I will be speaking at the Institute of Historical Research Seminar Series, Society, Culture & Belief, 1500-1800. This paper addresses the issue of Anabaptist identities in the early modern era. 

In the 16th and 17th century many Mennonites left the Netherlands to settle in lands in Prussia and Poland round Danzig and the Vistula delta. Following one group of Mennonites in Przechowka, this paper examines the question of the way in which Anabaptist communities across Europe and beyond maintained a sense of community and constructed their identity as groups travelled, moved, or were exile, as well as the longer term legacy of the Anabaptist diaspora up until modern times for the Przechowka Mennonites would continue their travels to Russia and then to Kansas in the 19th and 20th centuries. Research into their narratives re-opens the question of the way in which such groups negotiated their position in communities and shaped identity through personal and emotional bonds, member lists, histories and memories of their past, and material cultures.

I will be speaking at  Durham University on 12th December 2017, 17:30 at the Palace Green Library Learning Centre. The talk will be followed by a drinks reception at the Cafe, Palace Green Library.

This event is part of the IMEMS Religious Diversity seminar series for 2017/18.

Abstract: In the first half of the 18th century the Mennonite Hendrik Hulshoff, left Amsterdam to travel round Anabaptist communities in Prussia, including a group who had settled in Przechowka. Following the story of the Przechowka Mennonites, this paper examines the question of the way in which Anabaptist communities across Europe and beyond maintained a sense of community and constructed their identity as groups travelled, moved, or were exiled. Anabaptism has often been relegated as a radical sideline in the early modern era and defined solely by martyrdom and separation, and scant attention has been paid to the experience of Anabaptism across the diaspora of far-flung settlements and networks. This paper re-opens the question of the way in which they negotiated their position in communities and shaped identity through personal and emotional bonds, member lists, histories and memories of their past, and material cultures.

I will be speaking at this event in October organised by Olenka Horbatsch, Curator of Northern Prints and Drawings at The British Museum, and Giulia Bartrum, Assistant Keeper of German Prints and Drawings, to celebrate the 500 year anniversary of the Reformation.

A commemorative display of Luther prints to mark the events of 1517 entitled ‘The Candle is Lighted’ Martin Luther’s Legacy in Print will be installed in September 2017, and a study day has been organized at The British Museum on Saturday, 7 October 2017 in conjunction with Ulinka Rublack (Cambridge) and Lyndal Roper (Oxford), who will both be participating.

 A collection of papers in the morning will be be followed by a group visit to the exhibition in the afternoon. The aim for the study day is to allow scholars, curators, and early career researchers to engage in discussion around Luther, print media, and the broader cultural and social impact of the Reformation. 

On Thursday 16 February I will be giving a seminar paper at the Reformation Studies Institute in St Andrews, entitled ‘Material Cultures of Memory and Migration in the Reformation World’