Games and Sports: Colloquium Report

Posted on 27 February, 2011

Despite poor weather and the closure of the eastern end of the Central Line, the society convened on February 19^th for our spring colloquium: Games and Sports.

Unfortunately, William Maclehose came down with the flu and so was unable to present his paper 'Shaping the child's body: Sport and medicine in medieval culture.'  We hope that he will be better soon and perhaps present to the society at sometime in the future.

Happily, we were able to rearrange the programme, which began with Jennifer Neville asking 'What kind of game are the Exeter Book riddles?'  She began by showing that the modern definition of riddles does not fit those of the Exeter Book and went on to argue that the very lack of authorial direction and the multiplicity of possible answers suggest a meditative aim.  'A game of hide and seek with the eyes of the heart.'

Gesine Oppitz-Trotman followed.  Her paper 'Thomas Becket, Henry II and birds of Prey' discussed how the hagiographers handled the problematic fact of Becket's love for falconry.

After a relaxed lunch and much discussion of the nature of riddles and the technicalities of hawk healthcare, we reconvened to hear Daniel Knight's paper: 'Fysshynge wyth an Angle' in which he discussed the treatise on fishing contained within the Book of St Albans.  The presence of such a technical treatise in a manuscript clearly aimed at the wealthy suggested an aim to claim status for the sport even if only as a curiosity.

A short tea break followed before we were fortunate enough to have Richard Eales talk briefly to us about chess: its origins, medieval development and its modern research sources.  Given without notes, his presentation neatly tied together strands of debate from the preceding papers.  The committee and society are very grateful to him fro agreeing to speak at short notice.

There followed a lively discussion involving every attending member during which it became clear that one of the most unexpected recurrent themes in a conference about sport had been that of meditation.  Shortly after 4:00pm, the meeting broke up.

• Back to News...