Emily Kesling

Academic interests

My work focuses on the Early Middle Ages, with a specific emphasis on Anglo-Saxon England. I am particularly interested in early Insular intellectual and monastic culture.

My monograph, Medical Texts in Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture, offers a fresh look at the Old English medical corpus, which contains the earliest complete collections of medical material in a Western vernacular language. While sometimes viewed as belonging primarily to popular culture or folk belief, I show that these texts were part of an elite, learned, intellectual culture.

My current research focuses on intellectual exchange between England and the Continent in the period of the Anglo-Saxon missions. More generally, I am interested in erudition, word play, ‘magical’ texts, theological disputes and exegesis, medieval reception of classical works, and early medieval scribal communities.

 

Background

D.Phil. in English (to 1550), University of Oxford, 2017.

M.St. in Medieval Studies, University of Oxford, 2012.

B.A. in History (magna cum laude), University of Washington, 2011.

 

Publications

Medical Texts in Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture. Boydell & Brewer Press, 2020.

'The Royal Prayerbook and Early Insular Scribal Communities', Early Medieval Europe 29.2 (2021), 181-200.

􏰯􏰊'A Blood-Staunching Charm of Royal 2.A.xx and its Greek Text', Peritia 32 (2021), 149-62 

'Translation Style and the Old English Herbarium’. Notes and Queries 63 (2016), 9-14.

 

Tags: Middelalder, Middelalderstudier, Middle Ages, Anglo-Saxon, Medieval Studies

Publications

  • Kesling, Emily Louise (2025). The Gospel Extracts and the Theme of the Royal Prayerbook. Journal of Medieval Latin. ISSN 0778-9750. 35, p. 41–60. doi: 10.1484/J.JML.5.145230. Full text in Research Archive
  • Kesling, Emily Louise (2025). The Genre of Old English Macaronic Verse | Neophilologus. Neophilologus: An International Journal of Modern and Mediaeval Language and Literature. ISSN 0028-2677. 109, p. 391–408. doi: 10.1007/s11061-025-09842-2. Full text in Research Archive
  • Kesling, Emily Louise (2024). The Winchester Scribes and Alfredian Prose in the Tenth Century. In Faulkner, Amy & Leneghan, Francis (Ed.), The Age of Alfred: Rethinking English Literary Culture c. 850-950. Brepols. ISSN 9782503606651. doi: 10.1484/M.SOEL-EB.5.135547. Full text in Research Archive
  • Kesling, Emily (2023). Christ's Letter to Abgar in England and Ireland. In Phelpstead, Carl & Grønlie, Siân (Ed.), The Medieval North and Its Afterlife: Essays in Honor of Heather O’Donoghue. De Gruyter Brill. ISSN 9781501516597. p. 151–164. Full text in Research Archive
  • Kesling, Emily (2022). The artistry of Bald's colophon: Latin verse in an Old English medical codex. Anglo-Saxon England. ISSN 0263-6751. 48, p. 93–104. doi: 10.1017/S026367512100003X. Full text in Research Archive
  • Kesling, Emily (2021). The Royal Prayerbook’s blood-staunching charms and early Insular scribal communities. Early Medieval Europe. ISSN 0963-9462. 29(2), p. 181–200. doi: 10.1111/emed.12474. Full text in Research Archive
  • Kesling, Emily (2021). A Blood-Staunching Charm of Royal 2.A.xx and its Greek Text. Peritia: Journal of the Medieval Academy of Ireland. ISSN 0332-1592. 32, p. 149–162. doi: 10.1484/J.PERIT.5.128140. Full text in Research Archive

View all works in NVA

View all works in NVA

  • Kesling, Emily (2023). Review of Leja, Meg. Embodying the Soul: Medicine and Religion in Carolingian Europe. The Middle Ages. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2022. Pp. 392. $89.95 (hardback). ISBN: 978-0-8122-5389-4 (hardback). The Medieval Review. Full text in Research Archive
  • Kesling, Emily (2022). Middle English Medical Recipes and Literary Play, 1375–1500. Hannah Bower. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022. Pp. 272. Modern philology. ISSN 0026-8232. 120(3). Full text in Research Archive
  • Kesling, Emily (2021). Diana Luft, Medieval Welsh Medical Texts. Vol. 1, The Recipes. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2020. Paper. Pp. xii, 611; 5 black-and-white figures and 18 tables. £45. ISBN: 978-1-7868-3548-2. Speculum. ISSN 0038-7134. 96(4). Full text in Research Archive
  • Kesling, Emily (2019). The Royal Prayerbook and Touching Christ. Full text in Research Archive
  • Kesling, Emily (2019). Veronica's Bloods and the Royal Prayerbook. Full text in Research Archive
  • Kesling, Emily (2018). Learned Languages in Insular Charms. Full text in Research Archive
  • Bech, Kristin; Stenbrenden, Gjertrud F & Kesling, Emily (2018). I døde språks selskap: gammelengelsk. Full text in Research Archive

View all works in NVA

Published Feb. 2, 2018 1:01 PM - Last modified Apr. 11, 2022 12:13 PM