25th International Medieval Sermon Studies Symposium

Collecting, transmitting, and (re)using sermons

Hosted by Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)

Organising committee: Shari Boodts (Radboud), Pietro Delcorno (Bologna), Patricia Stoop (Antwerp), Patrick Outhwaite (Groningen) with support from Marieke van Egeraat, Kendall Bitner, and Jonathan Cramer (Radboud)

About this symposium

Sermons have a life beyond the moment of their creation and performance. Over the course of the Middle Ages, sermons were rewritten, recycled, translated, and repurposed to fit different monastic, liturgical and communal settings. Authoritative patristic author names were appropriated, model sermons were copied, and bestselling collections were produced and distributed. Sermons also permeated other genres, outside of the context of preaching. This dynamic medieval reception of sermons continued beyond the Middle Ages into Early Modern times. This conference will put the spotlight on the varied and influential ways in which sermons were received and (re)used, often long after they were first spoken aloud, and on the compilers, editors and collectors who mediated this process.

The International Medieval Sermon Studies Society promotes and fosters the study of medieval sermons and preaching in Latin and the vernacular languages within their social, literary, religious, intellectual, theological, catechetical, political and historical contexts. The Society provides a home and community to early career researchers and established scholars from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, including history, literature, religion, philology, linguistics, manuscript studies and the digital humanities. This Symposium marks the 25^th anniversary of the biennial event and a special occasion to celebrate the thriving field of medieval sermon studies.

Registration

The conference is open to all participants. We especially encourage students to attend. Registration is mandatory and closes 31 May 2026.

Registered participants will be offered meals during the conference, and a full-day excursion on 4 July incl. bus transfer. A symposium dinner is offered to all speakers. If other participants or family members wish to join the symposium dinner, a fee of EUR 30 is payable. To register, please click the Register button above.

Conference venue

The conference will take place in two locations. On 1-3 July, the conference location is on the Radboud University campus, Huize Heyendael. Specific events will take place in the University Library’s Special Collections Reading Room and in the Berchmanianum. On 5 July, we will convene in the city center of Nijmegen, at the Thiemeloods.

Programme

The programme of the conference may be found here.

Accommodation

Conference participants are asked to book their own travel and accommodation.* Radboud University has an arrangement with the Mercure Hotel, located next to the train station and a short bus ride from the university campus. We have reserved a number of rooms for IMSSS participants, at the rate of EUR 163,71 per night, including breakfast and tourist tax. Once you’ve registered for the conference, you’ll receive a reference code with which you can claim the university rate. Please note that rooms at this rate are subject to availability and the hotel operates on a first come, first serve basis.

If you prefer to seek alternative accommodation, we can recommend several other nearby hotels:

Guesthouse Vertoef, next to the station
Hotel De Prince, in the city center, a 10-minute walk from the station
Hotel Credible, in the city center, less conveniently located, but nice for those who enjoy a walk
Hostel Barbarossa, a budget option

Additionally, a range of options is available on AirBnB.

*The IMSSS offers a limited number of travel grants for early career scholars or those without institutional support. If you would like to be considered for one of these grants, please contact Shari Boodts (shari.boodts [at] ru.nl (shari[dot]boodts[at]ru[dot]nl)).

Getting to Nijmegen

If arriving by air, the easiest way to get to Nijmegen is by train. Trains leave directly from Schiphol airport every fifteen minutes (two direct connections, two with an easy change at Utrecht), and take about one and a half hour to reach Nijmegen. For the train schedules, please see here. You can use your debit card, credit card or mobile phone to buy a ticket, by tapping the card reader upstairs in the airport hall, just before you take the escalator down to the trains (see here).

Other airports serving Nijmegen include Eindhoven and Düsseldorf. Düsseldorf is a particularly convenient international option, as the airport has a train station located directly within the terminal, making the onward journey to Nijmegen straightforward.

Our main conference venue, Huize Heyendael, also known as het kasteeltje, is located in the Radboud University campus, next to the university hospital. The easiest way to reach it from Nijmegen's central railway station is by taking bus 10, which leaves from the stop in front of the Mercure hotel, on your right as you exit the station. The ride takes about 8 minutes, and you can also use your debit card, credit card or mobile phone to buy a ticket (again, simply tap the card reader with your card or mobile phone).

If using your bank card or mobile to travel, please do remember to also check out when leaving the bus or train, to avoid a hefty surcharge!