“Saint Martin, as the city patron, is still a connecting force in contemporary Utrecht. I research the meaning of these connections in the early Middle Ages and nowadays.”

Research focus: Latin language and culture in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages

Els Rose is Professor of Late and Medieval Latin at Utrecht University. Her research focuses on citizenship discourses in Western Europe in the period 400-1100. As a medievalist, she stands in an interdisciplinary tradition, combining philological, literary and historical methods with the material transmission of textual culture through manuscripts. In previous research projects she focused on Christian liturgy of the Middle Ages, the cult of the saints, Christian apocryphal literature, and the apocryphal Acts of the Apostles.

Summer feast of Saint Martin

On 3 and 4 July 2022, the city of Utrecht will celebrate its 900th anniversary with the summer festival of city patron Saint Martin . The festival is part of the NWO VICI-project Citizenship Discourses in the Early Middle Ages led by Els Rose. She is closely involved as initiator and Saint Martin's expert at Utrecht University. With the theme 'The miracle of Saint Martin - the happy city', the festival focuses on the meaning of Saint Martin for the inhabitants of Utrecht in the Middle Ages and today. The programme includes medieval music, an exhibition in the Dom church, a public book edited by Els Rose, a symposium and a documentary about Saint Martin. Children in the final years of primary school will sing new Sain Martin songs.

Announcement of Saint Martin festival 2022

Areas of interest:

• Late and medieval Latin
• Early medieval Culture
• Semantic change in early medieval citizenship discourses
• Early medieval Christianity, especially the cult of the saints

• ResearchGate profile
• NWO VICI (2017) Citizenship Discourses in the Early Middle Ages, 400-1100. The project will run until 31 August 2022
• Announcement of the two-day Saint Martin festival on uu.nl
• Els Rose: De vroege kerk kende wel degelijk theologen die tegen slavernij waren (Dutch opinion piece in Trouw, Autumn 2021)