The theme of the 17th Harlaxton Symposium was predetermined by the fact that it was held in 2000. The twenty-one papers turn their attention to the fear of cataclysm and the end of the world that obsessed many writers, artists and thinkers in medieval Europe, not only around the year 1000 but at other key dates during the Middle Ages, anyone of which was viewed as a possible candidate for the Day of Doom. Subjects include: the Revolution of 1399; astrology; the presentation of the Apocalypse in manuscripts, tapestries, stained glass windows and other media; the Pearl poem; the Westminster Abbey Sanctuary pavement as a means of calculating the lifespan of the universe; prophecy in the Sibylla Tiburtina; Matthew Paris; prose sermons; the Peasants' Revolt; Wells Cathedral.