I am a historian of Britain in the high middle ages, with a range of interests spanning ecclesiastical, military, and urban history, and medieval concepts of identity and authority. I am particularly interested in the question of how religious culture and church politics were involved in medieval military culture and practice, and how medieval people understood the role of cities in their society. My first monograph, The Church at War: The Military Activities of Bishops, Abbots and Other Clergy was published by Routledge in 2017.

I read Mediaeval History and English for my undergraduate degree at St Andrews (M.A. 2005), where I also completed an M.Litt in Mediaeval History (2006), before moving on to the University of Glasgow, where I wrote my doctoral thesis. After that, I served for several years as a college lecturer in Medieval History at St Peter’s College and Merton College. I have also held positions as a Study Skills Lecturer (Oxford Brookes), a Contributing Editor of the Victoria County History, and Course Lead in Social Sciences and Humanities on the International Foundation Programme of the University of Warwick. I am a fellow of the Higher Education Academy. In conjunction with my role at Regent’s, I am also Director of Greene’s Institute.

My Role in the College

As Lecturer in Medieval History, I have responsibility for teaching a wide range of papers, mostly covering the early and high medieval period at Prelims level and in the Final Honour School. I am very much concerned with questions of access and outreach, and am keen to support projects that will help to spread the remarkable benefits of an Oxford education to as many students as possible.