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Samuel Cardwell
Teaching Associate in Early Medieval English History, Faculty of Arts
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Biography
I completed my PhD in Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto in 2023, writing on the development of ideas of evangelisation in Late Antique and Early Medieval Christianity. I previously completed an MPhil in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at the University of Cambridge, as well as undergraduate degrees in History and Classics at the University of Melbourne and Monash University.
Teaching Summary
I teach across the whole period from c.400 to c.1100AD. Although early medieval Northumbria (especially before the 'Viking Age') is my heartland, I also enjoy teaching early medieval British, Irish… read more
Research Summary
I am currently working on turning my PhD dissertation into a monograph. This work will offer the first history of the development of the idea of evangelisation in the Latin West from the Early Church… read more
I teach across the whole period from c.400 to c.1100AD. Although early medieval Northumbria (especially before the 'Viking Age') is my heartland, I also enjoy teaching early medieval British, Irish and Scandinavian history, as well as the history of the post-Roman world in the West.
Current Research
I am currently working on turning my PhD dissertation into a monograph. This work will offer the first history of the development of the idea of evangelisation in the Latin West from the Early Church to the eighth century. In essence, I am asking the question 'when and why did Christians develop the idea of "mission" to all peoples' (though I tend to avoid the words 'mission' and 'missionaries' as early modern anachronisms). Before the fifth century, most Christian authors evidently believed that the task of universal evangelisation - the task left by Christ to his followers in Matt. 28:19 and Acts 1:8 - had been fulfilled by the Apostles themselves, leaving only a 'mopping up operation' to future generations. The idea that this apostolic commission was ongoing and something that needed to be encouraged, sponsored and funded only developed gradually from the fifth century onwards. I trace this development through the writings of authors including Augustine of Hippo, St Patrick, Gregory the Great, and the Venerable Bede.
Although I only come to Bede towards the end of this work, it is Bede and his eighth-century Northumbria that represents the core of my research. I have previously published on ideas of nationhood and kingship in Bede and contemporary authors, as well as on the development of Christian ideas of marriage in later Anglo-Saxon England. I am currently developing a project on biblical exegesis in early medieval Northumbria. I also have interests across the broad spectrum of early medieval studies, including Old and Middle English literature, early Welsh literature and history, the relationship between England and Ireland, and the influence of the Scandinavians (or 'Vikings') on the islands of Britain and Ireland.