Melissa BARRY

En raison des difficultés d'accès récurrentes à la Sorbonne depuis les attentats, prière à toute personne intéressée ne disposant pas d'un accès facilité (carte d'étudiant, professionnelle, etc…) de contacter benoit.grevin@orange.fr, et dans tous les cas de se munir d'une pièce d'identité et du programme ci-joint

1 Unit 1: Introducing the UK Distinguishing between England, [Great] Britain, and the United Kingdom (UK) Etymology and Historical overview Roman Britain (Britannia) During the Iron Age, Britain was inhabited by a number of native Celtic tribes collectively referred to as "Britons" by Roman historians The territories which now correspond to England, Lowland Scotland and Wales were then invaded, conquered, and occupied by the Romans between the 1 st Century BC and the 5 th Century AD The Latin name Britannia, which originally designated the historical Roman province, later evolved into "Britain" Today, the word "Britons" has more emotional undertones than "the British", and is often used in a political context to exude national pride The British Isles in the Early-Middle Ages When the Roman Empire collapsed in the 5 th Century AD, England was invaded and conquered by Germanic tribes-including the Saxons, the Angles, and the Jutes England thus derives its name from the Angles, and the phrase "Anglo-Saxon"-originally coined by historians to designate the English people of the Early-Middle Ages and the era itself (Anglo-Saxon England)-was used in a broader sense from the 19 th century to refer to the white, English-speaking peoples of the British Empire; it is often used now to point at the similitudes between the British and the Americans, and to their so-called "special relationship" (see brochure, p. 65 et seq.) Power in Scotland was taken over by the native Picts and by the Scots (of Irish origin), after whom Scotland is named

The British Empire occupies a central place in the history of the world. Indeed, at the height of its expansion, it covered more than a quarter of the earth's surface, and its political, economic and cultural aspects have exercised a great influence on the shaping of the modern world. More importantly, it also helped shape British identity and civilisation. Indeed, the possession of an overseas Empire fostered national pride and even today, tales of the British Empire have the power to conjure up memories of former British glory, when Britain was the greatest world-power on earth. Many memorials erected to commemorate the heroes of the Empire are still visible today all around Britain. However, the way Europeans consider their imperial past today is marked by a profound sense of post-colonial guilt, as we have come to question and reject racial hierarchies and the moral right of a 'superior' and more-civilised nation to rule it over peoples reputed as 'inferior', 'backward' and in need of European support and guidance. Moreover, we now recognise that every nation should be able to decide for itself and shape its own destiny. That idea already played a major role in the final dissolution of the Empire in the 2 nd half of the 20th century. Today, many aspects of the history of the British Empire, such as slavery, are very shocking to us and hurt our modern sensibilities. Since the fall of the Empire, Britain has been striving to find a new role in world politics. This can be shown by its connection with the United States, sometimes ambiguous and tinged with apprehension, but also by its membership of and relationships with the European Union, although this attempt came to a brutal end with the outcome of the 'Brexit' referendum. According to the journalist, Britain's former imperial status is still determining its foreign policies (such as its involvement in Iraq), its economy and its sense of identity. Use of the word 'Britons' to designate the British people: original Celtic inhabitants of Britain, was part of George III's propaganda during the Seven Years' War, found its way into the famous patriotic song 'Rule Britannia' (brochure, p. 8-9) and was also used to express a sense of British descent at the outset of the American War of Independence, for example by Governor Jonathan Trumbull of Connecticut who remarked that the Americans were the 'descendents of Britons'.

This innovative bilingual study day, coorganised by Benoît Grévin (Laboratoire de Médiévistique Occidentale de Paris, CNRS UMR 8589) and Melissa Barry (LaMOP-Panthéon-Sorbonne University) combines a series of conference papers with a special session of Benoît Grévin's seminar of Middle-Latin translation: https://lamop.univ-paris1.fr/menu-haut/enseignements/seminaires-diplomants/latin-medieval/
It aims to draw up a comparative historical assessment of the textual practices applied to wills and testaments in Late-Medieval Europe from a socio-historical, a linguistic, a philological, and a literary/rhetorical perspective. 
This international study day will bring together Canadian, British, and French researchers-who will deliver a series of papers and co-animate the discussions- and involve the participation of the attendees and students of the seminar.
The special session of the Middle-Latin seminar will be dedicated to the study of original documents discussed in the papers, transcripts and reproductions of which will be submitted to the participants for translation and interpretation.