Dissertation title: "'From Usurper to Emperor: Political Practice and Dynastic Tradition in the Reign of Arnulf of Carinthia, 887-899"
Director: Dr. Jennifer Davis

I am a historian of early medieval politics and society, with a particular interest in the relationship between political power and historical memory. My dissertation, completed in May 2025, investigated this connection in regards to the late-ninth century ruler Arnulf of Carinthia. Arnulf had a variety of options available to him after overthrowing his uncle in a coup in 887, and the dissertation seeks to place his choices into a broader Carolingian context. In doing so, it argues that historical memory and dynastic tradition were useful political resources, but not universally in the changed political circumstances after 887.

Before coming to Catholic University, I did a B.A. in History at The American University and an M.Phil in Medieval History at the University of Cambridge. My M.Phil dissertation concerned the relationship between political power and royal palaces in the Carolingian world. It was that project that inspired my interest in the connection between politics and geography, which remains a part of my work to this day.

I am currently the Special Projects Assistant at the Medieval Academy of America and in August and September 2025 completed a two month research fellowship at the Monumenta Germaniae Historica in Munich.

Highlights

Conference Papers (most recent):

2025: “Creating a Vision of the Past in Carolingian Charters,” International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, July 7^th-10^th
2024: “Northmen Attacks as a Resource in Carolingian History Writing and Politics,” International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, July 2^nd-July 5^th
2023: “Elites in the Charters of Arnulf of Carinthia: Networks and Power,” International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, July 3^rd-July 6^th
          “Political Networks in the Charters of Arnulf of Carinthia,” 98^th Medieval Academy of America Conference, Washington, DC, February 23^rd-26^th
2020: “Inheriting a Kingdom?: ‘Position’ Before King in Ninth Century Bavaria (c. 860-887),” 46^th Sewanee Medieval Colloquium, The University of the South, April 17-18^th, 2020 (canceled due to Covid-19)
          “Competition and Adaptation in the Reign of Arnulf of Carinthia, 887-899,” presented at the 95^th Medieval Academy of America Conference, University of California, Berkeley, March 26-28^th,  (delivered virtually due to Covid-19)
2018:  “Arnulf of Carinthia and the End of the Carolingian Empire: Charters, Ancestry, and the Legitimacy of Rulership,” 45^th New England Medieval Conference at the University of New Hampshire, November 17^th, 2018

Panels Organized:

2025:  “Charters as Repositories of Knowledge I: Understanding Form”, “Charters as Repositories of Knowledge II: Charters, Identity, and Memory”, and “Charters as Repositories of Knowledge III: Charters as    Sources for Social History” at the International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, July 7^th-10^th
2023:  “Networks in Early Medieval Charters: Power, Politics, and Society” at the International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, July 3^rd-6^th

Fellowships:

2025: Monumenta Germaniae Historica: “Pro arte edendi – Freunde der MGH e.V.” Fellowship|
          The Medieval Institute at Western Michigan University: Wallace Johnson Program for First Book Authors

Awards:

2025: Commission Internationale de Diplomatique Grant, for Leeds International Medieval Congress
          Medieval Academy of America Travel Grant, for Leeds International Medieval Congress
2023 – 2025:  The Catholic University of America College of Arts and Sciences Dissertation Guidance Scholarship
2024:  The Catholic University of America History Department Graduate Teaching Award
2018:  The Catholic University of America History Department Graduate Research Award, for the unpublished paper “The Deployment of a Carolingian Heritage in the Charters of Arnulf”