Saturday Study Days 

Rædwald of East Anglia: The First King of England - Dr Sam Newton, Ind. Scholar. A reassessment of the question of who was the first king of England in response to the recent restatement by Professor Sarah Foot that it was Æthelstan of Wessex. We shall consider thus the history of early England in general and of Rædwald of East Anglia (died c.625) in particular.

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This Study Day replaces - A Forgotten Century: Kings and Half-Kings in Tenth-century East Anglia - Dr Lucy Marten, Univ. of E.A. which will now be put on later in the year.

The afterlives of St. Edmund and his medieval colleagues - Charles Freeman, Ind. Scholar. “Fountains of salvation to us, pouring forth manifold blessings and abounding in oil of sweet fragrance” (John of Damascus). Saints’ bodies were not simply bones or dust but many had a continuing life of their own. This Study Day explores the afterlives of the saints’ bodies across medieval Europe.

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Sutton Hoo and the Goths - Dr Sam Newton, Ind. Scholar. An attempt to understand Sutton Hoo in the context of the sixth–century history of Europe in general and of the Goths in particular.

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Leechcraft – the Early English Healing Tradition - Steve Pollington, Ind. Scholar & Robin Baker, East India Merchant. An examination of medical practice in Anglo-Saxon England with a focus on plant-based preparations. Evidence will be drawn from archaeology and the three Old English principal manuscripts to indicate the range of materials used and the purposes to which they were put. The combination of classical medical literature and native herblore produced a remarkably diverse medical tradition.

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Medieval Fields and Farming - Dr Sue Oosthuizen, University of Cambridge. This study day takes a critical look at the almost-universal consensus that open fields and rights of common pasture were Anglo-Saxon introductions. Instead, it argues, 'medieval' landscapes represent aspects of both tradition and innovation, solutions negotiated between lords and peasants.

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Old Norse-Icelandic Literature - Dr Heather O’Donoghue, Univ. of Oxford. An introduction to the unique literature of early medieval Iceland and Norway: sagas, mythological and heroic poetry, and Viking-age verse

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The Irish Church in Eastern England - Dr Sam Newton, Ind. Scholar. – A St Patrick’s Day Special on the history of the Irish missionaries in Eastern England during the 7th  century, such as St Fursey and St Cedd.  

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An Introduction to the Archaeology of Middle Saxon England, c.AD650 – 850 - Paul Blinkhorn, Ind. Arch. Consultant. An examination of the archaeological discoveries of the last 30 years which have shown that the Middle Saxon period saw a radical change in the nature of life in England, with the first major population centres and coinage since Roman times and an economic and cultural boom on a European-wide scale 

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The Medieval Eastertide  - Dr Sam Newton, Ind. Scholar.  Rediscover the magic of Easter with an exploration of the significance of this ancient festival in early England.

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