Category Archives: Uncategorized

Join Us at Peterborough Cathedral this May!

Have you ever wondered about the stories hidden within the stones of Peterborough Cathedral? Before it was a cathedral, the site was a medieval abbey, which held at its heart a precious relic: the miraculously incorrupt right arm of St. Oswald. Oswald was the most important saint in medieval Peterborough, and his history and legacyContinue reading “Join Us at Peterborough Cathedral this May!”

World première of new song cycle about Oswald!

On 12th February, the world premiere of the new song cycle My Name is Oswald took place in the Chapel at King’s College London. My Name is Oswald is a new song cycle by award-winning composer Hannah Conway and writer Hazel Gould, based on the multiple stories of Oswald of Northumbria, and drawing on new research about Oswald by Sarah Bowden andContinue reading “World première of new song cycle about Oswald!”

Map update!

Thanks to Berlin-based Stephan Oswald, we have recently added 14 additional churches to our Oswald map. Excitingly, these churches are in 6 new countries, demonstrating Oswald’s reach extended beyond Europe, becoming established in countries that were part of the British Commonwealth, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago and Pakistan! View theContinue reading “Map update!”

New project book out Open Access!

We are delighted to share the news that Liturgy, Literature, and History. Oswald of Northumbria and the Cult of Saints in the Middle Ages has been published by the British Academy. The book, which uses Oswald of Northumbria as a case study to understand the dynamics of saintly cults in the Middle Ages, is editedContinue reading “New project book out Open Access!”

New short YouTube film in the “Glimpses of German History” series!

Glimpses of German History is a series of short films made by the German History Society, which uses objects to shed light on German history. In this short film, Dr Johanna Dale discusses the reliquary of St Oswald from Hildesheim Cathedral. This unique reliquary claims to contain Oswald’s head (spoiler: it almost certainly does not!)Continue reading “New short YouTube film in the “Glimpses of German History” series!”

Landscapes of Sanctity in Sankt Oswald

There has been a religious building dedicated to St Oswald in this small valley in the Nock Mountains since some time before 1197, when a chapel is first mentioned in the context of the nearby monastery at Millstatt coming into possession of lands in the area. In the following century the chapel became a churchContinue reading “Landscapes of Sanctity in Sankt Oswald”

Heaven(field) is a place on Earth

In a lay-by by the side of the B6318 in rural Northumberland there stands an oak cross, which was installed in the 1930s. What is this monument doing in a roadside lay-by, just east of the site of Turret 25B on Hadrian’s Wall, one of the series of turrets and milecastles that protected the wildContinue reading “Heaven(field) is a place on Earth”

Book launch: St Peter-on-the-Wall: Landscape and heritage on the Essex Coast

26 February 2024, 5:30 pm–7:30 pm at UCL’s Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS) In the mid-seventh century, St Cedd, who had been trained at Oswald’s foundation of Lindisfarne, undertook missionary work in the Kingdom of the East Saxons. He founded two monasteries, one at Tilbury and one at Bradwell on Sea. The Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall,Continue reading “Book launch: St Peter-on-the-Wall: Landscape and heritage on the Essex Coast”

Landscapes of Sanctity

Call for papers and ECR bursaries for Leeds IMC 2024 We welcome applications from Early Career Researchers to participate in panels on ‘Landscapes of Sanctity’ to be put forward for the Leeds International Medieval Congress 2024. Four successful applicants will each be given a bursary of £450 towards the costs of attending the conference, funded by theContinue reading “Landscapes of Sanctity”