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1. Venue of the Tenth Triennial Congress,
2001
Two proposals were presented:(a) Christchurch, New Zealand: apologizing for the lateness of the proposal, Margaret Burrell circulated a handout and emphasized that the holding of the conference in New Zealand would provide much-needed support for European Medieval Studies, which were otherwise in danger of disappearing. Moreover, the year 2001 was the only feasible one for organizing such a conference herself, and a team was in place to assist. She was skeptical whether there would be anyone to organize one at a later date. Air New Zealand had promised a discount for group departure, and sponsorship money should be forthcoming. The cost, once there, would be fairly low, and the climate reasonable; the conference would take place in July in a centrally-placed Convention Centre.
(b) Tübingen, Germany: Christoph Huber, Henrike Lähnemann, and Annegret Fiebig, faculty members at the Universität Tübingen, who had been planning for the 2001 ICLS congress for the preceding seven months, gave an account of Tübingen's history and emphasized the city's appropriateness as a meeting place for the Society, as well as the breadth and depth of its programs in Medieval and Early Modern Studies. The congress would be organized under the auspices of the Graduiertenkolleg "Ars und Scientia im Mittelalter und in der frühen Neuzeit," which includes 25 full time faculty and some 40 graduate students and research fellows. Several other departments at the Universität would also be involved in its organization. Costs would be reasonable, and accommodation would be in student residences or hotels. Located in the mountainous region of Swabia, in southwestern Germany, Tübingen is easily accessible by both air and ground transport.
After some discussion from the floor on the merits of each case, and in the absence of the presenters, a vote was taken: Tübingen received 47 votes, Christchurch 26.
2. Minutes of the Belfast General Assembly
The minutes of the Eighth Triennial Congress, held in July 1995 in Belfast, were approved.
3. Matters arising
There were no matters arising which would not be dealt with in subsequent items.
4. President's Report
The President gave an account of recent visits to France, Germany and Italy to discuss matters pertaining to the national branches in those countries. He announced that the Italian and French sections had recently changed officers: the incoming President of the Italian section is Valeria Bertolucci-Pizzorusso; the new Secretary is Fabrizio Cigni. Both are from the Università degli Studi di Pisa. The incoming Secretary of the French section is Michelle Szkilnik, of the Université de Nantes.At his meeting with representatives of the German section last May, it was foreseen that its reorganization would begin at the Vancouver congress, and he invited Volker Honemann, of the Universität Münster, to address the group with a brief report on progress to date, as well as on future plans for the section.
He reminded the meeting that the Newsletter of the North-American section, which appears three times per year, welcomes contributions about events and activities in other countries. [N. B.: submissions, ideally in September, February, and April, should be sent to Professor Debora B. Schwartz, Department of English, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA USA - 93407; e-mail: dbschwar@polymail.cpunix.calpoly.edu ]
He announced that, in collaboration with Gerard J. Brault and the Graphics Department at Pennsylvania State University, the Society has acquired a new logo for use on its documents and publications. One variant of the emblem appeared on a t-shirt on sale at the Vancouver congress. He also announced that a complementary emblem based on medieval heraldic charges was being devised by Jonathan Boulton, of Notre Dame University, and that it would be presented at the congress in 2001.
5. Secretary's Report
The Secretary stated that he had canceled the Society's subscription to FILLM, in accordance with a decision taken at the Belfast meeting.6. Treasurer's ReportHe had also completed surveys concerning our past meetings (numbers attending, places, etc.) for ICCA DATA (Netherlands), and would be completing a further one for the Vancouver conference.
He had been invited twice to Geneva for an International Conventions meeting, but had declined, because the meetings occurred at a difficult time (early May), and the event in any case seemed to be directed more at business, whereas our meetings were usually held on University premises. He had also received an enquiry whether we would be interested in meeting in Jakarta.
He had written to two British Universities, anxious at the non-appearance of Encomia, for which they were paying annually, in order to reassure them and urge them not to cancel their subscriptions.
He had kept Branch Secretaries informed of the situation concerning Encomia, and requested up dated membership lists in 1997, receiving replies from Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, Belgium, Holland, USA/Canada, and the UK.
Three months prior to the Vancouver meeting, he had circulated to all Branch secretaries the proposed amendments to the Constitution, as required by the Constitution, and requested feedback on any comments from members. He received replies from the USA/Canadian and Belgian branches, offering no objections to the proposals.
The Treasurer reported that $1500 in seed money had been allocated to the Organizers of the Vancouver congress.Only one issue of Encomia had been published since the last conference, and a total of 794 copies distributed. The volume had been paid for and national branches were billed for the appropriate amount.
7. Editor of Encomia's Report
Following the delay in publication of Encomia, either a double issue (vols 18/19) would be published in the Spring of 1999, or the two issues would appear separately in the course of that year.Membership was reported to be about 750, but this figure was expected to increase to 800 or more as a result of the Triennial Congress.
8. Chief Bibliographer's Report
The production of the Bibliography had held up the publication of Encomia. European branches needed to be reactivated and deadlines for submission restated: national bibliographers should submit copy by November each year to the Chief Bibliographer, so they should request submissions from their assistant bibliographers by September.The question of what to include should be left to the discretion of national bibliographers, who were invited to add a keyword to individual items to assist the indexing.
As a further way of ensuring that items are registered, authors were invited to submit details direct to the Chief Bibliographer.
The possibilities of improving communication electronically were mentioned.
9. Revision of International Constitution
and Bylaws
The proposed changes were read out by the Secretary and approved. These involved the deletion of the reference to Arthurian material under Constitution II Purposes (I) and rearrangement of the wording; the simple correction of the wording of Bylaws III International Congresses (iii); and the referring to reimbursement of International Officers for attendance at International Congresses.
10. Election of Officers
The following officers were re-confirmed in office or elected to replace existing officers:President: Donald Maddox (continuing)
Vice President: Erik Kooper (continuing)
Secretary: Leslie Brook (until July 1999); Wendy Pfeffer (from July 1999)
Treasurer: Stephanie Cain Van D'Elden (continuing)
Editor, Encomia: Maria Dobozy (for the forthcoming vol.); Jean Blacker (thereafter)
Chief Bibliographer: Heather Arden (continuing)
11. Any Other Business
There was a proposal of thanks to Chantal Phan for the organization of the Vancouver conference, and one to Margaret Burrell for her presentation of the Christchurch proposal.Contributors to Encomia were asked to leave their addresses with Heather Arden to facilitate the transmission of information.
Erik Kooper announced a congress on chronicles to be held at Utrecht in 1999.
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