Preface

The ten papers presented in this volume honor the tenth anniversary of the Illinois Medieval Association, which was celebrated at Loyola University Chicago on February 21,1993. The conference theme, which also serves as the rubric for this essay collection, was "Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell in the Middle Ages." Thirty-three papers were given at the conference, which was co-sponsored by the Newberry Library; the featured address, "The Death of Beowulf;" was given by Fred Robinson of Yale University. The Newberry Library organized an exhibition for the event that featured early editions of Old and Middle English literary and historical texts.

The IMA's anniversary meeting marked the retirement of Robert L. Kindrick as Executive Director, a position he had held since the organization's foundation. Professor Kindrick has served IMA with distinction, ensuring that it maintained high organizational standards and helping to secure the future of the organization by meticulous planning. The IMA owes much of its vitality today to his untiring efforts on its behalf, and all members of the Association are greatly in his debt.

Officers for IMA for 1993 - 1994 proposed by the Executive Committee and approved by the membership at the February 21 business meeting are as follows:

Ruth Hamilton, Newberry Library, President;
David A. Robertson, Loyola University, vice-President;
David Wagner, Northern Illinois University, vice-President for Development;
Thomas N. Hall, University of Illinois-Chicago, and John Freed, Illinois State University, Advisors;
Allen J. Frantzen, Loyola University, Executive Secretary.
Wagner's office was approved as a five-year position at the business meeting. The immediate past president is Gregory Guzman, Bradley University. The tenth annual meeting of the IMA was funded by the Loyola University Endowment for the Liberal Arts. The Program Committee for the 1993 IMA meeting included Ruth Hamilton; Karma Lochrie, Loyola University Chicago; Peggy McCracken, University of Illinois-Chicago; David Robertson; and Barbara H. Rosenwein, Loyola University Chicago; it was chaired by Allen J. Frantzen. The exhibition of early printed editions at the Newberry Library was organized by Ruth Hamilton and mounted by Bart Smith of the Newberry Library. The IMA is pleased to thank them for their cooperation.

The eleventh annual meeting of the IMA will take place at Loyola University's Lake Shore Campus on February 18-19, 1994. The meeting will be co-chaired by Robertson and Frantzen and will take as its theme "The Body in Medieval Art, History, and Literature."

The editorial committee for the current volume of proceedings consisted of John Freed, Thomas Hall, Ruth Hamilton, David Robertson, and Barbara Rosenwein. The papers printed here were read at the conference and submitted for publication in revised and in most cases expanded form. The editor thanks the editorial board for their advice; Alta Cook Halama, editorial assistant, for her help; the contributors for their patience and good will in the editing process; and Donna McLaughlin-Travis and the Loyola University Center for Instructional Design for supervising the design and production of the volume.