Dr Maria Volkonskaya is an associate professor in the school of foreign languages at National Research University Higher School of Economics. Her research interests lie in the field of the history of English language and literature, recently focusing on the language of medieval religious treatises and homilies. Her paper for the CBCB podcast is part of a larger research collaboration on the virtues of the Mass as represented in the British Isles (in Latin, Middle English, Irish, and Welsh texts) carried out together with Dr. Elena Parina (Philipps-Universität Marburg/Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow).

Music: Aitua, 'Blind Fire', from the album Elements. Used with the kind permission of the artist. All rights reserved.