Dr Robert Gallagher

Dr Robert Gallagher studied at the Universities of York and Cambridge, and has since held postdoctoral positions at the Universities of Cambridge, the Basque Country, and Oxford. He joined the University of Kent in January 2019. 

Robert is a historian of early medieval Britain, particularly the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Much of his current research focuses on uses of the written word, multilingualism, and cultural and political identities in early medieval societies. These themes lie at the heart of his forthcoming book, The Written Word in Early Medieval England: Kent, Mercia and Wessex, c.830-920 (Cambridge University Press), which examines how lay and religious communities used writing during a period of viking incursions and major political upheaval.

Robert’s research has generously been supported by grants from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust and the Marc Fitch Fund. He has recently been the Principal Investigator of the AHRC-funded ‘Finding Kent’s Viking’ project, and he is currently the Principal Investigator of a three-year Leverhulme Trust-funded project examining letter-writing in early medieval Britain.

Robert primarily teaches early medieval topics at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Robert would be keen to hear from anyone interested in researching topics related to early medieval Britain, Anglo-Saxon England, medieval textual cultures and Medieval Latin literature.

Robert is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He sits on the editorial board of the journal Early Medieval England and its Neighbours, and he is on the international advisory board of the Fontes Anglo-Saxonici project. He is also a committee member of the Canterbury branch of the Historical Association, and a co-convenor of the Earlier Middle Ages Seminar at the Institute of Historical Research.