Medievalists at Girton

Girton’s Fellowship includes leading medievalist scholars across various disciplines, within Cambridge’s many Departments and Faculties, making the College a major centre for ongoing medieval research and teaching. These include:

Anthony Bale, English

• Anthony researches the literature and culture of late medieval England. His current work is based on two main strands: one on the fourteenth-century development of witchcraft and the other on the representation of Ottomans and the eastern Mediterranean in fifteenth-century English writing. He is the director of the Medieval Ideas Creative Lab. English page.

Caroline Brett, Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic

• Caroline is Director of Studies in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at Girton: her research centres on the history of Brittany in the early Middle Ages, and on saints’ Lives as historical sources.

Emma Brownlee, Archaeology

• Emma is an archaeologist specialising in funerary practices across Europe between the fifth and the eighth centuries AD. She has carried out extensive fieldwork relating to Viking Age expansions in England, Ukraine and Sweden. She is also a radiocarbon dating specialist with Historic England.

Jacob Currie, History / Classics

• Jacob works on medieval Latin language and literature. He is currently editing works by Gerald of Wales, and is more broadly interested manuscripts, textual criticism, the evolution of the Latin language, and syntax and style in Latin prose.

Seb Falk, History of Science

• Seb works on the history of science and medicine, especially as studied and practised in medieval monasteries and universities. He has a particular interest in how astronomy and navigation were practised and taught using instruments. HPS page

Jake Stattel, Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic

• Jake works on early medieval history through the lens of legal practice, particularly for understanding the impact of the ‘Vikings’ in Europe and beyond. His current monograph project evaluates the ‘Danelaw’ and Scandinavian influence on English common law. History page.
  • Coordinator for Girton Medieval

James Wade, English

• James works on romances, folklore, folksongs, popular writings, ritual, comedy, and orality. He also write on medieval manuscripts and early prints, and on Arthurian Literature, the supernatural, Chaucer, the Gawain-Poet, and Malory. English page.

Fellow Commoners and Affiliated Academics

Anne Cobby, Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics

• Affiliated Lecturer, Anne’s research is on the medieval French fabliaux and she teaches French paleography.

Amy Jeffs, Senior Research Associate (2026-)

• Bestselling author and illustrator. As well as celebrating the landscapes and complex pre-modern heritage of Britain, Amy’s books explore the relationship between making and learning and guide readers towards accessible humanities research. Website.

Taeho Jo, Senior Research Associate (2026-)

• Senior Assistant Professor at Meiji University, Japan. His research focuses on Middle English literature, especially medieval romance and the representation of racial and religious others.

Sarah Kay, Modern and Medieval Languages

• Life Fellow, works widely on literary and cultural topics through the long Middle Ages from late antiquity to the beginning of the Renaissance, specializing in poetic and/or philosophical texts in forms of French, Occitan, and Latin. She is currently starting a collaborative project on the late writings of Guillaume de Machaut, NYU page.

Jill Mann, English

• Life Fellow, works on medieval literature in English (14th-15th centuries), Latin (mainly 12th century), and relevant vernaculars (French, Italian). Currently carrying out research on beast literature. British Academy profile.

Miri Rubin, Senior Research Associate (Upcoming)

• Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History at Queen Mary University of London. Miri is a historian of Europe of wide interests. Her research has ranged across the period 1100-1600, through the exploration of themes in the religious culture of Europe. Webpage.

Norma Schifano, Linguistics

• Director of Studies in Linguistics, Norma is a theoretical linguist with a special interest in the history of the Romance languages, the descendants of Latin. Focusing on grammar, she investigates changes in word order that took place in the transition from Latin to the modern Romance languages, currently working on the prose writings of Brunetto Latini (c. 1220–1294). MMLL page.

PhD Students

[Soon to be updated]

Isabella Cerulle, Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic

• Bella works on Old English lexicography and semantics. Her dissertation examines various saintly roles present in Old English literature (such as the miles Christi ’soldier of Christ’) to understand how these Latinate themes were understood and translated into Old English. More broadly, she is interested in Germanic philology, historical linguistics and hagiography.
  • Communications Officer for the Cambridge Medieval Studies Network