Dr Edward Mills (he / him)

I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow on the Learning Anglo-French project, investigating how the French language in medieval Britain (variously termed 'Anglo-French', 'insular French', and 'Anglo-Norman') was learned, taught and used prior to 1500. My research and teaching more broadly spans medieval and post-medieval French studies, with a particular focus on cultural and intellectual history, and develops themes first explored in my PhD (completed at Exeter in 2021), largely surrounding medieval French language and literature and the use of the French language in medieval England. A monograph based on my doctoral research (provisionally entitled Language, Learning, and the French of Medieval England) is in preparation.

Before joining LAF, I was a Lecturer in Medieval Studies (2021-23) and Lecturer in French (2023) at Exeter, as well as the Postdoctoral Research Associate on a precursor to LAF, 'Learning French in Medieval England' (in which role I helped to produce the first digital edition of Walter de Bibbesworth's 13th-century French teaching text, the Tretiz. I completed my PhD in French at Exeter in 2021, supervised by Dr. Thomas Hinton, Prof. Emma Cayley (now at the University of Leeds), and Dr. Susana Afonso. My PhD focused on the use of French as a language of didactism in England during the centuries following the Norman Conquest. Prior to arriving in Exeter, I worked as a lecteur d'anglais at the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France, where I taught advanced English language skills, British current affairs, and an introduction to medievalism.

From July 2024, I am serving as IT Officer on the Executive Committee of the Society for French Studies.