Participant Info

First Name
Emma
Last Name
Nelson
Country
United Kingdom
State
Affiliation
University of Manchester
Website URL
Keywords
Medieval history, religious history, library history, history of the book, twelfth century, Lincoln, secular clergy, monastic conflict, historical re-enactment
Availability
1
Additional Contact Information
PhD
MA

Personal Info

Photo
About Me

I am a PhD candidate in History at the University of Manchester, with a primary focus on the religious history of the long twelfth century. My thesis examines the twelfth-century library, intellectual and literary culture of Lincoln Cathedral; through a comprehensive survey of the surviving manuscripts held in the cathedral library and elsewhere, I make a new case for their significance to our understanding of English secular cathedrals during the twelfth century. I am especially interested in the ways in which books were encountered and used at Lincoln, and consider books as affective objects, arguing that changing attitudes towards identity and gift-giving, and a newfound belief in purgatory, led to the widespread popularity of book donation (among other forms of donation) to religious institutions during the second half of the twelfth century. My doctoral research is funded by the University of Manchester, and is supervised by Prof. Stephen Mossman and Prof. Paul Oldfield.

After completing my undergraduate degree in Classics at the University of Manchester, I undertook a master’s degree in Medieval and Early Modern Studies. My master’s dissertation examined the relationship between community and conflict in twelfth-century monastic chronicles, and I have recently published an article based on it in the Journal of Ecclesiastical History. I am also interested in the concept of ‘authenticity’ within historical re-enactment, and I am currently preparing a chapter on this theme for publication as part of the edited volume Performing Medievalism: Tips, Tricks and Tropes from Early Artistic Practice for the Modern-Day Performer.

Recent Publications

Emma J. Nelson, ‘Community and conflict in the chronicle of Bury St Edmunds’, Journal of Ecclesiastical History (75), 231-249.

Media Coverage
Country Focus
England
Expertise by Geography
British Isles, United Kingdom, Western Europe
Expertise by Chronology
Medieval
Expertise by Topic
Book History, Libraries & Archives, Local & Regional, Material Culture