Biography:
Born and brought up in South Wales, I completed a BA in History at the University of Durham before coming to Oxford to do an MPhil in Theology (Ecclesiastical History). I completed my DPhil in Theology at Oxford in 2020 under the supervision of Anna Sapir Abulafia. Before taking up the Departmental Lectureship in Ecclesiastical History in 2021, I was an instructor in both Theology and History at Fordham London, teaching a variety of courses for Fordham University’s study abroad programme. I also has taught Theology for Stanford University’s overseas studies programme in Oxford, and Medieval History at Blackfriars, where I held a Junior Research Fellowship from 2021 to 2024. I have been the Faculty’s Director of Graduate Professional Development since 2024, and have recently taken up the role of Assistant Director of Graduate Studies.
Research Interests:
Medieval history and theology; reception history of the Bible; scholastic theology; the thought of Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109); medieval monastic spirituality and liturgy; theologies of atonement; the thought of Meister Eckhart (c.1260-1328).
Current Projects:
I am currently developing a project on the practice of ‘proof-texting’ in medieval theological discourse. The project investigates whether, and under what conditions, medieval theologians raised consistent methodological objections to practices of proof-texting, what limits they set on these practices, and how those limits were articulated across the period. The first stage of this project, in which I am currently engaged, is a study of the attitudes towards proof-texting in the theological controversies of the pontificate of John XXII (1249-1334).
Courses Taught:
Medieval Religions; The Figure of Jesus through the Centuries; Mysticism
Recent Publications:
Anselm and Scripture: The Bible in the Thought of Anselm of Canterbury (Brill: May 2026)
‘Anselm of Canterbury as Biblical Commentator?’, in Cosima Gillhammer and Audrey Southgate (eds.), Medieval Commentary and Exegesis: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Boydell & Brewer: 2026), pp. 166-87
‘Corruptible Bodies: Generation, Degeneration and Incarnation in Anselm of Canterbury’, Saint Anselm Journal, vol. 20, no.1 (2024), pp. 1-21
‘“Enlighten the Eye of My Mind”: Anselm of Canterbury at the Limits of Imagination’, in Michael Scott and Michael J. Collins (eds.), The Christian Literary Imagination (Wilmington, Delaware: Vernon Press, 2024), pp. 39 -50.
‘Conversatio angelorum: the monk’s angelic vocation and the order of redemption’, in G. E. M. Gasper and Ian Logan (eds.), Anselm of Canterbury: Nature, Order and the Divine (Leiden, Brill: 2024), pp. 362–380.
‘Reframing Anselm and Aquinas on Atonement’, New Blackfriars, vol. 104, no. 1109 (2023), pp. 39-56.
‘The Image of the Fons and the Role of the Saints in Anselm of Canterbury’s Vision of Redemption’, American Benedictine Review, vol. 73, no. 2 (2022), pp. 163-180.
