Medieval

Our Research

The Oxford English Faculty gathers together more people working on medieval English literatures and culture than anywhere else in the world. The depth and variety of our research and teaching across the whole period, c. 650-1550, makes it an unparalleled environment for work in the field, which attracts the very best international and UK students, and offers them uniquely rich resources for medieval study. We offer a choice of one and two-year taught postgraduate degrees, internationally recognised for their high level of skills and professional training; and we actively encourage applicants to join us directly as research students on the DPhil. We can offer supervision in all fields of medieval literature, with particular areas of expertise highlighted below, and on individual members' webpages.  

Key research areas include the full range of literary, cultural, social, and intellectual history, in broad and constant contact with medieval England's political, military, and legal historical contexts. We work with colleagues across all humanities faculties and beyond, in an interdisciplinary endeavour to understand the past. We are centrally concerned with the present significance of the medieval past, and with the social and cultural responsibilities we carry as researchers and teachers in this field.