Calls
The ERC project Agrelita organizes an international conference titled “The reception of ancient Greece in Europe through the dialogue between texts et images inside and outside the book (14th-16th century)” (University of Caen Normandie, June 18-19, 2026). This conference aims to explore the literary, artistic, and cultural reception of ancient Greece through the prism of the relationships between texts and images in Europe from the 14th to the 16th century. Proposals for papers, in French or English (title and abstract of 200–300 words), should be submitted along with a brief CV by December 15, 2025 to the following addresses:
The ongoing HellBel project organizes an international conference devoted to the vibrant but understudied phenomenon of New Ancient Greek (NAG) or Humanist Greek literature (also known as e.g. Neo-Greek). The conference aims to explore NAG literature not simply as a philological curiosity but as a dynamic cultural practice — crafted by specific authors, for specific audiences, and shaped by particular literary and performative conventions. The full Call for Papers can be found here.
The ERC project ERASMOS organizes a Summer School on “Classical Bilingualism: From Greco-Roman Antiquity to Early Modern Europe” (Leuven, 12–18 July 2026), with an exquisite team of lecturers. The deadline for applications 1 December 2025.
The IJsewijn Lecture & Laboratorium (Leuven, 21–22 May 2026) welcomes papers on Greek humanism (deadline for abstracts: 15 December 2025) – the IJsewijn Lecturer will be Prof. Dr. Marc Laureys (Universität Bonn).
News
From fall 2025 to spring 2026, the online lecture series Young researchers on New Ancient Greek and Neo-Latin Studies takes place, organized by Democritus University of Thrace, KU Leuven and University of Ioannina. Find the titles, dates of the lectures and the links to the online meetings in the document below.
On 28 October 2025, 15h, dr. Xander Feys (KU Leuven), postdoc on the ERASMOS project, will present his new findings – with a focus on Erasmus’ Greek book collection — in a hybrid lecture at Leuven, which serves not only to mark the end of his time at our project but also to celebrate Erasmus’s birthday. Contact raf.vanrooy@kuleuven.be if you want to attend (indicate whether you will participate in person or online).
The HellBel team will curate a modest exhibition on (early) modern texts in Ancient Greek from the Low Countries at Leuven University Libraries (13 April–24 May 2026). More information soon.
Following our inaugural session of the Early Modern Hellenism Colloquia in May, a series organised as part of our ongoing efforts to foster scholarly exchange and collaboration within the field of Early Modern Hellenism, we are very excited to contact you to announce the next two sessions, scheduled for the autumn semester.
Our next two sessions are as follows:
- 25 September 2025: Martine Furno, ‘What Do We Know About How Early Modern Printers Learned Greek?’
- 27 November 2025: Francesco Trespidi, ‘Kostantinos Kalogereas’ Lachrymae Graeciae: Hybrid Identity and Hellenic Heritage in Early Modern Venice?’
Both sessions promise to be very interesting; they will take place at 15:00 CET, and as announced already, each colloquium will consist of a 20-minute presentation followed by an informal discussion lasting up to 30 minutes. We encourage presenters to concentrate on the primary sources and materials that are central to their research, while also reflecting on their academic background and how it shapes their approach(es) to early modern Hellenism. Presenters might also try a more experimental approach by showcasing a specific source or interesting excerpt and inviting attendees to discuss its implications and significance.
The registration form for the Colloquia will be circulated shortly.
Recent books
(Send us a note if you want to see something mentioned.)
- Weise, Stefan, ed. 2025, Griechischhumanismus des 16. Jahrhunderts. Lorenz Rhodoman im Kontext und digital. Palingenesia 142. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag.
- Check out the latest issue of Journal of Latin Cosmopolitanism and European Literatures (JOLCEL), the second of three issues on “Latin–Greek Code-Switching in Early Modernity”.
- Akujärvi, Johanna & Savin, Kristiina, eds. 2024, Reading, Writing, Translating: Greek in Early Modern Schools, Universities, and beyond. Studia Graeca et Latina Lundensia 29. Lund: Lund University.
- Camenae, issue 29 (December 2023): Latin et grec au Moyen Âge et à la Renaissance
- Van Rooy, Raf, 2023. New Ancient Greek in a Neo-Latin World. The Restoration of Classical Bilingualism in the Early Modern Low Countries and Beyond. Brill Research Perspectives in Latinity and Classical Reception in the Early Modern Period. Leiden & Boston: Brill.
- Ciccolella, Federica, ed. 2022. When Greece Flew across the Alps: The Study of Greek in Early Modern Europe. Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History 336. Leiden & Boston: Brill.
- Korhonen, Tua. 2022. To the Glory That Was Greece: Ideas, Ideals and Practices in Composing Humanist Greek during the Seventeenth Century. Commentationes Humanarum Litterarum 143. Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennica / The Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters.
- Pontani, Filippomaria, and Stefan Weise, eds. 2022. The Hellenizing Muse: A European Anthology of Poetry in Ancient Greek from the Renaissance to the Present. Trends in Classics – Pathways of Reception 6. Berlin & Boston: De Gruyter.
Hermes 