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Michael Eber

@ebermichael.bsky.social

Early Medievalist, late to bluesky Postdoc at Uni Köln He/him

25 Posts124 Follower 89 Folgt

Michael Eber @ebermichael.bsky.social · 9h ago

CfP for @imc-leeds.bsky.social 2027: "Queer and Trans Medieval Communities" 🌈🏳️‍⚧️ We welcome papers (15-20min) from all disciplines of medieval studies by scholars at any level, on any aspect of medieval queer and trans community, in person or virtual. Abstracts due 31 Aug. We'd love to hear from you!

As the existence of the trans and queer community is under constant and
increasing threat across the world – with alt-right political rhetoric in the West seeking to rupture solidarity for and within the global queer community – the work of the historian has never been more vital. Historians have long found solidarity and recognition of queer experiences and practices with individuals and groups of the past. In concert with the wealth of current research being produced in trans and queer medieval studies, this panel session responds to the urgency of this present moment. In the face of existential threats, we recognise the importance of finding community with one another, which includes understanding our community has a history. This panel session seeks not only to contribute to transtemporal and scholarly trans and queer community building, but to better understand what historical trans and queer communities and practices may have looked like – including the mechanisms and structures that attempted to preclude such community formations. Engaging with and making legible such histories constitutes an act of compassion both with historical actors and with living members of our community today. It also constitutes an act of resistance, by finding existence and continuity in community.
Presentations may address but are not limited to the following topics:
-Cultivating cross-temporal queer and trans community
-How trans and genderqueer experiences manifest in the Middle Ages
-Spaces in which queer/trans community could be manifested in the Middle Ages
-Communal failure or loss of community
-A failing or absence of a trans and queer community
-Texts, codes, etc. used in constituting queer and trans communities in the Middle Ages
-Methodologies available for talking about trans and queer communities
TITLE, ABSTRACT (200 WORDS) AND BIO (150 WORDS) BY 31 AUG TO:
Michael Eber michael.eber@uni-koeln.de
Hannah Victoria hjohnson@aup.edu
Oliver Wilkin o.lg-wilkin@outlook.com

Michael Eber @ebermichael.bsky.social · last mo.

The first issue of Essays in Long Late Antiquity is out, including a critical English translation of the Latin vita of the trans monk Marinus by yours truly 🎉 doi.org/10.3828/ella...

From Father to Virgin: The Oldest Latin Life of St Marinus (Marina) the Monk: Essays in Long Late Antiquity: Vol 1, No 1

This article examines the earliest vitae of St Marinos (Mary/Marina) the Monk, a late antique saint who was said to have been assigned female at birth but to have lived as a monk in a male monastery. It offers brief comparative analyses of the oldest ...

doi.org

Mateusz Fafinski@calthalas.bsky.social · last mo.

Friends, Romans, fellow late antiquity fans! The first issue of Essays in Long Late Antiquity, a new journal published fully in open access by Liverpool University Press is out! We have a stunning volume for you to read with amazing contributions. 1/ liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/toc/ella/cur...

Alicia Spencer-Hall @aspencerhall.bsky.social · 6mo ago

👀👀👀 #MedievalSky 🗃️

Arc Humanities Press@archumanities.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Arc is pleased to announce our new series Intercessions: Sanctity in the Pre/Modern World with series editor @aspencerhall.bsky.social – for more information see www.arc-humanities.org/intercession...

Michael Eber @ebermichael.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Huge thanks to @erinbartram.bsky.social for including me in this series, and for shepherding my first foray into non-academic writing. This was a blast to work on!

Contingent Magazine@contingent-mag.bsky.social · 8mo ago

"I had never come across a Christ-figure quite like this." The latest in our series A Time Of Monsters, from @ebermichael.bsky.social

Contingent Magazine @contingent-mag.bsky.social · 8mo ago

"I had never come across a Christ-figure quite like this." The latest in our series A Time Of Monsters, from @ebermichael.bsky.social

Christ, What a Monster!

Something gendered was going on here.

contingentmagazine.org

Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · 10mo ago

So the main culture war in Germany, fought by the country’s leader, is that despite mass deportations there are still too many non-white men in German cities: which needs to change so that white German daughters can feel safer. That’s an actual position that he is taking. An incitement to violence.

Johannes Hillje@jhillje.bsky.social · 10mo ago

“Ich habe gar nichts zurückzunehmen” - sagt #Merz heute zu seiner “wir haben im Stadtbild noch dieses Problem”-Äußerung in Bezug auf Migration.

Alicia Spencer-Hall @aspencerhall.bsky.social · last yr.

Today, I resigned as Series Editor of the Hagiography beyond Tradition series & member of the Academic Board for the Premodern Health Disease and Disability series at @amsterdamupress.bsky.social with immediate effect. If any other SEs/Board Members wants to talk about my rationale, my DMs are open

Alicia Spencer-Hall@aspencerhall.bsky.social · last yr.

New era of @amsterdamupress.bsky.social under T&F ownership is not going well for its medievalist authors. This week is the flagship European conference for medieval studies @imc-leeds.bsky.social #IMC2025. AUP listed as an exhibitor at book fair, incl in programme. No sign of them, online or irl

Alan van Beek @thiliel.bsky.social · last yr.

Tomorrow evening at #IMC2025 come to our roundtable discussion with @chillrike.bsky.social @blairapgar.bsky.social “Let’s Continue to Get Uncomfortable!: Doing Intersectionality". You can also attend online. If you can't attend in person but you want to work with us, drop us a line here! 💕

an aerial view of cars driving on a street with a red background

Alt: an aerial view of cars driving on a street with a red background

media.tenor.com

Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · last yr.

We were pleased to support the Trans Sainthood in Translation, ca. 400–1500 Conference @ghilondon.bsky.social‬ on 22-23 May 2025 Here the organisers reflect upon the event: pastandpresent.org.uk/reflections-...

Reflections on ‘Trans Sainthood in Translation, ca. 400–1500’ - Past and Present

by Dr Mariana Bodnaruk (Masaryk University Brno), Dr Stephan Bruhn (German Historical Institute London), and Dr Michael Eber (University of Cologne) On 22–23 May, the German Historical Institute in Lo...

pastandpresent.org.uk

Alex Says Stuff @alexsaysstuff.bsky.social · last yr.

This always bears repeating. Getting a GRC is supposed to be the final confirmation, not the first step. Saying you shouldn't live as your acquired gender until you already have a GRC is a bit like saying you shouldn't live in the UK until you're already a British citizen.

Cheryl Morgan@cherylmorgan.bsky.social · last yr.

A couple of things come to mind here. Firstly Reindorf clearly has no idea how the transition process actually works. You have to live fully in your new gender before you can qualify for a GRC, and that includes using the correct toilet. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Alicia Spencer-Hall @aspencerhall.bsky.social · last yr.

Hello friend www.aup.nl/en/book/9789...

Two copies of the book Disability and Sanctity in the Middle Ages

Clare Downham @downham.bsky.social · last yr.

Excellent presentations by researchers in Liverpool today and researchers in London yesterday incl. @natashaamberjo.bsky.social and @aspencerhall.bsky.social. This is all the things I hoped for from academia - learning, sharing knowledge & seeing the next generation rise.

Clare Downham@downham.bsky.social · last yr.

Off to London to be a proud PhD advisor at the Trans Saints conference, visit another PhD and attend a couple of events at the Irish embassy including one for ‘Gaeltacht chois Tamaise 2025’ then back for Graduate Day in Liverpool ❤️ cnag.london/imeachtai

Michael Eber @ebermichael.bsky.social · last yr.

It's happening today!! www.ghil.ac.uk/events/confe...

Trans Sainthood in Translation

17 Bloomsbury Square London WC1A 2NJ United Kingdom

ghil.ac.uk

Michael Eber@ebermichael.bsky.social · last yr.

Excited to finally share the program for "Trans Sainthood in Translation, ca. 400-1500" at @ghilondon.bsky.social on 22-23 May 🏳️‍⚧️🌈 If you are interested in trans saints anywhere from late antique Egypt to late medieval Iceland, join us on zoom! Registration at wwwghil.ac.uk/events/confe...

$Poster for the conference "Trans Sainthood in Translation, ca. 400-1500", 22-23 May 2025 at German Historical Institute London. More information at www.ghil.ac.uk. In the background behin the title, there is a 13th century depiction of a child looking at a monk (Saint Marina/Marinus) from the manuscript Zwettl, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 13, with an added visual effect that makes it look like white light is coming from the child's eyes and being refracted into rainbow colors by the saint's halo. At the bottom, the logos of the sponsors of the conference: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, German Historical Institute London, the Hagiography Society, and the Past&Present Society.$

Michael Eber @ebermichael.bsky.social · last yr.

Once more for the morning crowd: www.ghil.ac.uk/events/confe...

Trans Sainthood in Translation

17 Bloomsbury Square London WC1A 2NJ United Kingdom

ghil.ac.uk

Michael Eber@ebermichael.bsky.social · last yr.

Michael Eber @ebermichael.bsky.social · last yr.

Program for Day 1 of the conference "Trans Sainthood in Translation":
22 May
Welcome and Introduction: 9:00–9:30
Stephan Bruhn (German Historical Institute, London)
Session 1: 9:30–11:00
Jenny Albani (Greek Ministry of Culture, Athens): The Holy Memory of a Transgender Saint in the Christian East: The Cult and Image of Pelagia the Penitent
Julie Van Pelt (Universiteit Gent): Trans Sainthood and Metaphrasis: Re-writing Gender in the Metaphrastic
Life of Theodora/-us of Alexandria (BHG 1730)
Charles Kuper (University of Tennessee, Knoxville): Translating the Lives of Trans Saints. Crossing Time and Space in the Greek, Latin, and Syriac Lives of Euphrosyne/Smaragdos
Coffee Break: 11:00–11:30
Session 2: 11:30–12:30
Michael Eber (Universität zu Köln): Lost in Translation? Defusing the Lives of Trans Saints in Latin Translation
Mariana Bodnaruk (Masarykova Univerzita, Brno): Pelagia*us’ Gender Performance in Church Slavonic Versions of the Life
Lunch Break: 12:30–14:00
Session 3: 14:00–15:30
Gabrielle Bychowski (Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland): Imago Transvesti: St. Marinos, the Images of a Transgender God
Arietta Papaconstantinou (Aix-Marseille Université): Authorial authority. Who defines the gender of Marina/Marinos (and others)?
Luis Josué Salés (Scripps College, Claremont): Exporting Greco-Roman Androprimacy? Perils of Translating Trans Saints Lives into Ethiopian and Syrian Contexts
Coffee Break: 15:30–16:00
Keynote 1: 16:00–17:00
Roland Betancourt (University of California Irvine): Trans In/visibility in Byzantium: Resistance, Resilience, Refusal
Conference Dinner: 19:00

Program for Day 2 of the conference "Trans Sainthood in Translation":
23 May
Session 4: 09:00–10:30
Juliette Vuille (Université de Lausanne): “We are Family”: Familial Ties as Gender Correction in Old English Trans Lives
Clovis Maillet (Villa Medici, Rome): Eugeni/e, Hiacynth and Prothus between Genders: Images and Texts in Latin, Greek and Old English
James Davison (University of Liverpool): Ælfric, Eugenia*us, and Euphrosyne*Smaragdus: Trans saints in early Medieval England
Coffee Break: 10:30–11:00
Session 5: 11:00–12:00
Robert Mills (University College London): Eugenia*us in Translation: Art, Liturgy, and Landscape in Iberia
Leticia Ding (Université de Lausanne): Dieudonnée, Marine and Eufrosine: Three Shades of Gender Crossing
Lunch Break: 12:00–13:00
Session 6: 13:00–14:00
Johannes Traulsen (Freie Universität Berlin): Age and Asceticism in the Medieval German Vitae of Trans Saints
Natasha Bradley (Lincoln College, University of Oxford): Cross-Dressing Saints in Old Norse Translation: Marina the Monk and Pelagia the Penitent
Keynote 2: 14:00–15:00
Alicia Spencer-Hall (University College London): Trans Monasticism and the Trans Hagiographic Impulse: Genders, Texts, Lives
Concluding Remarks: 15:00–15:15
Michael Eber (Universität zu Köln)

Bad Gays @badgayspod.bsky.social · last yr.

If you are trans, this list has resources that might help you. If you can afford the time or money, this list has organizations that need your support to keep trans people in the UK alive against the express wishes of that country’s media and political elite goodlawproject.org/resource/sup...

Support resources for our trans friends and allies | Good Law Project

At a time when anti-trans discrimination is rife and hate crime has reached record levels, it’s important to know what support is out there for trans, non-binary or gender-questioning individuals and ...

goodlawproject.org

Ben Miller@benwritesthings.bsky.social · last yr.

The priest caste of an unpleasant island that once ruled far too much of the world—facing collapsing living standards, a crumbling civil society, and increasingly globally irrelevant economic and political leadership—chants “Adult Human Female” as if it were a spell that could banish their curse.

Alicia Spencer-Hall @aspencerhall.bsky.social · last yr.

Cannot wait for this to be out in the world, current ETA for hardcopy is late spring www.aup.nl/en/book/9789... @amsterdamupress.bsky.social @parkerchronicle.bsky.social #CripSky #DisabilitySky #MedievalSky #Skystorians 🗃️

Front cover of Disability and Sanctity in the Middle Ages. On a pale grey background, a medieval wooden crucifix casts a shadow to its right. Christ is missing his arms and part of his left lower leg. The Crucific is worn, in the process of disintegration.

This volume significantly expands current understandings of both disability and sanctity in the Middle Ages. Across the collection, heterogeneous constructions, and experiences, of disability and holiness are excavated. Analyses span the tenth to the fourteenth century, with discussion of holy men and holy women, Western Christian and Buddhist traditions, hagiographic texts, images, and artefacts. Each chapter underscores that disability and sanctity co-exist with a vast array of connotations, not just fully positive or fully negative, but also every inflection in between. The collection is a powerful rebuttal to the notion of the integral relationship of disability—medieval and otherwise—with sin, stigma, and shame. So doing, it recentres medieval disability history as a lived history that merits exploration and celebration. In this way, the volume serves to reclaim sanctity in disability histories as a means to affirm the possibility of radical disability futures.

Michael Eber @ebermichael.bsky.social · last yr.

Might I add the important nuance that all the nerds involved in that schism agreed that the answer to both was "yes", but split the church over whether it was ok to posthumously honor one specific guy for saying "yes" to both in a way that was specifically worded to _not_ piss anybody off...

lauren@lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com · last yr.

i think a lot of catholic history happened because people were bored. why else would the acacian schism, which hinged on whether jesus was "fully divine and fully human" or whether he was "one person with a divine and human nature", last 35 years. there was just nothing else to talk about i guess

Tarek Shukrallah (they/them)@tarekshuk.bsky.social · 2y ago

Auch wenn in den heutigen Abstimmungen SPD und Grüne nicht mitgestimmt haben, so hat ihre Politik, haben Wettläufe um inhumane Grenzpolitiken und offen rassistisches Hetzen zwischen den bürgerlichen und rechten Parteien diesen Tag erst möglich gemacht. Eure Brandmauer my Ass.

Zentrum für Politische Schönheit @politicalbeauty.bsky.social · 2y ago

Friedrich Merz hat heute eines sehr verantwortlich klar gemacht: Wer die CDU wählt, wählt AfD.

Liverpool University Press @livunipress.bsky.social · 2y ago

We are delighted to launch Essays in Long Late Antiquity: a new #OpenAccess journal in the field of first millennium studies encouraging interdisciplinary and superregional approaches, edited by @calthalas.bsky.social & Jakob Riemenschneider. Find out more: bit.ly/ELLA-blog @unierfurt.bsky.social

Mateusz Fafinski @calthalas.bsky.social · 2y ago

Friends, fellow late antiquity fans! The news are out! We are starting a new journal together with the amazing team at LUP. We want to foster interdisciplinary and exciting articles in essay form as well as peer-reviewed editions and translations of texts. Extremely excited about this!

Liverpool University Press@livunipress.bsky.social · 2y ago

Michael Eber @ebermichael.bsky.social · 2y ago

Hello Bluesky! I've left it long enough, so here's my introduction: I'm an early medievalist at Uni Cologne working on Latin vitae of trans monks. Aside from trans and queer history, I'm interested in Mediterranean connectivity in the Early Middle Ages, and in book/manuscript history.