Professor Emilia Jamroziak

Profile

I am currently a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Leeds and a member of the International Medieval Congress (IMC) Programming Committee. My principal academic affiliation is now with Adam Mickiewicz University (AMU) in Poznań, Poland.

I graduated from AMU and Central European University in Budapest, and I received my PhD in Medieval History from the University of Leeds in 2001. My subsequent career has included a lectureship in medieval history at the University of Southampton, a post as Research Officer at the Centre for Metropolitan History (University of London), and a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Edinburgh.

I joined the University of Leeds in 2005, becoming Senior Lecturer in 2008 and Professor in 2014, roles I held until moving to my current position. The recording of my inaugural lecture is available here..

In 2024–25, I hold the Katedra Imienna im. Profesor Marii Janion at the University of Gdańsk, Poland.

My research has been supported by numerous international fellowships, including the MWK COFUND Fellowship at the Max-Weber-Kolleg, Universität Erfurt (2019–2021), the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Invitational Fellowship (2019), the Humboldt Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers at TU Dresden (2015–16), and earlier fellowships at Eichstätt-Ingolstadt and Leipzig.

I am an active member of the Medieval Central Europe Research Network (MECERN) and serve as Chair of the János Bak Research Fellowship Programme. From 2016 to 2019, I was Director of the Institute for Medieval Studies at Leeds.

Research interests

My work examines the culture of medieval monasticism, with particular focus on memory, identity, and the interactions between religious institutions and the laity. I specialise in the history of Cistercian monasteries, exploring their social networks, strategies of survival, and regional identities from the early twelfth to the early sixteenth century.

Geographically, my research spans:

• Britain (especially the North of England and Scotland)

• Central and East-Central Europe

• The Baltic region

I have published two monographs on Cistercian houses (2005; 2011) and co-edited four volumes on medieval monasticism and its social and cultural presence. I have completed a synthesis of the medieval history of the Cistercian Order (Routledge, 2013) and contributed to The Cambridge Companion to the Cistercian Order, The Cambridge History of Monasticism in the Latin West, and the New Cambridge History of Britain.

My research has received funding from the AHRC (2019-23, 2012-13, 2011-2014, 2007-2008), Humboldt Stiftung (2015-16), and EU Horizon 2020 (2019-20).

Selected Publications:

• M. Papasidero, D. Accardi, and E. Jamroziak (eds.), The Monastic Dimension of Identity Politics: Global Case Studies from the Premodern Period (York: Arc Humanities Press, 2024).

• Emilia Jamroziak, ‘Cistercians and the Care of Souls from the Twelfth to the Early Sixteenth Century’, in T. Ohnuki, G. Melville, Y. Akae and K. Takeda (eds.), Pastoral Care and Monasticism in Latin Christianity and Japanese Buddhism (ca. 800–1650) (Münster: LIT, 2024), pp. 77–88.

• Emilia Jamroziak, ‘Was There an Observant Cistercian Movement? Reform in the Medieval History of the Cistercian Order’, in P. Delcorno and B. Roest (eds.), Observant Reforms and Cultural Production in Europe (Nijmegen: Radboud University Press, 2023), https://doi.org/10.54195/XFRB6134_CH13

• Emilia Jamroziak, ‘The Historiography of Medieval Monasticism: Perspectives from Northern Europe’, Religions, 12.7 (2021), https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12070552

• Emilia Jamroziak, ‘The Cult of Saints in Medieval Cistercian English Houses: A Forgotten Phenomenon?’, Nottingham Medieval Studies, 65 (2021), 81–97, https://doi.org/10.1484/J.NMS.5.131507

• Emilia Jamroziak, ‘Miracles in Monastic Culture’, in J. Kuuliala and S. Katajala-Peltomaa (eds.), Reading Medieval Sources: Miracle Collections (Leiden: Brill, 2021), pp. 36–53.

• Emilia Jamroziak, ‘Cistercian Customaries’, in K. Pansters (ed.), A Companion to Medieval Religious Rules and Customaries (Leiden: Brill, 2020), pp. 77–102.

• Emilia Jamroziak, ‘East-Central European Monasticism: Between East and West?’, in A. I. Beach and I. Cochelin (eds.), The Cambridge History of Medieval Monasticism in the Latin West, vol. 2 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020), pp. 882–900.

• K. Stober, E. Jamroziak, and J. Kerr (eds.), Monastic Life in the Medieval British Isles: Essays in Honour of Janet Burton (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2018).

• Emilia Jamroziak, The Cistercian Order in Medieval Europe: 1090–1500 (London: Routledge, 2013).

• E. Jamroziak and K. Stöber (eds.), Monasteries on the Borders of Medieval Europe: Conflict and Cultural Interaction (Turnhout: Brepols, 2013).

• Emilia Jamroziak, ‘Centres and Peripheries’, in Mette B. Bruun (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Cistercian Order (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), pp. 65–79.

• Emilia Jamroziak, Survival and Success on Medieval Borders: Cistercian Houses in Medieval Scotland and Pomerania from the Twelfth to Late Fourteenth Century (Turnhout: Brepols, 2011).

• E. Jamroziak and J. Burton (eds.), Religious and Laity in Northern Europe, 1000–1400: Interaction, Negotiation and Power (Turnhout: Brepols, 2007).

• Emilia Jamroziak, Rievaulx Abbey and Its Social Context, 1132–1300: Memory, Locality and Network (Turnhout: Brepols, 2005).

Qualifications

• PhD (University of Leeds)
• MA (University of Leeds)
• MA (Central European University, Budapest)
• MA (Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan)

Professional memberships

• Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
• Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London

Research groups and institutes

• Centre for Jewish Studies
• Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums