Dr Gabriele Passabì
Gabriele Passabì is a historian of medieval Europe in the High Middle Ages (ca. 1000-1300) with special expertise on England and Normandy. He specializes in the study of medieval historiography and its relationships with historical thought, political culture, social identity, and temporality.
After reading History, Philosophy and Anthropology at the University of Siena, I continued my studies in the UK, first with an MA in Medieval History at KCL and, later, with a PhD in History at the University of Cambridge. Since then, I have held postdoctoral positions and visiting fellowships at the International Society for the Study of Medieval Latin (SISMEL) in Florence, Sidney Sussex College Cambridge, the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies in Toronto, and Trier Universität. My first book Robert of Torigni’s Chronography and the Universal Chronicle Tradition (YMP, 2026) casts new light on the writing of universal history through a study of Robert of Torigni’s work and the transmission of the chronicle tradition of Eusebius of Caesarea, Jerome and Sigebert of Gembloux in the twelfth-century Normandy. Combining intellectual history, political history and manuscript studies, the book explores how universal historiography provided chroniclers with a powerful ideological tool to negotiate power, reconstruct monastic identities, and engage with the volatile landscape of twelfth-century Europe. More recently, my work has explored the relationship between historical and political cultures across the medieval west in a comparative way, examining Mediterranean Italy, Spain and Northern France.
Research Project
Historiography and Monetary Consciousness in Plantagenet England
At the GHIL, I will contribute to Marcus Meer’s project ‘Money, History, and Moral Economies: Communicative Functions of Monetary Information in the Institutional Historiography of the Later Middle Ages (1250–1530)’. My research will explore the communicative role of monetary information in English historiography in the central and late Middle Ages.
Responsibilities at the GHIL
- Research Associate in Medieval History
Research Interests
- European Medieval History (ca. 1000-1300), with a special expertise on England and Normandy
- Historiography
- Medieval political culture
- Intellectual history, with a special focus on temporality, regimes of historicity, and notions of social order
- Economic culture
- Monasticism and religious culture
- Manuscript Studies
Education and Academic Background
| 2026– | Research Associate at the GHIL |
| 2025 | Research Collaborator on the SSHRC-funded project “The Confluence of Religious Cultures in Medieval Historiography”, University of British Columbia |
| 2024 | Claudio Leonardi Research Fellow, International Society for the Study of Medieval Latin Culture (SISMEL) Florence / Visiting Scholar, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge |
| 2022–2023 | Postdoctoral Mellon Fellow, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, University of Toronto |
| 2021 | Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Trierer Kolleg für Mittelalter und Frühe Neuzeit, Trier University |
| 2020–2021 | Research Assistant, “Dissident Networks Project (DISSINET), Masaryk University |
| 2016–2021 | PhD in History, University of Cambridge |
| 2015–2016 | Specialist Diploma in Archival Sciences, Palaeography and Diplomatic, Archivio di Stato di Trieste |
| 2014–2015 | MA in Medieval History, King’s College London |
| 2010–2013 | BA in Human Sciences: History, Philosophy, Anthropology (History Major), University of Siena |
Fellowships, Grants, and Scholarships
| 2024 | Visiting Scholarship, Sidney Sussex College Cambridge |
| 2024 | Claudio Leonardi Fellowship, Grant-in-aid awarded by the Zeno Karl Schindler Foundation for Medieval Latin Studies (Geneva, Switzerland) in association with SISMEL (Florence, Italy) |
| 2022 | Postdoctoral Mellon Fellowship, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, University of Toronto |
| 2021 | Anschubfinanzierung Postdoctoral Scholarship, Trierer Kolleg für Mittelalter und Frühe Neuzeit, University of Trier |
| 2020 | Dr Lightfoot Grant for research in Ecclesiastical History, Faculty of History, University of Cambridge |
| 2017 | Muriel Brown Postgraduate Student Bursary |
| 2016–2019 | AHRC Doctoral Grant, Joint Award: AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership and Osborn Research Studentship, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge |
Honours and Distinctions
| 2020 | Marjorie Chibnall Essay Prize 2020 (Proxima Accessit), Allen Brown Memorial Trust and The Battle Conference for Anglo-Norman Studies |
Memberships and Affiliations
- Fellow of the Società Italiana per la Storia Medievale (SISMED)
Publications
Monographs and Edited Volumes
Robert of Torigni’s Chronography and the Universal Chronicle Tradition (York, 2026)
Articles and Chapters
‘The Liber Manualis of Geoffrey of Ufford?’, Notes & Queries 71/2 (2024), 141–146.
‘Universal Chronicle-Writing and the Boundaries of the Cistercian World in the Continuatio Mortui Maris’, Cîteaux: Commentarii Cistercienses, 73/1-4 (2022), 1–26.
‘Avranches, Bibliothèque Municipale, MS 159 as Robert of Torigni’s Liber Chronicorum’, Tabularia (2021), 1–31.
‘“Fitting the missing tile”: universal chronicle-writing and the construction of the Galfridian past in the Continuatio Ursicampina’, in Stephen Church (ed.), Anglo-Norman Studies XLIII: proceedings of the Battle Conference 2020, (Martlesham, 2021), 75–86.
‘An Archaeology of Robert of Torigni’s Chronica: the second redaction and change in political discourse’, Revue Bénédictine, 129/2 (2019), 319–344.
‘Decus Imperii: idee di impero nel Draco Normannicus di Stefano di Rouen’, in IV Ciclo di Studi Medievali: Atti del Convegno 4-5 Giugno 2018 Firenze, (Arcore, 2018), 210–216.
Reviews and Miscellaneous Publications
Review of Pierre Bauduin, Edoardo D’Angelo (eds.), Les historiographies des mondes normands, XVIIe-XXIe siècle. Construction, influence, évolution. Actes du colloque d’Ariano Irpino (9–10 mai 2016), (Caen-Ariano Irpino, 2022), Le Moyen Âge, 2023/3 vol. 129 (2023), 1018–1020.
Review of Andrea Worm, Geschichte und Weltordnung: Graphische Modelle von Zeit und Raum in Universalchroniken vor 1500, (Berlin, 2021), Speculum, 98/1 (January 2023), 353–354.