Dr Kathryn Dutton

Profile

I am Postdoctoral Research Assistant on the AHRC funded project ‘Sacred Landscapes of Monasticism’, which examines the relationship between cloistered religious and their landscapes, and how they created those landscapes, in the medieval period. My role in this large project is to transcribe and conduct research from the13th century cartulary of Kirkstead Abbey (Lincs.), in tandem with working with archaeologists to interpret Kirkstead’s ‘sacred landscape’ and issues connected with it.

Prior to my appointment at Leeds, I was Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Manchester and lecturer (teaching-focused) at the University of Liverpool. I gained my PhD at the University of Glasgow in 2011. Until now, the primary focus of my research has been the dynasty of the counts of Anjou, who in 1154 became kings of England. My monograph, Power and Political Culture in Greater Anjou, c.1090-1189, is forthcoming from Cambridge University Press.

Research interests

In my monograph and a number of articles, I have explored a variety of questions connected with the counts of Anjou and the nature of their rule, including the ideals and ethos of ‘countship’, the idea of the Angevin political community and political discourse, the personnel of comital rule, Anjou’s place within the so-called ‘Angevin Empire’ and the importance of family to the practice and framework of rulership. Much of this work is the consequence of my work compiling a comprehensive calendar of the counts’ charters, from French archives.

This interest and expertise in charters and the manuscripts in which they are often preserved – cartularies – has led to my role on the Sacred Landscapes project. As well as the process of transcription and questions of landscape, I am particularly interested in the early history of Kirkstead Abbey in the context of the Anglo-Norman succession crisis and civil war of King Stephen’s reign, as well as the abbey’s use of ritual, its rapid development of granges and the prominence of certain benefactors in its charters.

<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Qualifications

  • PhD (Glasgow, 2011)
  • MA (University College London, 2005)
  • MA (Hons.) (Glasgow, 2004)