I have been in St Andrews since 1995 and for the last decade have been Professor in Mediaeval History. Throughout that period my research interests have clustered around two complementary areas: the history of late medieval Europe (particularly but not exclusively Italy) and of late medieval Christianity. In the last few years I have been focussing on relations between these two by examining the employment of professed religious in late medieval Italian communes, on which I am currently completing a monograph. I have also been investigating the influence of the ideas of Joachim of Fiore, and the nature of, and evidence for, religious doubt.

Alongside the monograph, I am currently completing a project on voluntary recluses in medieval Italy with Dr Eleonora Rava, which has also involved illuminating conversations with prisoners in Viterbo and Terni.