History

I received my BA from Sarah Lawrence College and then went on to do a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in History at the University of Oxford (St John’s College). I taught at the University of Manchester before moving to Toronto where I was a Mellon postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies and where I received a post-doctoral Licentiate in Medieval Studies, summa cum laude. I was appointed as a Lecturer in Medieval History at Keele University in 2000 and was promoted first to Senior Lecturer in 2004 and then to Reader in 2007.

I am interested in the religious and social history of early medieval Europe, especially between c. 900 and c. 1200. My work to date has focussed on the ‘Gregorian’ reform of the eleventh century, as well as the use of medieval canon law as a tool of polemic. More recently I have undertaken research in the transmission of canon law sources in the eleventh and early twelfth centuries and the place of penance in the reformers’ agendas. I am currently investigating the significance of monastic compilers of canon law and am also writing a book on penance, reform  and pastoral care in eleventh-century Italy.

Undergraduate:

• HIS-10030 Historical Research and Writing
• HIS-10025 Medieval Europe
• HIS-20072 Saints and Society in Medieval Europe
• HIS-20062 English Radicals and Writers
• HIS-20030 The Normans in Europe
• HIS-20071 Castle and Cloister in Medieval Europe, c. 900-1250
• HIS-20073 Heresy and Dissent in Medieval Europe, c.1000-c.1250
• HIS-30024/30025 Encountering the Other: Genocide, Tolerance and the European Perspective
• HIS-30096/30097 Spirituality and Social Change in the Eleventh Century

Postgraduate:

• Convenor, Master of Research (MRes) in History
• MRes supervision
• HIS-40002 Approaches to Historical Research

Doctoral research:

I have supervised students on topics dealing with church reform in the eleventh century, identity and romanitas in medieval Europe c.800-1050, the apocalyptic year 1000 and other socio-religious topics. I am happy to supervise research into most aspects of religious and social history in the period c.900- c.1200, including the sources and transmission of pre-Gratian medieval canon law.