International Medieval Congress

The International Medieval Congress (IMC) is an annual academic conference held for scholars specializing in, or with an interest in, the study of the European Middle Ages (c. 300–1500). It is organised and administered by the Institute for Medieval Studies at the University of Leeds and is held in early July. The Congress is the largest annual conference in any subject in the UK, regularly attracting over 2,700 registered participants, and has been used in some research as a barometer for trends in Medieval Studies generally. In 2020 and 2021 the conference was held online (branded as the vIMC) due to restrictions to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2022, the IMC has been held as hybrid event.

The main aim of the Congress is to provide an interdisciplinary forum for discussion on all aspects of the European Middle Ages (c. 300–1500). Each year's Congress has one special thematic strand which focuses on an area of interdisciplinary study in a wider context. However, this special thematic strand is not exclusive, and alongside it the IMC provides a platform of debate in all spheres of medieval research. For example, out of 701 sessions at the 2023 Congress, over 400 were on that year's focus, "Networks & Entanglements". Session and paper proposals are invited on all aspects of medieval studies, in any major European language.

Participants of the Congress range from senior scholars to postgraduate students, and interested members of the public such as members of the clergy or independent scholars. Each year, the IMC attracts over 2,500 participants. In 2023, 2,648 participants attended from 60 countries with over 65% of all participants attending from outside the UK.

The core of the IMC is its academic programme. On average, there are over 700 sessions taking place throughout the IMC, with more than 45 running simultaneously.

Anyone is welcome to propose a session or paper. Papers and sessions are proposed online, with the submissions period beginning in May of the previous year. The deadlines for submissions remain the same each year; 31 August for paper proposals and 30 September for session proposals the year before the relevant Congress.

Organisers of sessions can be individuals or a group of colleagues (post-graduate students, independent scholars, university departments, societies etc.), or a named individual acting on behalf of an academic society, university department, research project, a museum, a journal or publisher, etc.

The IMC has an international Programming Committee made up of 39 scholars with differing specialties who assess all submissions. They then group individual papers into sessions based upon common themes, along with accepting sessions. All abstracts are included in the IMC's online programme.

Participants are encouraged to organise session(s) with a balance of both young and established scholars, and with a geographical diversity, one or more being from mainland Europe. Each participant is only allowed to present one paper.