The Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (MEMS) at the University of Kent is proud to celebrate the outstanding range of publications and grant successes from our academic staff across the past year. Covering periods from Late Antiquity to the early modern era, and disciplines from archaeology to architecture, history, and literature, these works demonstrate the Centre’s exceptional scholarly breadth and impact.
In Late Antiquity, Professor Ellen Swift offers two major contributions to the archaeology of late Roman Britain. In ‘Rethinking the date and interpretation of the Thetford treasure’, Journal of Roman Archaeology 37, she revisits the fifth-century hoard’s dating and meaning. Read more And in a chapter in Coining Values, she analyses the economic and cultural uses of copper alloy artefacts during the late to post-Roman transition. Dr Luke Lavan has edited Burial and Memorial in Late Antiquity (Brill), a two-volume collection examining the transformation of funerary practices and memory across the Mediterranean world. From an architectural perspective, Dr Nikolaos Karydis contributes to the Routledge Handbook to the Byzantine City with ‘Domes in the Urban Skyline’, a study of Saints Sergius and Bacchus and its architectural transformations in Constantinople’s evolving skyline. Read more
For the medieval period, Dr Robert Gallagher contributed to The Age of Alfred: Rethinking English Literary Culture c. 850–950 (Brepols) with a chapter entitled ‘Writing Latin in the Age of Alfred’. Dr Gallagher examines the role of Latin literacy in Alfredian England, re-evaluating how Latin writing shaped and reflected the cultural ambitions of the period. Read more In book history, Dr David Rundle contributes to The Library with ‘William Worcestre, Sir John Fastolf and Latin Learning’, illuminating the intellectual culture of 15th-century England and the transmission of Latin knowledge. Dr Edward Roberts published ‘Bishops, canon law and governance in tenth-century England’ in the Journal of Ecclesiastical History 76, focusing on the Constitutiones of Oda of Canterbury and its impact on episcopal authority.
A strong series of publications for the early modern period include, Dr Manolo Guerci’s exploration of cross-cultural architectural traditions in ‘From Italy to Britain’, published in Rootless. Senza Radici. The article reflects on the research methodologies and design cultures of both countries, providing new insight into architectural historiography. Read more Dr Suzanna Ivanic examines early modern material culture in ‘Piecing back the puzzle: objects, inventories, and the problem of classification’, Journal of Early Modern History. Her article interrogates how objects were and are categorised and understood in inventories and museums, revealing the complexities of early modern collecting practices. Dr Rory Loughnane has been especially prolific, co-authoring Editing Archipelagic Shakespeare (CUP) with Willy Maley, which rethinks Shakespeare’s works in the broader cultural context of the British Isles. Read more He also co-edits The Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare and Early Modern Authorship (OUP, 2025) with Will Sharpe — a landmark volume offering fresh insights into early modern literary authorship. Read more Together with MEMS colleagues Anne-Marie Miller-Blaise, Catherine Richardson, and Christina Sukic, Loughnane also co-edits the Journal of Marlowe Studies: Marlowe Festival Special Issue, reflecting on Marlowe’s life, legacy, and performance culture. Read more
Further to this, Dr Edward Roberts and Dr Sarah Dustagheer are recipients of Mid-Career BA Fellowships for 2025-26, Dr Robert Gallagher has won a Leverhulme Research Project Grant for 2026 and Professor Ellen Swift has embarked upon her AHRC research grant on Britain’s Last Roman Hoards. And colleagues continue to develop their impact projects: visit out dedicated Research Impact site here.
These publications exemplify MEMS’s commitment to interdisciplinary, cutting-edge scholarship. Congratulations to all our colleagues for a remarkable year of research achievements.