crucial question for understanding how the labour of knowledge-making evolves. Previous attention to the founding, disciplining, and professionalisation of individual sciences has provided robust frameworks for thinking through the birth and growth of knowledge-making communities. Far less attention has been directed toward how those same communities decay, dissipate, or evolve beyond the contemporary boundaries of science. This conference seeks to cultivate case studies of the ends of sciences, and thereby to motivate a new approach to thinking about the developmental trajectories of scientific disciplines, communities, institutions, and the ordering of expert knowledge. A further aim is to strengthen the community of scholars with a shared interest in studying the ends of sciences. A small lunch will be provided on both days of the conference. If you have any dietary requirements, please email Michelle at michelle.pfeffer@history.ox.ac.uk. We hope to arrange a conference dinner for Friday 11 July following the keynote lecture. […]

by Dr. Robert Yee (Wadham College, University of Oxford) The University of Oxford convened a two-day conference on the history of political economy, capitalism, and global governance between 7 and 8 April 2025. Co-organised by Patricia Clavin, Aled Davies, and Robert Yee, the conference brought together 15 speakers for a discussion on the future of the field. In recent years, scholars have assessed the history of global economic governance from multiple perspectives. They have focused on the rise of development initiatives, the impact of wars on the global order, and the tensions between national interests and international cooperation. Together, these works have broadened our understanding of the evolving role of individuals, ideas, and institutions in shaping the world economy. Our conference reflected on these topics and suggested new directions for the field. We were particularly interested in examining the ways in which the idea of the world economy has been contested, debated, governed and restructured during moments of crisis and change. We also explored the time and temporality of crises, considering the various speeds at which different types of crises, from financial to environmental, proliferated. The conference consisted of five panels, each with three presentations. Our first panel focused on […]

received from Mariana Bodnaruk (Masaryk University, Brno), Stephan Bruhn (German Historical Institute, London) and Michael Eber (University of Oxford) Dates: 22 – 23 May 2025 Venue: German Historical Institute, London/online via the Zoom platform Overview Trans saints – monachoparthenoi, saints who are initially described as female by their hagiographers, but transition to a male (often monastic) identity – are present in every late antique and medieval Christian tradition. The textual and artistic renderings of these figures offer a comparative key to conceptualizing trans bodies and trans souls across geographical and chronological boundaries. Binary cis-heteronormativity has long been portrayed as unchanging and unchangeable, as outside of the scope of history. This is a central plank in the playbook followed by transphobes worldwide, in the ever-escalating “culture war” against trans and queer people. Highlighting both the ubiquity and multivalence of premodern trans monks, and connecting across disciplinary divides to do so, is urgent work, not least because it provides a necessary counterpoint to such historically inaccurate rhetoric. Following the insights of the “performative turn” in queer and trans studies that underscores the enactment and negotiation of gender identity through lived experiences, social practices, and narratives, we welcome explorations of gender and sexuality […]

by the Past & Present editorial team Subscribe to Past and Present’s new e-newsletter –  the Past and Present Society has set-up a free e-newsletter using the Substack platform as a hosting medium. From May 2025 this will be published quarterly in line with the journal’s publishing schedule. The newsletter will include a round-up of recent publications including articles, supplements and virtual issues. As well as news from the Society especially regarding initiatives we fund like scholarships, postdoctoral fellowships and conferences. You may subscribe to the Past and Present e-newsletter here. We would be grateful if you could share news of the newsletter’s launch with potentially interested colleagues, students, and anybody else who may be interested in receiving the quarterly communication, especially those who do not maintain a social media presence. The Society will continue to share articles from the journals, news, opportunities and other updates via its feed on the Bluesky social media platform.

received from Dr. Robin Eagles (The History of Parliament) and Dr. Chris Monaghan (University of Worcester) Dates: 3 – 4 July 2025 Location: University of Worcester School of Law, Jenny Lind Building, Farrier St, Worcester, WR1 3BZ Event Overview A conference jointly hosted by: The Constitutions, Rights and Justice Research Group, University of Worcester and The History of Parliament Trust, Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th July 2025. The trial of Warren Hastings was one of the seminal moments in late 18th-century politics. The former governor general of Bengal, Hastings, was accused of a variety of crimes relating to abuse of the local population and peculation. Attitudes to him varied widely, with him attracting high profile supporters, while the case against him was driven forward by stars of the Whig party, such as Edmund Burke and Charles James Fox. In raw political terms it helped precipitate the collapse of any sense of unity within the former governing Whigs and helped William Pitt the Younger cement his hold on power. Quite as importantly, the trial is vital in understanding how British society viewed the government of colonial India and how Indian society responded to the process of colonization. The trial is crucial […]