Valedictory lecture: History, memory and the reputation of a very unpopular abbot

Graham A. Loud (Professor of Medieval History, IMS) will deliver a Valedictory Lecture on the occasion of his retirement, after four decades of working within the School of History and IMS.

Professor Graham A. Loud, an integral faculty member of the School of History and Institute for Medieval Studies for the past four decades, first joined the University of Leeds as a Lecturer in Medieval History in 1978, holding the post until 1992. From here, Professor Loud held various positions within the department, including Senior Lecturer (1992-99), Professor of Medieval Italian History (2003-10), Director of the IMS (2011-12), Head of the School of History (2012-15), and most recently Professor of Medieval History (2010-present).

Professor Loud’s areas of expertise include the Norman Kingdom of Sicily, and more generally south Italian history from the tenth to the thirteenth centuries; papal history; the Crusades; and Germany in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. His contributions to the School of History and IMS include a selection of medieval history texts in translation made publicly available for study and teaching. 

Currently Professor Loud is working on a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship project titled, ‘The Social World of the Abbey of Cava, c. 1020-1300’. This will result in a monograph of the same title published by Boydell and Brewer (forthcoming May 2020). The project uses the huge archive of the monastery of S. Trinita di Cava to write a social and economic history of the principality of Salerno, focusing especially on the period 1050-1250.

All are invited to a Valedictory Lecture delivered by Professor Loud, titled ‘History, Memory and the Reputation of a Very Unpopular Abbot’. Registration is required, although attendance is free. 

A drinks reception will follow the event. 

Many thanks from the School of History and IMS for Professor Graham A. Loud’s contributions to the university!