Matthew Sergi

I'm drawn to medieval English literature (defined broadly: from the earliest examples of Old English through Chaucer to the end of the fifteenth century -- or, in parts of the English North, as far as the end of the sixteenth century). My research and teaching center on early English text in performance (mystery plays; miracle plays; morality plays; mummings; interludes; sagas; oral poetry). I also study and teach the History of the English Language.

At the moment, my primary scholarly project concerns the community-based biblical play-cycles produced and performed by local guilds in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Chester (in northwest England). My upcoming book, Play Texts and Public Practice in the Chester Cycle, 1422-1607, investigates how that cycle's scripted action engages with the unscripted local revelry and festivity that surrounded it on the holidays that occasioned its performances. And it has given me occasion to research early English gambling, wrestling, feasting, boozing, shopping, and tourism.