This past weekend, PSC was home to the 23rd annual Medieval Forum. The Forum is a professional conference that brings in medieval scholars from across the country and the world. This year’s theme was, “Travel and Tourism in the Middle Ages.” It was a weekend filled with the sharing of research, fun and food.
The conference opened on a cold, misty Friday morning evocative of the English countryside. Student Peter May, dressed in homemade armor, lead the procession from Rounds Hall to the front of Reed House. Members of the Medieval Society, Vice President Richard Hage, Dr. A. Robin Bowers, and Dr. Eleanor Congdon followed him.
Vice President Hage opened the ceremony with a rousing welcome to the assembled faculty, students, and guests. Dr. Bowers next recited the prologue to Chaucer’s,
Canterbury Tales, in the original Middle English. Lauren Moreau and I performed a song we wrote about the martyred Saint Becket to the tune of Petula Clark’s, Downtown. Philip O’Mara performed a song he wrote about the Medieval Forum and Dr. Congdon said a few more words of welcome. The ceremony was closed with the traditional singing of, Gaudeamus Igitur, which praises academia.
Friday afternoon the HUB was host to the 2nd annual Mini Medieval Fair and about one hundred area schoolchildren. Exhibits on the Upper level of the Fireplace Lounge were displayed for the children as well as PSC students. Ally Cunningham and Peter May exhibited their chainmail, a medieval form of armor, as well as Peter’s forge. Tables were also set up so the children could have their names written in calligraphy, as well as a table where they could learn about herbs and play games.
The main stage on the first floor was the focus of entertainment. Magician Stuart Jeseph, whose stage name is
Great Scot, performed two sets. Lauren Moreau played a twenty-minute set of both medieval and renaissance music on the Celtic harp. She even took a request for, Greensleeves, from one young aficionado. Storyteller, Claire Robson, wowed the children with her lively, interactive tales and had them on the edge of their seats. Cliff Pearson gave a juggling performance off stage.
While the Mini Fair was going on in the Fireplace Lounge, Keynote speakers, Drs. David Gitlitz and Linda Davidson, addressed the assembled body of professors in the MPR. Their address, entitled, The Road to Santiago: Rebirth of a Medieval Pilgrimage, dealt in part with their own experiences traveling on the pilgrimage route in Spain to Santiago de Compostela.
Friday’s festivities ended with a presentation by the Art History Department’s, Dr. Naomi Reed Kline. She unveiled her new CD-ROM entitled, A Wheel of Memory: The Hereford Mappamundi. The CD-ROM is the culmination of six years of research about medieval maps, particularly one housed in Hereford, England, which bears around one thousand images.
Papers continued to be given throughout the day on Saturday. Topics ranged from, Travel and Commerce in Medieval Iberia, to Grace/Holy Land: The Medievalism of Modern Pilgrimage.
The final event of the Forum is always the feast. The Medieval Society and other volunteers decorated the HUB’s Courtroom to resemble a tavern. Entertainment was provided throughout the gathering by a group called The Ashton Trio, who have a repertoire of medieval, renaissance, and baroque music that they perform on recorders and the viola da gamba.
The feast offered such dishes as venison stew, roast chicken with strawberye sauce, and lentil and rice loaf. Grog and hot apple cider were also doled out.
The feast was bittersweet for many in attendance as it was Dr. Congdon’s last year as head of the Medieval Forum. She will not be returning to Plymouth State College in the fall. Once the meal ended, she showed her appreciation to all of those who helped her make the Forum more enjoyable for all in attendance.
Four statues of white knights were handed out as tokens of her appreciation. One of the recipients was Martin Fallon, a retired professor form UMASS, who had attended all twenty-three Forums. Another went to Professor Phillip O’Mara of Bridgewater College in Virginia.
The third knight was presented to the Assistant Director of the Medieval Forum, Marsi Wisniewski. Marsi did a wonderful job with the Forum this year and really took charge. Hopefully, she will assume the title Director of the Medieval Forum next year.
The fourth and final knight was given to the Medieval Society for all their hard work and efforts over the years. There was a tearful exchange between the members of Medieval Society and Dr. Congdon as Vice President Lauren Moreau read a prepared speech, which read in part, “Although we regret out loss of [Dr. Congdon] as a professor, we send her off with our best wishes. She will always remain a treasured friend. As token of our appreciation for her dedication to the college, forum, and most importantly students, The Medieval Society is working together to complete a chain-mail shirt for her, because all crusaders need their armor.
This was one of the most successful Medieval Forums we have had at Plymouth State College thanks to all those who helped out.