Embedded Files
Online seminar: 16 April 2026
Virginia Jansen on Bruges, Belgium
Online seminar: 9 March 2026
Allen Langdale on Naples, Italy
Online seminar: 16 February 2026 [video]
Bob Nyden on Pipe Organs in the Church—History and Mechanics
A look at the historical origin and development of pipe organs, how and why they arrived in European Christian churches, and some explanation of how they work musically and mechanically.
Bob Nyden: A guide to pipe organ terminology
Anna Lapwood: How does a pipe organ actually work? (Classic FM)
Online seminar: 26 January 2026 [video]
Karen Mathews on The "City of Three Cultures": Toledo from the Middle Ages to Today
Dr Karen Rose Mathews is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Miami. She has published extensively on the visual and material culture of the medieval and early modern Mediterranean.
Over the centuries, Toledo transformed from a multicultural city to a bastion of Catholic orthodoxy. This talk will explore the city’s rich history and its central place in the cultural life of Spain through its artists and monuments. We will visit the cathedral and other churches, synagogues, and mosques in the city, study the works of El Greco made for influential Catholic patrons, and reflect on how Toledo’s past continues to shape the city’s image and artistic legacy in the present day.
Medieval Matters seminar: 2 Feb 2026, (Lane History Corner, Building 200, room 307, Stanford).
Stanford's Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies, in tandem with the British History Lecture Series and Stanford Continuing Studies, are delighted to host The Rt. Hon. Lord Sumption OBE for a Medieval Matters lecture on How War Creates Nations: The Example of the Hundred Years War.
Lord Sumption began his career as a medieval historian teaching the subject as a Fellow of Magdalen College Oxford, before leaving academic life to practice at the English bar. He was a leading advocate in commercial, administrative and constitutional law, and served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom from 2012 to 2018. In parallel with his legal career, he has pursued his academic interests in medieval history, writing Pilgrimage (1975), The Albigensian Crusade (1979) and a five-volume history of the Hundred Years War which appeared between 1990 and 2023, the third volume of which won the prestigious Wolfson History Prize.
The lecture will be held on Monday, February 2 at 7:30pm, in Bldg 200 (Lane History Corner), Room 307, with a preceding reception starting at 7:00pm.
For any questions, please reach out to CMEMS Director Rowan Dorin (dorin@stanford.edu).
The event is co-sponsored by the Anglo-California/Stansky Fund for British Studies, the Europe Center, and the Sally B. and William H. Neukom Center for the Rule of Law at Stanford University.
Online seminar: 5 January 2026 [video] Members' night talks
Bob Nyden on The rebuilding progress at Notre-Dame de Paris in the year since the grand reopening
Evelyn McMillan on Walking into the restored Notre Dame in March of 2025
Elaine and Randy Kreigh on Re-visiting favorite places in England: a nostalgic travelogue
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