Saints - A Talk by Amy Jeffs

Join us for an evening with Amy Jeffs speaking about her new book Saints . Amy will be interviewed by Professor Alixe Bovey from the Courtauld Institute of Art.

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Storyland and Wild, comes a sweeping new legendary of miracles, magic, human frailty and heroic strength. Illustrated with over thirty original paper cutouts by the author.

Saints' legends suffused medieval European culture. Their heroes' suffering and wonder-working shaped landscapes, rituals and folk beliefs. Their tales spoke of men raised by wolves, women communing with flocks of birds and severed heads calling from between bristling paws.
In Saints, Amy Jeffs retells legends born of the medieval cult of saints. She draws on 'official' lives, vernacular romances, artworks and obscene poetry, all spanning from the fourth to the sixteenth centuries. The legends' heroes originate from as far east as Turkey and North Africa and as far west as Britain and Ireland. Saints includes such enduring super saints as Brigid, George, Patrick and Michael, as well as some whose legends are less well known (Scoithín, Euphrosyne and Ia) or else couched in prejudice (William of Norwich).
The commentaries following the stories offer a history of each saint and, together, trace the rise and fall of the medieval cult of saints from the first martyrs to the Protestant Reformation. And all this maps onto the passing year: from St Mungo in January to St Thomas Becket in December.

Dr Amy Jeffs is an author, artist and medievalist. During her PhD in Art History at the University of Cambridge, she co-convened a project researching medieval badges and pilgrim souvenirs at the British Museum. She then worked in the British Library’s department of Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern manuscripts. Now a Somerset-based author, she illustrates her books with print and paper cutout. Storyland: A New Mythology of Britain was published in 2021. It was a Sunday Times bestseller and a Waterstones Book of the Month, as well as being shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year. Wild: Tales from Early Medieval Britain was published in 2022. Its audiobook, illustrated with 7 original songs, was named Audiobook of the Week by the Guardian and the Times. Her latest project will be revealed in the Spring of 2024.

Alixe Bovey is Professor of Medieval Art History at The Courtauld Institute of Art, where she teaches an MA on the supernatural in medieval art. She is a specialist in visual storytelling, mythic history, and illuminated manuscripts.

NB: This event is in-person only and won't be streamed or recorded. It will take place in the Cathedral Library on the first floor of the Millennium Building. Doors will open at 6:15pm. Books will be available to purchase.

Please email [email protected] if you have any access requirements.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Southwark Cathedral, Southwark Cathedral, London, United Kingdom