In the twelfth century there are two parallel developments that fascinate me. The first is the rise of devotion to the Virgin Mary; the second, is the collation and spread of Marian miracle tales. I would like to investigate the relationship between these two parallel developments in my thesis.

I have two aims for this project. First, I want to answer the question of whether Marian miracle tales influenced devotional practices (prayer, celebration of feast days, etc.) to the virgin Mary. Second, I would like to move the discussion surrounding miracle tales in scholarship towards questions of whether miracle tales can be used as sources of theological significance.

There are a number of elements to my timeline. There are three main events I need to work around in the next year. These are the literature Review due at the end of March, the Research frontiers Conference held in mid-June, and the thesis due date at the end of October. I aim to have key elements of my research and some ideas about my conclusions thought out by the time of the conference. I also aim to have as much reading as possible completed by mid-April so that I can focus on writing and focused reading on elements I need to know more about. I intend to have finished most of my writing by the end of September so that I can edit, proofread, and rewrite smaller sections if necessary.

I have two ways in which I will manage my data for this project. To make life easier for myself I will organise my electronic files in a logical manner. For me this involves a folder with all of my secondary sources with a file naming convention of Author last name_title of article or book, and if required, _chapter number/name. I will also have a different folder for my written documents with the files split by thesis chapter or section. To ensure that I do not have issues with losing data I will also engage with multiple back up systems. First, I will rely on my family’s automatic encrypted back up system. This system automatically backs up multiple times a day ensuring that I can access recent versions of my work. I will also manually back my computer up every few days so that there is a second copy if something goes wrong.

I am unsure whether I will use digital tools for easing my workflow. I will use MS Word for writing my thesis and note taking while I am reading. I like the idea of using Trello, although I am more inclined to make a physical Trello board.