On boundaries

In my last post, I wrote that I did not expect to be playing Jenga in the dark at the Battle Conference and promised to say more about this after giving a snapshot of the papers discussed there. The reason behind this slightly odd behaviour lies in the difference between Battle and huge conferences like the IMC at Leeds, and also the blurring of boundaries between work done within the confines of sessions and networking outside (literally in this case).

Jonathan Jarret, in his series of posts about this year’s IMC, provides as good an overview of any I’ve seen of what it is like to be at Leeds. There is a lot of running hither and thither, sessions in the evening, and, especially when it is wet, not much time to accidentally bump into people you might want to talk to. This is best done on the grass outside Boddington, and it cannot be a coincidence that the years at Leeds I have enjoyed most involved talking to various people on the lawn about all things medieval (and also outside the pub at Weetwood).

In contrast, Battle is held on one site, Pyke House, with a pub conveniently located next door. In fact it is only one slightly larger than normal step from the back gate to the pub door. Papers are full 50 minute efforts and only one happens at any given time, rather than 20plus sessions of between 2 and 4 papers as at Leeds. Pyke House is blessed with extensive gardens that merge with the battlefield itself and the staff at the pub don’t mind drinks disappearing into the garden providing empty glasses find their way back. Even though not everyone can be accommodated at Pyke House, most people find themselves in B&Bs around Battle, but taking meals at the conference. Consequently, there is no need to rush about. This freedom from worrying where the next session is going to be held and whether you will get there on time, allows for a greater degree of interaction between conference participants. There are substantial breaks between sessions for drinks and meals, and crucially, aside from the Allen Brown memorial lecture, no papers in the evenings. I think this year, I managed to speak to nearly everyone at the conference aside from those who only stayed for a day; this would be impossible at Leeds.

The late night Jenga sessions were a result of a) the beautiful weather that allowed us to take full advantage of the gardens and b) the atmosphere of exceptional conviviality engendered by a reasonable number of like-minded people gathered in one place. People continued to talk about the day’s papers, the difficulties of teaching and odd bits of research here and there. They also chatted about children, growing vegetables, politics and more mundane matters. This atmosphere, providing you are brave enough (and Battle is scary enough the first time you go regardless of age), allows post-grads to mingle with professors on a more or less even footing. After all, John Gillingham is just as capable of knocking down the Jenga tower as I am.

One of the other great things about Battle, and perhaps this will be the most missed now the conference is on its peregrinations, is the opportunity to walk the Battlefield early in the morning or late in the evening when all the tourists have gone. A group of us did just that, pondering on tactics, Domesday Book, the various characters involved and how no one would really like to sit down with William, Harold or Harald Hadrada and have a drink. Anyone watching from the back of the Norman ranks would have spied several Anglo-Normannists at various stages in their careers staring across the field from the terrace beneath the abbey, all pondering, some aloud and some silently, ‘how did he lose?’.

Battle