Susannah Bain

Research Topic

Mapping the Past: Connections and Senses of Place in Italian Historical Narratives, 1250-1350

Supervisor: Catherine Holmes and Philippa Byrne

My thesis looks at historical narratives produced in different parts of Italy from 1250 to 1350 to consider how connections were experienced and what they meant in different (local) contexts in this period. On the one hand, this involves thinking about how coverage of external events and places found within these works reflects links and the movement of information. On the other, it requires an examination of how this knowledge is presented: where is discussed, how and why, and what does this mean in light of the different local and regional issues and contexts in which each narrative was produced?

Beyond this, I am interested in the medieval Mediterranean region more broadly (especially Sicily and the Crown of Aragon), and in connections, memory, identity, and approaches to environmental history.

I organised 'Identity Abroad in Central and Late Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean Region' conference in January 2022, which explored the construction, expression, and practical implications of ‘identity’ among individuals and groups who chose or were forced to move ‘abroad’ permanently or temporarily in the central and late middle ages. We are currently working on the next steps of the project. 

I am co-organiser of the Environmental History Working Group: an informal forum open to all (including undergraduates) in which we discuss research and ways of approaching History from environmental perspectives. In relation to this, I co-organised 'Uprooting the Anthropocene:(Re-)Centring Trees in Tree-Human Relationships' in July 2021. Sponsored by TORCH, the one-day conference considered how trees engage/have engaged with humans and nonhuman others, prioritising tree agency and tree-ish perspectives. 

Before arriving at Oxford for my Masters, I completed my undergraduate degree at UCL (University College London). My doctoral research is kindly supported by the Oxford-David Jones Graduate Scholarship. I am an Early Career Member of the Royal Historical Society.