Footsteps of King Arthur Conference

Chaired by Professor Roberta Gilchrist 

(University of Reading and Glastonbury Abbey Trustee)

Conference Itinerary:
09:30 - 10.30 Registration and coffee
10.30 – 10.35 Welcome
10.35 – 10.45 Introduction
10.45 – 11.15 Professor Elizabeth Archibald (Durham University) - ‘King Arthur through Modern Eyes’
11.15 – 11.45 Dr Cheryl Green (University of Reading) - ‘Antiquarian Excavations and the legacy of Arthur’
11.45 – 12.30 Break
12.30 – 1.00 Johnny McFadyen (PhD Student, University of Bristol) - ‘Arthur in the Medieval West'
1.00 – 1.30 An audience with Geoffrey Ashe M.B.E. - Question and answer session
1.30 – 2.30 Buffet Lunch
2.30 – 3.00 Professor Ad Putter (University of Bristol) - ‘Medieval Arthurian literature on British soil.’
3.00 – 3.30 Rhianedd Smith (University of Reading) - “We don’t want Disney'
3.30 – 4.00 Break
4.00 – 4.30 Professor Ronald Hutton (University of Bristol) - ‘The Historical Arthur’
4.30 – 5.00 Discussion & Questions to the panel from delegates
5.00 – 5.15 Summary
5.15 – 5.30 Closing

Speakers:

Elizabeth Archibald is Professor of English at Durham University and Principal of St Cuthbert's Society. Her interest in Arthur began when she was an undergraduate at Cambridge.
Her publications include 'A Companion to Malory' (1996), 'Incest and the Medieval Imagination' (2001), and 'The Cambridge Companion to the Arthurian Legend' (2009).
Elizabeth is the President of the British Branch of the International Arthurian Society.

Cheryl Green was Research Assistant for the project led by Professor Roberta Gilchrist, University of Reading, assessing the archives from the 1908 – 1979 excavations at Glastonbury Abbey. This informed a major four-year research project culminating in a Monograph (forthcoming Gilchrist and Green 2014) publishing exciting new evidence resulting from the re-analysis of the historic excavations, extensive new geophysical survey and specialist assessments of the finds assemblages.

Johnny Macfayden is just finishing his PhD on Latin Arthurian literature at the University of Bristol. His research interests are primarily to do with the socio-politcal and ideological utility of the Arthurian Legend, Medieval Romance and Latin Arthurian Historiography.

Geoffrey Ashe is the author of 26 books and needs no introduction to Arthurian scholars.
Geoffrey has a special interest in Glastonbury which is reflected in King Arthur's Avalon (1957) and its fiftieth anniversary edition. He was co-founder and secretary of the Camelot Research Committee which, under the presidency of Sir Mortimer Wheeler, conducted the excavation of the South Cadbury hill-fort.

Ad Putter is the General Editor of Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages, and has published widely in the area of medieval literature. His books include Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and French Arthurian Romance (1995), An Introduction to the Gawain Poet (1996), and Studies in the Metre of Alliterative Verse (2007).

Rhianedd Smith has recently completed an AHRC funded doctoral research project examining the interpretation of Glastonbury Abbey's legends and archaeology.

Ronald Hutton has published fourteen books on different aspects of history and prehistory, mostly with reference to Britain, including Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain (2011) and Witches, Druids and King Arthur (1993).


Tickets cost £20 adults and £18 concessions, to include a buffet lunch and are on sale from the Abbey Shop or via the online shop

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