The Old English Translation of the "Historia Apollonii regis Tyri"
Università degli Studi di Bergamo – 13–14 April 2026
University of Bergamo
13–14 April 2026
CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
The Old English Translation of the Historia Apollonii Regis Tyri:
Reframing a Latin Romance in Pre-Conquest England
The Old English Apollonius of Tyre—preserved uniquely in Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 201—has increasingly been recognized as a text of remarkable cultural and literary significance. A fragmentary late antique romance, reshaped within the monastic context of pre-Conquest England, it bridges the realms of narrative entertainment, Christian moral instruction, and ideological reflections on kingship and community.
This conference invites renewed engagement with the Old English Apollonius as both a text of transmission and transformation. We aim to consider its place not only within the codicological context of CCCC 201, but also within the broader European reception and adaptation of the Historia Apollonii Regis Tyri.
DAY 1 – MONDAY 13 APRIL 2026
09:00–09:30 Welcome and Registration
09:30–09:45 Institutional Greetings and Opening Remarks
SESSION 1 — Kings, Princes and Princesses
10:00–10:20 Daniel Anlezark (University of Sydney)
Kingship and the Experience of Exile in the Old English Apollonius of Tyre
10:20–10:40 Ioan-Andrei Crișan (Babeș-Bolyai University)
Princely Context: Apollonius of Tyre, Archbishop Wulfstan, and the Six Blocks of Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 201
10:40–11:00 Mercedes Salvador Bello (Universidad de Sevilla)
A Mirror for a Princess: Exploring the Old English Apollonius of Tyre under a New Lens
11:00–11:20 Q&A
11:20–11:30 Comfort Break
SESSION 2 — Recasting Cultural Frames
11:30–11:50 Mark Atherton (University of Oxford)
Pietas and the Gods in the Old English Apollonius of Tyre
11.50–12:20 Gabriele Cocco (University of Bergamo)
Rendering the Latin tribunal in the Old English Apollonius
12:20–12:40 Corinne Clark (University of Oxford)
The (Un)revealing Bodies of the Apollonius Textual Traditions
12:40–13:00 Q&A
13:00–14:00 Lunch Break
SESSION 3 — Legal Contexts
14.00–14.20 Nicola Pennella (University of Bergamo)
The Long Arm of the Law: The Rendering of Legal Vocabulary in the Old English Apollonius of Tyre
14:20–14:40 Rebekah Martindale (University of Oxford)
The Ethics of Consent in the Old English Apollonius
14.40–15.00: Q&A
15:00–16:30 Visit to Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica and the High City
16:30–18:00 Public Engagement Performance: The Old English Apollonius of Tyre
20:00: Conference Dinner
DAY 2 – TUESDAY 14 APRIL 2026
SESSION 4 — Riddles, Enigmas, and Wordplays
09:30–09:50 William Robins (University of Toronto)
Apollonius of Tyre and the Riddle of Translation
09:50–10:10 Emily Sun (Harvard University)
Unlocking Arcestrate: Exile, Enigma, and Spolia in the Old English Apollonius of Tyre
10:10–10:30 Harriet Carter (University of Oxford)
Ic can þonne ‘dom’: Knowledge, Wordplay and Humour in the Old English Apollonius
10:30–10:50 Q&A
10:50–11:10 Comfort Break
SESSION 5 — Incest
11:10–11:30 Alice Jorgensen (University College Dublin)
The Old English Apollonius of Tyre and the Name of the Father
13:30–11:50 Grace O’Duffy (Harvard Society of Fellows, Harvard University)
Incest, Apollonius, and Early England
11:50–12:10 Robyn McAuliffe (University College Cork)
The Incest Prohibition and Traumatic Recall in the Old English Apollonius of Tyre
12:10–12:30 Q&A
12:30–12:45 Close
Scientific and Organising Committee
Gabriele Cocco (Bergamo)
Francis Leneghan (Oxford)
Registration
Details of registration will be updated soon.
Contacts