Contact
Biography
I joined the Department of History at the University of Nottingham in September 2013 having previously held a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Leicester (2010-2013). Prior to this I studied at the universities of Reading (BA), Durham (MA), and Birmingham (PhD). I am a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Research
I am primarily a historian of the Early Middle Ages. Though my interests are wide ranging, I have developed a particular specialism in the cultural history of the English kingdoms in the 6th to 9th centuries. My wider research interests include letter writing, heresy, eschatology, the reception and transmission of ancient texts in the Middle Ages, and the interplay between text and image in manuscript illumination.
My second monograph concerns the epistolary culture of early medieval Northumbria (Letter writing in the Northumbrian Kingdom, 625-786). This project was funded by a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship (2023-24). The book is contracted to Manchester University Press and will be published in late 2025 or early 2026. I have also written shorter pieces on individual letters, including one by Bede to a colleague named Plegwine (2020), one to St Boniface by a Mercian bishop called Torhthelm (2025), and Abbess Ælfflæd of Whitby's letter to Adela of Pfalzel (forthcoming).
My research on the Northumbrian monk and scholar Bede (c.673-735) has generated several publications including a monograph Bede and the end of time (Ashgate 2013), a volume of essays (co-edited with Faith Wallis) on the theme Bede and the future (Ashgate 2014), another collection (with Máirín MacCarron) called Bede the scholar (Manchester University Press 2023), and individual essays on a variety of themes.
I have also published on the Codex Amiatinus, an illuminated single-volume Bible made in the early eighth century. This important artefact is the earliest full witness to Jerome's Vulgate translation of the Scriptures into Latin. A series of articles have examined some of the images preserved in the Codex in light of key works of exegesis by the Church Fathers (see 'publications' tab for full details).
I am currently mentoring Dr Samuel Cardwell's British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship on Northumbrian exegesis (2024-2027).
Teaching
Though I am primarily a historian of the early Middle Ages, I teach across a wide range of historical periods and topics. I convene a specialist final-year module which explores the history of Apocalyptic thought from the biblical era to the present day, and I also run courses examining early-medieval Britain during the period of its conversion to Christianity. I have served tenures as Director of Teaching and Lead Exams Officer for the Department of History. I hold advanced teaching qualifications in both Higher and Secondary Education.
At postgraduate level I contribute to team taught courses for the MA Programme in History, including a module on Palaeography. I am an experienced PhD supervisor who has guided six students to successful completion, five of whom were on funded scholarships. I am currently supervising three further PhD projects. I would welcome enquiries about doctoral research supervision in any area broadly connected to my research interests.
Selected Publications