Biography
At PACE I teach modules which speak to my abiding interest in the societies of early medieval Europe, essentially the period which runs from the demise of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century to about 1000. This span of centuries takes us from a ‘late ancient’ world to a recognisably ‘medieval’ Europe of castles, lords and serfs. I fell in love with the inherent strangeness and fascinating, often fragmentary, source materials of this period whilst still an undergraduate at Oxford, where I studied for a BA in History and Modern Languages and also wrote my doctoral thesis. Sandwiched in between my undergraduate and doctoral studies was a two-year period in Spain, where I studied for a Diploma of Advanced Studies at the University of Santiago de Compostela and consolidated my interest in all things early medieval and European. My first academic post was in Oxford. I then worked as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Lincoln for almost a decade before coming to Cambridge in 2024. I am committed to making learning accessible to as many people as possible, and my teaching style is interactive and inclusive. Primary sources of many different kinds – narrative accounts, wills, coins, buildings – lie at the heart of my teaching, and learners are encouraged to participate in class discussion.