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Recent Developments at the Centre for Medieval Studies

Posted on 28 January 2026

A message from CMS Director, Professor Kenneth Clarke, celebrating the Centre for Medieval Studies

Image of the front of Heslington Hall

I'm delighted to share with you some recent developments at the University of York’s Centre for Medieval Studies (CMS). In September we moved to our new location in the historic Grade II* listed Heslington Hall. We are settling in well and are enjoying this new opportunity to create a vibrant interdisciplinary research environment for staff and postgraduates in the Arts and Humanities, as well as communities, partners and organisations beyond the University with whom we collaborate.

Heslington Hall is buzzing with teaching and a busy programme of research seminars and lectures (Sem One Events / Sem Two Events). 

Colleagues at the CMS continue to lead in interdisciplinary research, attracting major funding. 

  • Professor Stephanie Wynne-Jones is the PI on a major ERC Advanced Grant for an exciting project “Zambezian Entanglements in the South Central African Iron Age”.
  • Following an extended programme of research on the identification and investigation of England’s early-medieval Scandinavian military camps, with funding from the British Academy, Leverhulme Trust,  and Society of Antiquaries of London, Professors Dawn Hadley and Julian Richards have recently published Life in the Viking Great Army: Raiders, Traders, and Settlers with Oxford University Press. 
  • An exhibition of facsimiles of manuscripts of Dante’s Divine Comedy took place in the Borthwick Archives curated by Professor Kenneth Clarke, marking ‘Dante Day’ (25 March), with students also being taken for a class with the books. It is hoped to become an annual event. 
  • And CMS colleagues are excited to collaborate on an interdisciplinary project focussing on a remarkable late medieval Arma Christi Roll, recently-discovered at the Bar Convent.

PhD in Medieval Studies
Colleagues in the CMS welcome the opportunity to supervise PhD students, who form a core part of the Centre’s vibrant research culture. Our PhDs have a dedicated workroom in Heslington Hall, giving them the space to study and write, but also to interact with postgraduate researchers from a wide range of other fields. Recently completed projects include work on: the localization of landscape on the Isle of Wight, c.650–c.1150 (Dr John Margham); literary representations of Anglo-Saxon textiles (Dr Tracey Davison); the role of imagery in expressions of piety in late medieval York (Dr Amanda Daw); Eriugena’s exegesis of the Gospel in Periphyseon (Dr Robyn Stewart). We also celebrate the success of Dr Laura Atkinson, the winner of this year’s Mark Ormrod Prize, for her outstanding work ‘Registers, Registration under William Wickwane and John le Romeyn, Archbishops of York (1279-1296)’.

MA in Medieval Studies
In September we welcomed our most recent cohort of MA in Medieval Studies students. Our MA in Medieval Studies is an interdisciplinary programme which runs over twelve months. In two taught semesters, we offer over twenty modules covering many aspects of the Middle Ages alongside language and palaeography classes. In the summer term and vacation, students work on an independent research project - their dissertation - closely supervised by one of our 30 faculty members. 

This year, we have continued to build our teaching and research with a new interdisciplinary module on the Global Middle Ages.  We have very much enjoyed watching the synergies grow between developments in the Global Middle Ages and the interdisciplinary study of the Vikings, which remains a particular strength at York.

Our programme also maintains its long-standing strengths, including: social and textual history (from documents to poetry); England, especially Northern England; Western Europe; gender and sexuality, religion and dissent, materiality, and conservation. 

MA Skills Training
Central to the offering at York are opportunities to acquire essential skills in languages and palaeography. We offer Latin at three levels, Old English at two levels, Old Norse, Old French and Arabic. Since many students have been excluded from such languages at school, they are enthusiastically pursued at York with great success. The study of languages is central to enabling our students to work independently on the Middle Ages, from the local to the global, and our teaching constantly evolves to ensure that it delivers what students want and need for their research and employment in the field.

Funding Opportunities
As well as the usual funding opportunities for UK and overseas students, offered by the university, a generous benefaction will allow us to offer CMS MA scholarships each year. These studentships are earmarked for both academic excellence and widening participation.

Upcoming MA Open Days
Please join us for one of our upcoming open days to learn more about the CMS and postgraduate study with us:

Tuesday 10 Feb - Postgraduate Online Open Day
Wednesday 18 March - Masters Taster Day (including an in-person session in Heslington Hall)
Wednesday 10 June - Postgraduate Online Open Day  (details to follow) 

You are welcome to sign up for our Weekly Bulletin, for news about our events and opportunities.


Professor Kenneth Clarke
Director, Centre for Medieval Studies