The 2026 Leeds International Medieval Congress Review

I am back in the US after attending the annual International Medieval Congress held at the University of Leeds. For many medievalists this is a high point of the year, because it is massive (around 2,500 attendees this year) which provides ample opportunity to chat with other scholars, attend papers, and generally be surrounded by the community of medievalists.

This year I was not presenting a paper, but moderating one panel ("Minimal Computing in the Middle Ages") and participating on a roundtable about being an academic outside the academy. I've been thinking quite a bit about the future of history as a discipline, with a collapse of stable jobs. Yet one thing I said has stuck with me: basically, that lots of people told me that studying history wasn't worth it, wouldn't make money, etc., but once I had a PhD the tune is very different, now I am frequently told that it is really cool that I am a historian and study the middle ages. In essence, what I said was: "people will tell you its a waste of time until it isn't." So be aware of the reality of getting into this profession, but don't be swayed by people who dismiss it out of hand. Whether I make money or not, people value this type of work and think it is important!

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I would be remiss to not mention that this year was a bit somber in some ways, because of the passing of Rosamond McKitterick a few weeks ago. It came as a shock to many of us, and to me personally as she was my advisor at Cambridge during my MPhil. I regret not having been as good reaching out to her, but I always got a chance to catch up with her at Leeds (one year even in the train station). After I finished my PhD I had to send her a book from the MAA office in Boston so dropped a small note in about me finishing, and she wrote me a very nice email back saying she was happy to hear I had defended. She was a giant in the field, with a generosity and intelligence that will be very badly missed. This year saw a series of panels dedicated to Janet Nelson and won't be surprised if there is a series next year dedicated to Rosamond.

Besides that, I got the sense that there was an underlying current of anxiety. That many of us, especially of the younger generation, are increasingly feeling that the state of the field isn't sustainable. My understanding is that it was smaller this year, almost 500 fewer people! A lot of us are operating in a sort of survival mode, going from one post to the next, unsure if at Leeds 2027 we will have the money to be there, or still be in academia in any way. With institutional funding drying up all over, the prospect of self-funding a trip there becomes less appealing. I did so this year, but who knows about next year? I am sure many early career and graduate students are facing similar challenges.

Overall it was a wonderful conference, as it always is, filled with tons of people excited to talk about the middle ages. At the same time, its also a great chance for me to meet up with my colleagues and friends in person, something that doesn't happen otherwise. Many hours spent at the Old Bar enjoying an academic (ok not always) conversation helps me feel more connected to the wider community. This year I felt like I was now part of the "adults", which is great but a little horrifying. It also gave me the chance to discuss my book project with some editors, which was great.

I also got the chance to attend a bunch of cool panels. I usually try to go to at least one panel on something far outside my usual range of expertise. Often, it is a panel on a theme I am interested in (politics or political change, for instance) but in another part of the world or time period. Here are some of the highlights:

On the first day was the annual Early Medieval Europe lecture, which is now one of the must-see events for early medievalists at Leeds. This year was a wonderful talk by Joanna Story on why calfskin was preferred as a material for parchment (or rather, membrane as she argues) in Insular manuscripts, with some very fascinating pictures of how you can reconstruct the animal's structure from the material itself.

Simon MacLean's interesting paper on fortifications, where he pointed out the concern about the relationship of fortifications and state power were informed by anxieties of the post-WW1 era. Very cool historiographical point that was eye-opening. How might future generations look back on the present? Will they see a similar feature in our concern with migrations or ethnicity?

Paul Bertrand's paper on cartularies and their changing meaning over time. That is, even if the format is similar, what a cartulary meant to a 9th century audience was different from the 12th century. Not only that, it was in the last session on Thursday, a perennial "doom" slot when everyone is tired or gone.

I got to combine my love for Carolingian stuff with other parts of the world with the panel "The Carolingian Empire in Context II" that included two great papers by Wolfram Drews and Xin Wen about places outside Western Europe. In particular there is some really fascinating parallels with the Tang empire that I want to learn more about. This was the second in a series of panels and had a very lovely response by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby.

These are just some of the things I wanted to pull out, but there was many more interesting papers I saw! And many many more that I didn't see! I hope you enjoyed this "reporting" and continue following along. I will be teaching several classes in the fall, which may make the writing take on a somewhat different flavor depending on what I have time for.

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