Charles Roe

Research interests

I’m a historian of literacy and education in the Latin west at the start of the medieval period. My main interests are in the way that social groups constructed their identity through literacy and how this can help us bring new perspectives to the story that the Middle Ages started in about 500 because the Roman empire collapsed. The political fragmentation of the western Roman world was not the only historical event which occurred in the fifth and sixth centuries, and I try to recognise the complex and full lives which people lived in this period – and the ways they can challenge the stories we tell about the past and the identity of western Europe.

My research focuses on the educational revolution which saw the works of the North African bishop Augustine of Hippo become central to education in Latin between 450 and 550. This was a positive development: Augustine replaced the classical Latin texts and their commentators at the heart of education because his books challenged and excited their readers, not just because they were in line with their religious beliefs. In many cases, educated people continued to engage with the ideas of older writers like Virgil and Cicero while concentrating on the new insight which Augustine’s books offered. This offers us a chance to see the medieval world as part of a history which is more connected to the ancient past and to our own varied and complex experiences.

My work also engages closely with material culture. Readers and writers in the past worked with objects that often survive to the present day and can help us understand how they lived, and where they were when they left us the words we can read in textual sources. Revisting the history of the early medieval world can benefit from taking things slowly enough for us to understand the physical details of people’s lives as well as their words on who they were and how they lived.

I teach a range of topics on the start of the Middle Ages in both BA History and MA Medieval Studies at Leeds, and I offer skills support in medieval Latin and reading medieval manuscripts. I also frequently supervise dissertations on early medieval topics. I’m very excited by public history and always interested in exploring ways in which our society can reimagine the roots and identity of the culture which emerged out of the ancient Latin world.