Richard Sowerby
Christ Church
Supervisor: Professor Sarah Foot
Thesis title:
Angels in Anglo-Saxon England, 700–1000
Research Interests
My DPhil thesis attempts to assess the place of angels in the religious culture of Anglo-Saxon England. They are a ubiquitous presence in the art and literature of the period, but have attracted very little scholarly attention. My thesis follows comparable studies of Byzantium and early modern Europe, using depictions and descriptions of angels as a prism through which to study religious change between c.700 and c.1000. I am especially interested in the perceived relationship between the angelic and the saintly: how did these categories overlap and mutually inform each other, and under what circumstances would an individual seek angelic rather than saintly aid?
My other work is loosely united by an interest in the various beliefs and cultural values of early medieval Europe, and I have published articles on early Anglo-Saxon origin-myths, and on the problematic Breton Lives of St Samson of Dol. I am currently in the early stages of researching a new project, investigating the ideologies and practices of punishment in early medieval Europe, c.500-1000.
Projects and Publications
- ‘Hengest and Horsa: the manipulation of history and myth from the adventus Saxonum to Historia Brittonum’, Nottingham Medieval Studies 51 (2007), 1–19
- 'The Lives of St Samson: rewriting the ambitions of an early medieval cult', Francia 38 (2011), 1–31