Live Event: Imagined Journeys: Pilgrimage, Diplomacy, and Colonialism in Medieval Europe

TORCH Goes Digital! presents a series of weekly live events Big
Tent - Live Events!. Part of the Humanities Cultural Programme, one
of the founding stones for the future Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre
for the Humanities. Join us to discuss Imagined Journeys:
Pilgrimage, Diplomacy, and Colonialism in Medieval Europe -
Professor Marion Turner (Faculty of English) in Conversation with
writer Matthew Kneale. In this event, Marion and Matthew discuss
their recent books – Matthew’s novel, Pilgrims, and Marion’s
biography, Chaucer: A European Life – both of which focus on
medieval journeys across Europe. They will discuss different
aspects of medieval travel – ranging from colonialism in Wales to
the expulsion of the Jews from England, from diplomacy and cultural
exchange to pilgrimage, both real and imagined. One of the issues
underpinning their work, and this conversation, is the question of
what it means to be English and what it means to be European – both
then and now. Biographies: Professor Marion Turner, Tutorial Fellow
of Jesus College and Associate Professor of English, University of
Oxford Marion Turner works on late medieval literature and culture,
focusing especially on Geoffrey Chaucer. Her most recent book,
Chaucer: A European Life (Princeton, 2019) argues for the
importance of placing Chaucer in multilingual and international
contexts, tracing his journeys across Europe and his immersion in
global trade routes and exchanges. It was named as a book of the
year 2019 by the Times, the Sunday Times, and the TLS, and was
shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize 2020. ‘An absolute
triumph’ A.N. Wilson, Times Literary Supplement ‘A quite
exceptional biography,’ Wolfson History Prize judges Matthew Kneale
Matthew Kneale was born in London in 1960, the son of two writers
and the grandson of two others. His father, Nigel Kneale, was a
screenwriter for film and television, best known for the
‘Quatermass’ series. Matthew’s mother, Judith Kerr, was the author
and illustrator of children’s books including ‘The tiger who came
to tea’ and ‘Mog the forgetful cat’ while she has also written
three autobiographical novels, beginning with ‘When Hitler stole
pink rabbit’. From his earliest years Matthew was fascinated by
different worlds, both contemporary and from the past. After
studying at Latymer Upper School, London, he read Modern History at
Magdalen College, Oxford. During his university years he began
travelling, seeing diverse cultures at first hand, in Asia, Europe
and Latin America. Matthew's books include: Whore Banquets, Inside
Rose’s Kingdom, Sweet Thames, English Passengers, Small Crimes in
an Age of Abundance, When we were Romans and An Atheist’s History
of Belief. Matthew's current novel, Pilgrims, explores medieval
life, shaped by religious laws as well as personal battles and
follows a fascinating cast of characters on a journey from England
to Rome. When not writing Kneale enjoys to travel and has visited
some eighty countries and seven continents. He is also fascinated
with languages, trying his hand at learning a number, from Italian,
Spanish, German and French to Romanian and Amharic Ethiopian.
Matthew currently lives in Rome with his wife, Shannon, and their
two children, Alexander and Tatiana.