Historian, writer &
broadcaster
I am a historian of Catholicism, the papacy and European culture, with particular interests in institutions, identities, gender and sexuality, and the ways history is made meaningful in the present.
History across institutions, cultures & centuries
I teach Modern History at St Peter’s College, Oxford and am Ideas Programme Director at the Europaeum. My research ranges from Renaissance and early modern Rome to modern and contemporary Catholic cultures, with a particular focus on the papacy, clerical life, gender and sexuality, and medievalism.
I studied at Cambridge, Toronto and Oxford, and have held academic positions at Oxford, University College Cork and the Australian Catholic University. Alongside academic research and teaching, I write for general audiences and provide expert commentary for television, radio, podcasts and the international press.
I was editor of The Journal of Religious History from 2022 to 2026 and am a member of the Editorial Board of Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 2022–27.