Graduate Student, History and Classics
Institute of Historical Research, University of London, Junior Research Fellow
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John France
Daniel Power |
About
I am currently in the fourth year of a PhD at Swansea University, which is being carried out in the 2011-12 academic year as a Junior Research Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research.
My doctoral thesis concerns the life and posthumous cultural legacy of the Godfrey of Bouillon [c.1060-1100], a participant of the First Crusade. Though Godfrey was a relatively minor historical character before the coming of the crusade, his exploits on the expedition triggered great historical interest in him. He was later transformed into one of the most enduring Christian heroes of the Middle Ages, ranked by some commentators alongside illustrious figures including Charlemagne and Arthur. My thesis seeks to explain the origins of his emergence as a hero, and chart the course of the development of his posthumous literary and cultural afterlife from his death down to his appearance in the Divine Comedy in the early-fourteenth century.
This thesis is being carried out under the supervision of Professors John France and Dan Power. My main research interests include the crusades [or more precisely the evolving historical perception of the crusading movement], the intellectual and technical requirements involved in the writing of history in the Middle Ages, chivalry, and Medieval noble culture. I am a member of the Society for the Study of the Crusades and Latin East and of the Royal Historical Society.
