11th Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Saint Louis University, June 10-12, 2024
A Welcome and Introduction from the International Boethius Society
Boethius 2024: The 1500 Year Memorial Conference
• Opening Remarks
Anthony G. Cirilla, College of the Ozarks
• “The Brian S. Donaghey Center for Boethian Studies: Special Collection and Online Archive”
Kenneth Hawley, Lubbock Christian University
• Plenary Address: “The Enduring Consolation of Boethius”
Stephen Blackwood, Ralston College
Interpreting the Consolation and Its Author
Boethius 2024: The 1500 Year Memorial Conference
Chair: William Christian, Spartanburg Methodist College
• “Taking Philosophy Personally: Exploring the Ontology of Philosophia”
Anthony G. Cirilla, College of the Ozarks
• “The Deep Illness of the Impulsive Soul”
Gary Hartenburg, Houston Christian University
• “Statesman, Scholar, Saint? The Later Medieval Cult of Boethius”
Jane Maschue, The Catholic University of America
Tracing Boethian Philosophy in Literary Reception
Boethius 2024: The 1500 Year Memorial Conference
Chair: Kenneth Hawley, Lubbock Christian University
• “Broken Branches and ‘The Seed of Truth’: Boethian Images of Suicide in Inferno”
Ethan Smilie, College of the Ozarks
• “Optics of Fortune: Misperception and Despair in Chaucer’s Franklin’s Tale and Knight’s Tale”
Madeline Fox, University of Michigan
• “‘Tones As Smooth As Honey’: Boethian Themes in Christina Rossetti's ‘Goblin Market’”
Camarie Cirilla, College of the Ozarks
Boethius in Medieval English Texts
Boethius 2024: The 1500 Year Memorial Conference
Chair: Ian Johnson, University of St. Andrews
• “Conversion of Narrative in The Wanderer and Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy”
Nicholas Babich, University of Notre Dame
• “Thinking in Riddles: Translating Cognitive Schemas in the Old English Boethius”
Abigail Palmisano, Loyola University Chicago
• “The Influence of Boethius Throughout Chaucer’s Prose”
Jennifer Arch, Washington University in St. Louis
Exploring the Consolation’s Influence
Boethius 2024: The 1500 Year Memorial Conference
Chair: Jane Maschue, Catholic University of America
• “Boethius and the Controversy De Auxillis”
Joshua Keatley, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice
• “Boethius, Dame Fortune, and Whorish Legacy”
Savannah Xaver, Western Michigan University
• “Alchemy and Lady Philosophy: The Influence of Boethius in the Rhetoric of Late Medieval Alchemy”
William Christian, Spartanburg Methodist College
• “The Exogenous Autobiography in the Consolation and its Variations in the Middle Ages”
Goda Bulybenko, Independent Scholar
Beyond the Boece: Translating the Consolation in Middle English
Boethius 2024: The 1500 Year Memorial Conference
Chair: Megan Murton, The Catholic University of America
• “John Walton's Boethian Repertoire of Middle English Commentary-translation and Self-commentary”
Ian Johnson, University of St. Andrews
• “John Walton's Techniques of Translation”
Ian Cornelius, Loyola University Chicago
• “Sapiential Fragments: Framing Book 1 in The Boke of Comfourt”
Melinda Nielsen, Baylor University
The Consolations of Musical Creation
Boethius 2024: The 1500 Year Memorial Conference
Chair: Camarie Cirilla, College of the Ozarks
• “The Vatican Film Library presents its Boethius Facsimile”
Dr. Lea Luecking Frost, Assistant Director, Vatican Film Library, Saint Louis University
• “BOETHIUS: A Grand Opera in the Making”
Margaret Trenchard-Smith, Independent Historian, & Kevin Bryant Lay, Composer
Round Table: The Future of Boethian Studies
Boethius 2024: The 1500 Year Memorial Conference
• Kenneth Hawley, Lubbock Christian University
• Megan Murton, The Catholic University of America
• Anthony G. Cirilla, College of the Ozarks
• Ian Johnson, University of St. Andrews
• Jennifer Arch, Washington University in St. Louis
2023 INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON MEDIEVAL STUDIES
Boethius's Influence Through the Ages: 524-2024
Sponsoring Organization: International Boethius Society
Organizer: Philip Edward Phillips (Middle Tennessee State University)
Presider: Rebecca Price (Middle Tennessee State University)
A Riddle in Time: De consolatione philosophiae in Translation and Use in Early Medieval England
Charles Firestone East, Columbia Univ.
Charles Firestone East, Columbia Univ.
Boethius, Bran, and the Influence of De consolatione philosophiae on Early Medieval Irish Literature
Brigid Ehrmantraut, Univ. of Cambridge
Boethian Wit: Humor in the Structure of the Consolation
Anthony G. Cirilla, College of the Ozarks
Where the Muses Could Not Go: The Miracle of Generic Transformation in Troilus’ Boethian Ascent
Ciara Jane Turula, Univ. of Notre Dame
Philip Edward Phillips (MTSU) - IBS Secretary & Session Organizer
Rebecca Price (MTSU) - Session Presider
Charles Firestone East (Columbia University)
Brigid Ehrmantraut (University of Cambridge)
Anthony G. Cirilla (College of the Ozarks)
Ciara Jane Turula (University of Notre Dame)
10th Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Rebecca Price (MTSU) - Session Presider
Charles Firestone East (Columbia University)
Brigid Ehrmantraut (University of Cambridge)
Saint Louis University, June 12-14, 2023
Boethius & Complications in Christian Identity
Organizer: Anthony G. Cirilla, College of the Ozarks Chair: Camarie Cirilla, Latimer Theological Institute
“The Consolation of Ithacus: Mythic Philosophy and the Boethian Displacement of Odysseus”
Anthony G. Cirilla, College of the Ozarks
“Consolation in Translation: Walton's Boethius and The Boke of Coumfort”
Megan Murton, The Catholic University of America
“‘Without the Assystance of the Devyne Scriptures’: Human Reason and Spiritual Guidance in T.R.'s 1584 Translation of de Consolatione Philosophiae”
Kenneth Hawley, Lubbock Christian University
“Black Enchantments and Sacrilegio: False Accusations in Samson Agonistes and The Consolation of Philosophy”
Ethan Smilie, College of the Ozarks
Ethan Smilie Presenting
2023 INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON MEDIEVAL STUDIES
Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae in the Middle Ages
Sponsoring Organization: International Boethius Society
Organizer: Philip Edward Phillips (Middle Tennessee State University)
Presider: Philip Edward Phillips (Middle Tennessee State University)
Lindsay Ruth Ragle-Miller (University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill), Fate and Fortune: Word Choice in the Old English Boethius
Ricardo Matthews (California State University - Fullerton), The Missing Song: Boethius and the Prosimetric Tradition
Matthew W. Brumit (University of Mary), Boethius's Four Modes of Knowing in Pearl
Sarah R. Kyle (Iowa State University), "To mount the narrow seat": A Physician's Transformation of Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae in a Fifteenth-Century Illustrated Herbal
It was so rewarding to be back in person on the Western Michigan University campus--what a great and enjoyable session! The presentations were just fantastic, and they fit together so very well. Here are a few photos of our session: the preliminary remarks about the Society, the panel taking Q&A, and the presenters posing with our organizer and presider, Dr. Philip Phillips.
Kenneth Discussing our Journal, Carmina Philosophiae
Q&A with Ricardo, Lindsay, Sarah, and Matthew
Philip, Ricardo, Lindsay, Sarah, and Matthew
Kenneth Discussing our Journal, Carmina Philosophiae
Q&A with Ricardo, Lindsay, Sarah, and Matthew
2022 INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON MEDIEVAL STUDIES
The Alfredian or Old English Boethius: Authority, Authorship, and Influence - In Memory of Paul E. Szarmach
Sponsoring Organization: International Boethius Society
Organizer: Philip Edward Phillips (Middle Tennessee State University)
Presider: Rhonda L. McDaniel (Middle Tennessee State University)
Ruta Sileikyte Zukiene (Vilniaus University/Vytauto Didžiojo University), The Authority of Reason in the Old English Boethius
Kenneth C. Hawley (Lubbock Christian University), The Power and Personality of the Eternal God in the Alfredian Boethius
We had a wonderful Zoom session again this year and enjoyed a lively and interesting discussion with our attendees after the presentations. We are grateful for the support staff who made this remote gathering possible.
2021 INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON MEDIEVAL STUDIES
The Literary & Philosophical Influence of Boethius in the Middle Ages
Sponsoring Organization: International Boethius Society
Organizer: Philip Edward Phillips (Middle Tennessee State University)
Presider: Kenneth C. Hawley (Lubbock Christian University)
Clelia Vittoria Crialesi (Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies), Exigetical and Philosophical Uses of Boethius’s De arithmetica in the Carolingian Age: Rabanus Maurus and John Scotus Eriugena on Sap. 11:21
David Sharp (Carleton University), Boethian Counsel and Richard the II’s Minority in Chaucer’s Parliament of Fowls
Noel Harold Kaylor, Jr. (International Boethius Society), Teaching the Consolation of Philosophy in the Context of World Literature
We are grateful to the Medieval Institute and to their support staff for making this unusual format work so well. We had a stimulating set of presentations and an engaging discussion following. Although we missed our gathering in Kalamazoo, we enjoyed connecting with those from across the globe who joined our session panelists, who happened to log on from Ontario (David), Texas (Kenneth), Montana (Harold), France (Clelia), Tennessee (Philip), and Michigan (IT Support).
Below are 2 screenshots of our Zoom session--the first featuring our presenters and session leaders during the pre-session preparation and the second showing our panel audience.
2019 INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON MEDIEVAL STUDIES
Teaching Boethius and Chaucer
Sponsoring Organization: International Boethius Society
Organizer: Philip Edward Phillips (Middle Tennessee State University)
Presider: Anthony Cirilla (College of the Ozarks)
Matthew Brumit (University of Mary), Teaching Platonic Poetics in Boethius and Chaucer
Kenneth C. Hawley (Lubbock Christian University), Respondent, Metacognition and Boethian Consolation in Chaucer
Anthony Cirilla (College of the Ozarks), Moderator
Presenters Unable to Attend
John M. Hill (United States Naval Academy), Chaucer's Boethian Neoplatonism
Noel Harold Kaylor, Jr. (Troy University), Chaucer, Boethius, and Euclid
Anthony Cirilla, Kenneth Hawley, and Matthew Brumit
Esther Moon, Michael Johnson, Tiffany Schubert, and Matthew Brumit
The Persistence of Boethius
Sponsoring Organization: International Boethius Society
Organizer: Leslie Taylor
Presider: Kenneth C. Hawley
Ana Cristina Celestino (New York University), Boethius in Brunetto Latini's Thirteenth-Century Tresor: Bridging the Gap between Dialectic and Rhetoric
Brunetto Latini's 13th century Tresor is a political compilation which brings together all materials useful for good government. Boethius is a prominent source in this text – indeed the first source to appear nominally, cited for his vision of Philosophy as consolatrix. However, this paper will focus not on the Consolatio, but on Boethius' writings on logic, particularly the commentary on Cicero's Topica, and De topicis differentiis, to show that they are connected to the division of philosophy of the Tresor. I show that the division of logic of the Tresor follows the divisions used by Boethius in his writings about topics. In Ancient philosophy, the topics were common ground between rhetoric and dialectic. Aristotle recognized three types of topics, and distinguished the degree of certitude that one could obtain through them. Cicero defined them as “seats” of arguments. Boethius can be said to have a Ciceronian, or rhetorical, understanding of the topics. In this paper, I will detail the aspects of Boethius' discussions about the Topica that are present in Brunetto Latini's division. I will then investigate the ways in which Brunetto could have had access to Boethius' texts, by talking about the study of logic at the time, and the circulation of the texts, but also about possible sources for the Tresor. Although I will suggest that, by using (probably indirectly) Boethius in his division of philosophy, Brunetto mirrors Cicero's claim of the philosophical topics for rhetoric, this hypothesis needs further confirmation in the sources.
Albrecht Classen (University of Arizona), Angelus Silesius: The Silesian Mystic as a Boethian Thinker
My paper examines the case of the German Baroque poet, Johann Scheffler, better known as Angelus Silesius, in whose mysterious, highly intriguing epigrams we can find definite traces of Boethian thought. While I could demonstrate in a previous study that Boethius was well known and widely read also in the early 17th c., the direct impact of his ideas has so far not yet been analyzed. These epigrams, however, suddenly make so much more sense when we acknowledge the Boethian theories behind them. This paper also presents specific evidence supporting the claim that Scheffler was certainly familiar with Boethius.
Kenneth C. Hawley (Lubbock Christian University) 'The Comfort That the Love of Wysdom Giveth': Theological Anxieties in Early Modern Translations of De Consolatione philosophiae
Many translators of Boethius's de Consolatione Philosophiae have found themselves in a somewhat awkward position—writing as true believers (in God, in Boethius, and in his Consolation), delivering this work that is not explicitly Christian to a largely religious reading audience. As both mediators and advocates, they have believed that Boethius had been right about the world and its transitory nature and that human happiness could only be found within the eternity of God’s goodness. Their belief in and identification with Boethian concepts has usually accompanied faith not only in the trustworthiness of the autobiographical material surrounding and within the Consolation, but also therefore in the orthodoxy and righteousness of its author’s cause. Viewing the Consolation as a work of both philosophy and theology, then, some have offered their translations as a way to encourage and exhort those struggling to believe in the God of Boethius’s universe. Consequently, this consideration of the persistence of Boethian influence will acccount for the range of ways in which those whose translations extended the afterlife of the Consolation approached the relevance, orthodoxy, and applicability of their author and his most famous work. This paper will consider, then, the previously unedited version by T.R. (1584), the laudatory biography Life of Boethius by Petrus Bertius (1620), the incomplete prosimetric translation by Edmund Elys (1674), and the complete translations by Henry Somerset (1693), William Causton (1730), Philip Ridpath (1785), Robert Duncan (1789).Sherif Abdelkarim (University of Virginia) Azā’āt al-Falsafah: The Consolations of Philosophy in Arabic Literature and Thought
A complete, critical Arabic edition of De consolatione philosophiae doesn’t appear until 2008 with the translation of Dr. ‘Ādil Muṣṭafā. Still, Boethian musings on justice, suffering, and destiny, along with prosimetric and “Menippean” parallels at the formal level, recur throughout the language’s rich course.This paper reviews the Arabic reception of Boethian sources, maps their trajectories in belles-lettres and poetry, and treats the Arabic rendering, including its critical matter, to close and distant readings. It articulates the translator’s technical efforts to collapse apparent chasms of time, place, and culture. My essay delineates medieval narratives that echo the depth and anguish of Boethius, despite silence on the statesman and his teacher. If Muṣṭafā succeeds in his conveyance of De consolatione, his efforts are aided by the fact that many a thinker—from al-Mutanabbī (d.965) to Ibn al-Khaṭīb (d.1375) and beyond—would raise and seek familiar questions and resolutions prompted by misfortunes comparable to their Roman predecessors.
2018 INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON MEDIEVAL STUDIES
Teaching Boethius (A Roundtable)
Sponsoring Organization: International Boethius Society
Organizer: Philip Edward Phillips (Middle Tennessee State University)
Presider: Philip Edward Phillips (Middle Tennessee State University)
Anthony G. Cirilla (Niagara University), Boethius and a Pedagogy of Imagination
Sarah Powrie (St Thomas More College), Boethius and the Biology of Desire
Brandy N. Brown (Rhodes College), Teaching The Consolation of Philosophy in Prison
Kenneth C. Hawley (Lubbock Christian University), The Consolation of Philosophy for Honors Freshmen
Noel Harold Kaylor, Jr. (Troy University), Intellectual Relevance of Boethian Studies in the First Quarter of the 21st Century
CFP - Roundtable: Teaching Boethius
Conference: The Symposium of Medieval and Renaissance StudiesLocation: Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO
When: June 18-20, 2018
Website: http://smrs.slu.edu/
The growing body of literature on Boethius’s life and work shows his importance not only for the Middle Ages, but for literature, philosophy, and theology in general. As scholars, it is our responsibility not only to generate insight into figures such as Boethius in our research, but also to incorporate the valuable discoveries the field has made into the classroom. This call for papers, therefore, seeks contributions to a roundtable on the teaching of Boethius’s work in any relevant discipline.
We are especially interested in participants who have used Boethius in the medieval classroom, whether general medieval literature, Old and Middle English literature, or Chaucer and the Chaucerians. How can Boethius be used to teach medieval allegory, romance, or devotional literature? How can Boethius be used, for example, to help students approach problems in interpreting Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales or to consider how Christianity relates to the often secular yet spiritual matter of Arthurian romance? Abstracts should be 250 to 300 words in length, proposing brief contributions of 8 to 10 minutes, drawing upon experience with teaching Boethius in specific contexts and general pedagogical reflection on his place in the classroom. Submit abstracts to Anthony G. Cirilla at acirilla@niagara.edu by December 20, 2017.
CFP - Boethius in the Middle Ages and Renaissance
Conference: The Symposium of Medieval and Renaissance StudiesLocation: Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO
When: June 18-20, 2018
Website: http://smrs.slu.edu/
This call for papers especially seeks abstracts which follow this line of inquiry, the reception of Boethius into the Middle Ages or Renaissance, although papers which look at the Consolation itself or later periods are also welcome. Stephen Blackwood’s recent study, The Consolation of Philosophy as Poetic Liturgy, has proven yet again that despite the excellent attention Boethius’s final work has received by modern scholars, there is always something fresh to say about it. And as scholars such as Blackwood, Morschini, Donato, and others delve more deeply into the question of how to read The Consolation, they also shed more light for investigation into the reception of Boethius into the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Whether in literature, philosophy, theology, or other fields, time and again Boethius’s Consolation proves to be a fresh spring to follow for insight into the many writers who drew upon his thought for their own impressive labors.
Scholars working in history, theology, literature, philosophy, music or art history are all encouraged to submit, and topics may range from genres such as medieval romance and allegory to major authors such as Chaucer and Elizabeth I, philosophical issues such as the problem of evil or the good life, or questions of the liberal arts such as the Consolation as a pedagogical tool in the classroom or the Consolation as an object of translation studies. Work on Boethius’s extended corpus and its influence, such as his theological tracts or logical treatises, is also invited. Abstracts should be between 300 and 350 words and submitted to Anthony G. Cirilla at acirilla@niagara.edu by December 20, 2017.
CFP: What is Boethian? Problems in Interpreting the Prisoner’s Philosophy
Conference: The Symposium of Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Location: Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO
When: June 19-21, 2017
Website: http://smrs.slu.edu/
As any student of its history can tell you, The Consolation of Philosophy is an astoundingly influential text, but its influence is not one of simple authority or slavish imitation. As can be seen in its complicated commentary tradition alone, interpreting the Consolation is a deceptively difficult task. From Boethius scholars such as Joel Relihan and John Marenbon who see the text in light of the Menippean satire, to those such as Claudio Moreschini and Antonio Donato, how subversive or straightforward, smooth or jagged, serious or satirical, the text should be read is a matter of fascinating debate.
The reception history of the text has been equally fascinating for readers of The Consolation. Should the text be translated in its prosimetric form, or into all prose as did Chaucer, or all poetry as some authors decided to do? Incorporation of Boethian philosophy into narrative results in further complications, for authors from the twelfth century to Ricardian England and beyond bring dynamic strategies for responding to The Consolation of Philosophy in storytelling. What makes a narrative Boethian, beyond mere inclusion of an allusion? What implications are there for interpretation of Boethius’s philosophy in a given narrative’s approach to incorporating The Consolation into its telling? When can a philosophy or theology which appeals to Boethius be deemed Boethian, and what degree of weight should we give to interpretations provided of Boethius by later thinkers, such as Aquinas in the Summa theologica?
The new Brian S. Donaghey Center for Boethian Studies was recently established at Lubbock Christian University in Lubbock, Texas. Indeed, critics using Boethius will often give this appellation, “Boethian,” to describe their subject matter. But given this wide variety of things which fit into discourse about Boethius (the liberal arts, theology, philosophy, narrative, and beyond), what is it for such a topic to be Boethian?
Papers from scholars working in literature, philosophy, history, art history, theology, music and beyond are all welcome. Abstracts should be 300 to 350 words and sent to Anthony G. Cirilla, acirilla@niagara.edu, no later than December 10th, 2016.
Boethius in Kalamazoo 2016
51st International Congress on Medieval Studies
May 12-15, 2016
The International Boethius Society (IBS) will host the following two events on Saturday, May 14, 2016, at the 51st International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo:
I. Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy through the Ages (Session 490, Bernhard 213, 3:30 PM)
Sponsor: International Boethius Society
Organizer: Philip Edward Phillips, Middle Tennessee State Univ.
Presider: Philip Edward Phillips
Boethius as Anti-Boethius: A Re-evaluation of the Role of Boethius in Maximianus’s Third Elegy
Sean Tandy, Indiana Univ.–Bloomington
“If chance will have me king”: The Alfredian and Boethian Context of Macbeth’s Weird Sisters
Brian McFadden, Texas Tech Univ.
Teaching “the Holesome Doctryne of Philosophye”: Comfort and Instruction in George Colvile’s 1556 Translation
Kenneth C. Hawley, Lubbock Christian Univ.
Respondent: Noel Harold Kaylor, Jr., Troy Univ.
II. International Boethius Society—Business Meeting and Reception with open bar (Evening Event, Bernhard 213, 5:10 PM)
We look forward to seeing you there!
Fourth Annual Symposium of Medieval and Renaissance Studies
CFP: Ages of Boethius: A Diachronic Investigation Event: Fourth Annual Symposium of Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Location: Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO
Time: June 20-22, 2016
Sponsor: The International Boethius Society
Antonio Donato has recently shown in Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy as a Product of Late Antiquity the importance of understanding historically significant figures from Late Antiquity such as Boethius according to the interpretive principles of their time, not only according to medieval and modern reception. Nonetheless, a long tradition of scholarly investigation has shown the pervasive influence of Boethian thought in the Middle Ages, as well as the adaptation of his thought into systems of interpretation. Individual studies, such as those by Elizabeth Elliott, Eleonore Johnson, and John Marenbon, as well as anthologized collections such as Brill’s Companion to Boethius in the Middle Ages and the forthcoming Vernacular Traditions of Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy, have amply demonstrated the centrality of Boethius as a thinker to multiple fields of inquiry in the time period. However, the Renaissance also had its share of Neo-Boethian influence – Shakespeare and Spenser serve as two prime examples. Critics such as Lodi Nauta, Michael Sherberg, Kenneth Hawley, and others continue to demonstrate the remarkable influence of The Consolation of Philosophy well into the Renaissance and beyond.
Despite advances in these three periods of Boethian reception, fresh perspectives are needed to investigate, understand, and articulate the diachronic status of the “last of the Romans” in respect to the Consolation and Boethius’s general influence. This Call for Papers seeks scholarship for a panel (or series of panels) on Boethius as a figure of Late Antiquity, the Middle Ages, or the Renaissance, from any relevant discipline, including literature, history, art history, musicology, theology, and philosophy. Abstracts of 250-350 words should be sent to Anthony Cirilla at acirilla@niagara.edu no later than December 1, 2015.
32nd Annual Illinois Medieval Association
February 20-21, 2015 at Saint Louis University
Medieval Narratives
Panel: The Making of Boethian Narratives
Sponsor: The International Boethius Society
Chair: Seth Strickland, Saint Louis University
Sponsor: The International Boethius Society
Chair: Seth Strickland, Saint Louis University
Amy Freeman, University of Dallas
"Narrating Boethius’s Backstory: The Wound and its Cure"
How has Boethius come to arrive at his miserable state in the beginning of the Consolation? At first, it seems that his main problem is the failure to be a Stoic; he has allowed himself to be excessively emotional, and these runaway emotions have clouded him from seeing the truth. As the narrative unfolds, however, Boethius the author slowly reveals a more complex backstory. Boethius’s sickness began when he ceased to meditate on eternal truth, and thus his cure will be in a return to contemplation. First, I will point out how the initial simplified-Stoic reading is indeed true, but only at the surface level. Second, I will show that the cause of the excessive pathos is forgetfulness of truth. Third, I will examine the implications of forgetfulness in the classical and early medieval understanding of memory. Finally, I will show how Lady Philosophy responds to Boethius’s deep-rooted problems by enkindling his desire for the divine and leading him back contemplation.
"Narrating Boethius’s Backstory: The Wound and its Cure"
How has Boethius come to arrive at his miserable state in the beginning of the Consolation? At first, it seems that his main problem is the failure to be a Stoic; he has allowed himself to be excessively emotional, and these runaway emotions have clouded him from seeing the truth. As the narrative unfolds, however, Boethius the author slowly reveals a more complex backstory. Boethius’s sickness began when he ceased to meditate on eternal truth, and thus his cure will be in a return to contemplation. First, I will point out how the initial simplified-Stoic reading is indeed true, but only at the surface level. Second, I will show that the cause of the excessive pathos is forgetfulness of truth. Third, I will examine the implications of forgetfulness in the classical and early medieval understanding of memory. Finally, I will show how Lady Philosophy responds to Boethius’s deep-rooted problems by enkindling his desire for the divine and leading him back contemplation.
Anthony G. Cirilla, Saint Louis University
"Aetas Boethiana: Ethopoetic Imagination and Twelfth Century Personifications"
Scholars have sometimes referred to the twelfth century as the “aetas Boethiana,” the age of Boethius. Perhaps an overstatement, it is nonetheless difficult to avoid seeing some truth in the assertion. In addition to Boethius’s incredible influence on scholastic theology and the development of the medieval liberal arts, Boethius also left a legacy of using personification narratives to meditate on the relationship of the soul to society, the cosmos and to God. Although personification was of course popular in the High Middle Ages, there is a conspicuous return of personification fables in the twelfth century that one would be hard pressed to find in the Carolingian revival. Common to these personificationists, Alan of Lille, Adelard of Bath, and Bernardus Silvestris, is their great debt to The Consolation of Philosophy. Traditional hermeneutics regards these personifications as allegorical, veils which cover a deeper truth. Although there is certainly merit and justification, personifications also are performances of ethos, secondary personalities that produce persuasion in the literal level of their expression within each text. This paper gestures at the manner in which twelfth century writers employed the Boethian rhetoric of ethopoeia to depict the personal import of the life of the mind.
"Aetas Boethiana: Ethopoetic Imagination and Twelfth Century Personifications"
Scholars have sometimes referred to the twelfth century as the “aetas Boethiana,” the age of Boethius. Perhaps an overstatement, it is nonetheless difficult to avoid seeing some truth in the assertion. In addition to Boethius’s incredible influence on scholastic theology and the development of the medieval liberal arts, Boethius also left a legacy of using personification narratives to meditate on the relationship of the soul to society, the cosmos and to God. Although personification was of course popular in the High Middle Ages, there is a conspicuous return of personification fables in the twelfth century that one would be hard pressed to find in the Carolingian revival. Common to these personificationists, Alan of Lille, Adelard of Bath, and Bernardus Silvestris, is their great debt to The Consolation of Philosophy. Traditional hermeneutics regards these personifications as allegorical, veils which cover a deeper truth. Although there is certainly merit and justification, personifications also are performances of ethos, secondary personalities that produce persuasion in the literal level of their expression within each text. This paper gestures at the manner in which twelfth century writers employed the Boethian rhetoric of ethopoeia to depict the personal import of the life of the mind.
Sarah Sprouse, Texas Tech University
"In Sickness and In Health: The Boethian Narrative of the Two Geralds of Brecon"
In his largely unpolished, late work Speculum Duorum, Gerald of Wales
scrutinizes the ecclesiastical and ethical treason of his nephew, Gerald
fitzPhilip, and fitzPhilip’s tutor William de Capella. The events that predate
this work of self-consolation began with Gerald’s campaigns for not only the
bishopric of St. David’s, but also the archiepiscopal primacy of that see, and
ended with his nephew succeeding to his former position as archdeacon of
Brecon. fitzPhilip embezzled a sum of money from the archdeaconry, which
resulted in a flurry of legal activity and ultimately Gerald’s removal to
Lincoln. In his retirement, Gerald composed this text as a letter to his
treacherous nephew as form of Boethian antidote to his moral and ethical
illness. As Philosophy suggests, “Some who have achieved prosperity unworthily
have been driven by it to well-deserved ruin.” (Green 74) An unusual contract,
recorded and preserved in the Canterbury Chapter Archives (Reg. A, f. 73v), was
made between Gerald and the Archbishop of Canterbury to allow his nephew to
succeed to the archdeaconry of Brecon upon his retirement if Gerald agreed to
never again raise the issue of the primacy of St. David’s. It would seem that
Gerald later regretted this ill-gotten gain for his nephew and, in keeping with
Philosophy’s discussion of divine judgment, he sought to remedy thewickedness
of his nephew. This paper will argue that while not following a prescribed
narrative structure, the Boethian analogy of wickedness as an illness as well
as suggestions of consolation pervade Gerald’s late, dialogic text. Gerald was
very familiar with The Consolation of Philosophy, and perhaps derived a
parallel from that text in his own ultimate fate of wretchedness. That parallel,
as well as the prescriptive morality of Gerald’s work, will be explored in this
paper. The Speculum Duorum functions as a florilegium of epistles, all
pertaining to the treason of Gerald’s nephew, as well as the didactic remedy
for his moral and ethical improvement. Like Boethius’s Prisoner, Gerald seeks
through his own writing some consolation as he accepts his fate."In Sickness and In Health: The Boethian Narrative of the Two Geralds of Brecon"
Boethius in Kalamazoo 2015
50th International Congress on Medieval Studies
May 14-17, 2015The International Boethius Society has received approval to sponsor a session, "Translations and Adaptations of Boethius’s De consolatione philosophiae,” at the 50th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, May 14-17, 2015.
Abstracts for fifteen- to twenty-minute papers on any aspect of the translation or adaptation of Boethius’s Consolatio into any vernacular language tradition, from late antiquity to the present, are invited. Visit the Congress website at http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/files/call-for-papers-2015.pdf for full details.
Please submit a paper abstract of 1-2 pages and a completed Participant Information Form to Dr. Philip Edward Phillips, Secretary, International Boethius Society, University Honors College, MTSU Box 267, Murfreesboro, TN 37132 (philip.phillips@mtsu.edu) no later than September 15, 2014 for consideration.
Exploring Boethian Renaissances
The Second Annual Symposium of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Saint Louis University
Conference Registration
Sponsors: The International Boethius Society, The Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Saint Louis University
Panel Organizer: Anthony G. Cirilla, Saint Louis University
Chair: Anthony G. Cirilla, Saint Louis University
Exploring Boethian Renaissances
Justinian, the Anicia Juliana Codex, and the Ravenna Mosaics (View Video)
Ruth Dwyer, Independent Scholar
Sponsors: The International Boethius Society, The Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Saint Louis University
Panel Organizer: Anthony G. Cirilla, Saint Louis University
Chair: Anthony G. Cirilla, Saint Louis University
Exploring Boethian Renaissances
Justinian, the Anicia Juliana Codex, and the Ravenna Mosaics (View Video)
Ruth Dwyer, Independent Scholar
Charles Wuest, Southern Methodist University
Boethius in Hamlet: A Shakespearean Source
Amy Freeman, University of Dallas
C. S. Lewis as Reviver of the Boethian Project
Chris Armstrong, Bethel University
Boethius in Kalamazoo
49th International Congress on Medieval Studies
May 8-11, 2014The International Boethius Society sponsored a great session at the 2014 International Congress:
Boethius and the Liberal
Arts
Sponsoring Organization:
International Boethius Society
Organizer: Philip
Edward Phillips, Middle Tennessee State University
Session Chair: Anthony
Cirilla, Saint Louis University
1. "A 6th-Century
Portrait of Boethius in Ravenna" (View Video)
Ruth Dwyer, Independent Scholar
2. "Imagining the
University: Boethian translatio studii in De disciplina scolarium"
Brooke Hunter, Villanova University
3. "Boethius in the
Medieval Classroom: Knowledge Transfer and Nominal Compounds in Notker's German
Adaptations of Boethius's Writings"
Nicolaus Janos Raag, Uppsala University, Sweden
The IBS also sponsored an
open bar business meeting/reception during the Congress. Photos are posted on our main page: boethius.blogspot.com.
Revisiting the Legacy of Boethius in the Middle Ages
Harvard University, March 13-15, 2014
harvardboethius.wordpress.com
harvardboethius.wordpress.com
The legacy of Boethius in the Middle Ages has been enjoying a resurgence of interest in recent years, with new editions, translations, and studies that place his profound influence in a new light. The Alfredian Boethius project of Oxford University, to pick just one example, has produced a critical edition of the Old English Boethius (2009), and the spin-off database of the commentary tradition will almost certainly change our understanding of the broader reception of The Consolation of Philosophy across medieval Europe. Other recent work has revisited the legacy of Boethius in the fields of music, philosophy, poetry, and theology, and the Companion to Boethius in the Middle Ages (2012) will stimulate future scholarship and teaching.
This conference invites proposals on the early reception of Boethius and his influence on readers and writers in medieval England and continental Europe. Possible topics include vernacular translations and transformations; Neoplatonism and the philosophical tradition; adaptations of Boethian prosimetrum; Boethian afterlives in poetry, music, and the visual arts; and new findings from the Latin commentary tradition, among others.
The conference will be hosted by Harvard University’s English Department and the Standing Committee on Medieval Studies, with support from the Morton Bloomfield Fund and the International Boethius Society. We are pleased to announce that Ann Astell (University of Notre Dame), Susan Irvine (University College London), and Eleanor Johnson (Columbia University) will be giving the conference’s plenary addresses.
Presentations should be no longer than twenty minutes. Potential presenters should submit an abstract of approximately 250 words to HarvardBoethius@gmail.com. Abstracts are due by October 1, 2013.
48th International Congress on Medieval Studies
May 9-12, 2013
Session Presenters (Left to Right):
Philip Phillips, Ruth Dwyer, Dario Brancato, Christina Heckman, Erica Weaver, and Harold Kaylor
The
International Boethius Society sponsored two sessions at the 2013 International Congress:
Session 26,
Thursday, 10:00 AM, Schneider 1125
“Boethius and Order”
Chair:
Philip Edward Phillips (Middle Tennessee State University)
The Order of the World: Boethius’s Translation of Aristotle’s Categoriae and the Old English Solomon and Saturn Dialogues, Christina M. Heckman (Augusta State University)
Arithmetic, Geometry, and Astronomy in the Design of Hagia Sophia, Ruth Dwyer (Independent Scholar)
Respondent, Dario Brancato (Concordia University)
Session 124,
Thursday, 3:30 PM, Schneider 1125
“Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy in the Vernacular”
Chair:
Philip Edward Phillips (Middle Tennessee State University)
The Opus Geminatum and the Vernacular: Translating Boethius in Anglo-Saxon England, Erica Weaver (Harvard University)
Religious Translators of the Consolation of Philosophy in 16th- and 17th-Century Italy, Dario Brancato (Concordia University)
Respondent, Noel Harold Kaylor, Jr. (Troy University)
Boethius in Denver
45th Annual Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association Conference
April 11-13, 2013
April 11-13, 2013
International Boethius Society Members:
Leslie A. Taylor (RMMRA Treasurer and Conference Organizer), Philip Edward Phillips
(Keynote Speaker), and Jeffrey H. Taylor (RMMRA President and Conference Organizer)
Leslie A. Taylor (RMMRA Treasurer and Conference Organizer), Philip Edward Phillips
(Keynote Speaker), and Jeffrey H. Taylor (RMMRA President and Conference Organizer)
