Dr Mike Bintley

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Overview
Overview
Biography
Mike's teaching focuses on the literature, material culture, and archaeology of medieval England and Scandinavia, with research interests in landscape, environment, settlements, and plant-life. He joined Birkbeck in 2018, after teaching at UCL, Oxford, and Canterbury Christ Church University.
Highlights
Recently published: with Leonie Hicks, ‘Landscapes of Concealment and Revelation in the Brut Narratives: Geoffrey of Monmouth, Wace and Laȝamon’, in Anglo-Norman Studies
Professional activities
- Chair, Teachers of Old English in Britain and Ireland
- Series editor, Nature and Environment in the Middle Ages (Boydell)
- Council member, Viking Society for Northern Research
- Advisory board, Studies in Old English Literature (Brepols)
- Founder/co-chair, Northern/Early Medieval Conference Series
- Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
- Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (Advance HE)
- External Examiner: Royal Holloway (2017-21); University of Bedfordshire (2016-20)Professional memberships
International Society for the Study of Early Medieval England
Teachers of Old English in Britain and Ireland
Viking Society for Northern Research
The Society for Medieval Archaeology
Honours and awards
- The Beatrice White Award , The English Association, May 2022
- Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, The Royal Historical Society, May 2016
- Best Personal Tutor, Birkbeck Students' Union, May 2021
- Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Advance HE, May 2016
ORCID
0000-0001-7244-6181 -
Research
Research
Research interests
- Texts and Material Culture
- Landscapes
- Old English and Old Norse
- Environment
- Ecotheory and ecocriticism
- Mind and cognitive approaches to textual and material cultures
- Settlements and the built environment
Research overview
The relationship between the material world, literature, and other kinds of writing is at the heart of my research. My particular interests include landscape, environment, settlements, religion, materiality, ecotheory and ecocriticism, mind, and cognitive approaches to literature and material culture.
I wrote my PhD thesis on ‘Trees and Woodland in Anglo-Saxon Culture’ (2009), supervised in the Department of English Language and Literature and at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL.
My first monograph, Trees in the Religions of Early Medieval England (Boydell, 2015), investigated the role of trees and woodland in the belief systems of early medieval England before and after the conversion to Christianity, exploring how this aspect of the environment shaped contemporary thought.
With Professor Richard North I produced Andreas: an Edition (Liverpool University Press, 2016) for Exeter Medieval Texts and Studies. This is the first parallel text and translation of this important Old English poem, in which I discuss the environment and landscape of the city of Mermedonia, a forbidding domain inhabited by pagan anthropophagi.I went on to work on the HLF-funded project ‘Finding Eanswythe: the Life and Afterlife of an Anglo-Saxon Saint’ in Folkestone. This community heritage and archaeology project focused on Folkestone’s patron saint, a Kentish princess connected with the foundation of the seventh century minster, and led to the dating of her supposed relics to the mid-seventh century.
My second monograph, Settlements and Strongholds: Texts and Landscapes in Early Medieval England (Brepols, 2020), addresses connections and disjunctions between representations of the constructed landscape in early medieval English texts and evidence for their form and function in the archaeological record.
My most recent book, Landscapes and Environments of the Middle Ages (Routledge, 2023), co-authored with Dr Kate Franklin (Birkbeck), offers an overview of medieval landscapes and environments from a literary-historical and archaeological perspective, making a case for the close relationship between the imaginary and the 'real'.
Throughout my career I have edited essay collections with scholars working across disciplines. These include Trees and Timber in the Anglo-Saxon World (OUP, 2013); Representing Beasts in Early Medieval England and Scandinavia (Boydell, 2016); Sensory Perception in the Medieval West (Brepols, 2016); Stasis in the Medieval West? Questioning Change and Continuity (Palgrave, 2017); Insular Iconographies: Studies in Honour of Jane Hawkes (Boydell, 2019); Transitions and Relationships over Land and Sea in the Early Middle Ages of Northern Europe (Isle Heritage, 2023); The Surrounding Forest: Tree as Symbol and Metaphor at the Time of the European Middle Ages (Boydell, forthcoming).
My current long-term book project is Minds in the Landscape: Texts, Environment, and Material Culture in Early Medieval England. This project draws on the Old English poetic corpus, vernacular charter bounds, and the 'Anglo-Saxon' Chronicles, situating evidence for textual environments in the context of embodied encounters with the physical landscapes of early medieval England.In addition to article-length works on Old English, Old Norse, and Middle English, I am also working on an anthology of translations covering plant life and trees in the Old English poetic corpus: Treow Forms: An Anthology of Trees and Plant Life in the Earliest English Poetry.
Research Centres and Institutes
- Medieval and Early Modern Worlds
Research clusters and groups
- Environmental Humanities
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Supervision and teaching
Supervision and teaching
Supervision
Mike has supervised doctoral work on medieval kingship, landscapes, and familial relationships, and is currently supervising work on ideology, violence, performance, and landscapes. He welcomes proposals from students interested in working on any aspects of the early Middle Ages related to landscapes, environment, ecotheory/ecocriticism, and interdisciplinary approaches to textual and material cultures.
Current doctoral researchers
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EVANGELOS VENIERIS
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TYLA THACKWRAY
Teaching
Mike has taught Old and Middle English, Old Norse, and the History of the Language at undergraduate and postgraduate level, and has supervised undergraduate work on literature from the early middle ages to the present day.
This year he is teaching on the following modules taught on BA programmes in the Department of English, Theatre, and Creative Writing, and on the MA in Medieval Literature and Culture:- The Arts: Perspectives and Possibilities (Foundation Year)
- Connecting the Arts (BA)
- Doing English (BA)
- Reading Literature (BA)
- Storytelling (BA)
- Medieval and Renaissance Body, Mind, and Soul (BA)
- Medievalisms: Re-presenting the Middle Ages (MA)
- Working in the Middle Ages (MA)
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Publications
Publications
Article
- Bintley, Mike (2023) Borders, burials, and the extended mind in Early Medieval England: Genesis A and Apple Down. Open Library of Humanities Journal 9 (1), ISSN 2056-6700.
- Bintley, Mike (2020) Hrinde Bearwas: the trees at the Mere and the root of all evil in Beowulf. Journal of English and Germanic Philology 119 (3), pp. 309-326. ISSN 0363-6941.
- Bintley, Mike (2013) City of the living dead: the Old English Andreas as urban horror narrative. Horror Studies 4 (1), pp. 3-20. ISSN 2040-3275.
- Bintley, Mike (2011) Landscape gardening: remodelling the Hortus Conclusus in Judgement Day II. Review of English Studies 62 (253), pp. 1-14. ISSN 0034-6551.
- Bintley, Mike (2009) Demythologising urban landscapes in Andreas. Leeds Studies in English 40, pp. 105-118.
Book
- Bintley, Mike and Franklin, Kate (2023) Landscapes and environments of the Middle Ages. Seminar Studies. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. ISBN 9780367640729. (In Press)
- Richardson, A. and Bintley, Mike and Hines, J. and Seaman, A. and Swift, E., eds. (2023) Transitions and relationships over land and sea in the Early Middle Ages of Northern Europe. Folkestone, UK: Isle Heritage CIC. ISBN 9781739289300.
- Bintley, Mike (2020) Settlements and strongholds in Early Medieval England: texts, landscapes, and material culture. Studies in the Early Middle Ages. 45, Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols. ISBN 9782503583846.
- Bintley, Mike and Boulton, M., eds. (2019) Insular iconographies: studies in honour of Jane Hawkes. Boydell Studies in Medieval Art and Architecture. Boydell and Brewer. ISBN 9781783274116.
- Bintley, Mike and Locker, M. and Symons, V. and Wellesley, M., eds. (2017) Stasis in the Medieval West? Questioning Change and Continuity. The New Middle Ages. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave. ISBN 9781137561992.
- North, R. and Bintley, Mike (2016) Andreas: an edition. Liverpool, UK: Liverpool University Press. ISBN 9781781382714.
- Thomson, S. and Bintley, Mike, eds. (2016) Sensory perception in the Medieval West. Utrecht Studies in Medieval Literacy. 34, Brepols. ISBN 9782503567143.
- Bintley, Mike (2015) Trees in the religions of Early Medieval England. Anglo-Saxon Studies. Boydell and Brewer. ISBN 9781843839897.
- Bintley, Mike and Williams, T.J.T. (2015) Representing beasts in Early Medieval England and Scandinavia. Boydell and Brewer. ISBN 9781783270088.
- Bintley, Mike and Shapland, M., eds. (2013) Trees and timber in the Anglo-Saxon world. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199680795.
Book Section
- Hicks, L.V. and Bintley, Michael D.J. (2022) Landscapes of concealment and revelation in the Brut narratives: Geoffrey of Monmouth, Wace and Laȝamon. In: Church, S.D. (ed.) Anglo-Norman Studies XLIV: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2021. Anglo-Norman Studies. Boydell and Brewer. ISBN 9781783277131. (In Press)
- Bintley, Mike (2021) Aquas ab Aquis: aqueous creation in Andreas. In: Twomey, C. and Anlezark, D. (eds.) Meanings of Water in Early Medieval England. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols. pp. 159-175. ISBN 9782503588889.
- Bintley, Mike (2020) Romans, Britons, and the Construction of ‘Anglo-Saxon’ Identity. In: Kaminski-Jones, F. and Kaminski-Jones, R. (eds.) Celts, Romans, Britons: Classical and Celtic Influence in the Construction of British Identities. Classical Presences. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 31-49. ISBN 9780198863076.
- Bintley, Mike (2020) Reading early Medieval landscape and environment: materially engaged approaches to documentary sources. In: Willard, T. (ed.) Reading the Natural World: Perceptions of the Natural World and Environment in the Global Middle Ages and Renaissance. Arizona Studies in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance: (incl. Co-Publications with Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies [MRTS]). Brepols. pp. 3-20. ISBN 9782503590448.
- Bintley, Mike (2019) The stones of the wall will cry out: lithic emissaries and marble messengers in Andreas. In: Boulton, M. and Bintley, Mike (eds.) Insular Iconographies: Essays in Honour of Jane Hawkes. Boydell Studies in Medieval Art and Architecture. Boydell and Brewer. ISBN 9781783274116.
- Bintley, Mike (2018) “How deserted Lies the City, Once So Full of People”: the reclamation of intramural space in Anglo-Saxon literature. In: Boulton, M. and Hawkes, J. and Stoner, H. (eds.) Place and Space in the Medieval World. Routledge Research in Art History. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. pp. 63-73. ISBN 9781138220201.
- Bintley, Mike (2017) Beacons of belief: seasonal change and sacred trees in Britain from Prehistory to the Later Middle Ages. In: Bintley, Mike and Locker, M. and Symons, V. and Wellesley, M. (eds.) Stasis in the Medieval West? Questioning Change and Continuity. The New Middle Ages. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave. pp. 27-45. ISBN 9781349950331.
- Symons, V. and Wellesley, M. and Bintley, Mike (2017) Introduction: stasis in the Medieval West? Questioning change and continuity. In: Bintley, Mike and Symons, V. and Wellesley, M. (eds.) Stasis in the Medieval West? Questioning Change and Continuity. The New Middle Ages. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave. pp. 1-26. ISBN 9781349950331.
- Bintley, Mike (2016) Plant life in the Poetic Edda. In: Thomson, S.C. and Bintley, Mike (eds.) Sensory Perception in the Medieval West. Utrecht Studies in Medieval Literacy. Brepols. pp. 227-244. ISBN 9782503567143.
- Bintley, Mike (2015) Where the Wild Things are in Old English Poetry. In: Bintley, Mike and Williams, T.J.T. (eds.) Representing Beasts in Early Medieval England and Scandinavia. Anglo-Saxon Studies. Boydell and Brewer. pp. 205-228. ISBN 9781783270088.
- Bintley, Mike and Williams, T.J.T. (2015) Representing beasts in Early Medieval England and Scandinavia: an introduction. In: Bintley, Mike and Williams, T.J.T. (eds.) Representing Beasts in Early Medieval England and Scandinavia. Boydell and Brewer. pp. 1-12. ISBN 9781783270088.
- Bintley, Mike (2015) Settlements in transition: where are the wīcs in Old English poetry?. In: Boulton, M. and Hawkes, J. and Herman, M. (eds.) The Art, Literature and Material Culture of the Medieval World: Transition, Transformation and Taxonomy. Four Courts Press. pp. 153-163. ISBN 9781846825613.
- Bintley, Mike (2015) The translation of St Oswald’s relics to New Minster, Gloucester: royal and imperial resonances. In: Hamerow, H. (ed.) Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History. Oxbow Books. pp. 171-181. ISBN 9781905905348.
- Bintley, Mike (2013) Brungen of Bearwe: ploughing common furrows in Riddle 21, The Dream of the Rood, and the Æcerbot Charm. In: Bintley, Mike and Shapland, M. (eds.) Trees and Timber in the Anglo-Saxon World. Medieval History and Archaeology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 144-157. ISBN 9780199680795.
- Bintley, Mike (2013) Recasting the role of sacred trees in Anglo-Saxon spiritual history: the South Sandbach Cross ‘Ancestors of Christ’ panel in its cultural contexts. In: Bintley, Mike and Shapland, M. (eds.) Trees and Timber in the Anglo-Saxon World. Medieval History and Archaeology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 211-227. ISBN 9780199680795.
- Bintley, Mike and Shapland, M. (2013) An introduction to trees and timber in the Anglo-Saxon world. In: Bintley, Mike and Shapland, M. (eds.) Trees and Timber in the Anglo-Saxon World. Medieval History and Archaeology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 1-18. ISBN 9780199680795.
- Bintley, Mike (2011) Material culture: archaeology and text. In: North, R. and Allard, J. (eds.) Beowulf and Other Stories - Second Edition. Pearson. pp. 246-273. ISBN 9781408286036.
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Business and community
Business and community
Media
I am happy to receive enquiries from the media on the following topics:
- Early medieval landscapes
- Early medieval environment
- Old English literature