Dr. Paul Oldfield

Biography

Paul Oldfield is a Professor of Medieval History at the University of Manchester. He completed his PhD in Medieval History at the University of Leeds. Prior to his current position, he held a lectureship at Manchester Metropolitan University. His research focuses primarily on the Medieval Mediterranean from 1000 to 1300, with an emphasis on Southern Italy and Sicily. His scholarly interests revolve around urban communities, cultural memory, and saints' cults. Oldfield has published several articles, essays, and four monographs, including 'City Community in Norman Italy' (Cambridge University Press, 2009), which analyzes the relationship between urban communities and Norman elites in Southern Italy. He also authored 'Sanctity and Pilgrimage in Medieval Southern Italy, 1000-1200' (Cambridge University Press, 2014) and 'Urban Panegyric and the Transformation of the Medieval City, 1100-1300' (Oxford University Press, 2019). His latest work, 'Documenting the Past in Medieval Puglia, 1130-1266' (Oxford University Press, 2023), investigates historical memory and writing in the context of Puglia's integration into the Kingdom of Sicily. Oldfield is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and engages in topics related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Research Interests

Experience