James Palmer

James Palmer serves as Professor and Director of Research in the School of History at the University of St Andrews, specializing in Mediaeval History. His work focuses on early medieval cultural and religious history (c. 400-900) with a global perspective spanning Eurasia and Africa.

Palmer earned his BA and PhD from the University of Sheffield and MPhil from the University of Cambridge. He previously held positions at Leicester and Nottingham universities before joining St Andrews in 2007, becoming full professor in 2018 after serving as cross-faculty pro dean for research postgraduates (2014-2018).

His research centers on early medieval religion, hagiography, apocalyptic beliefs, and science-medicine-belief intersections, emphasizing cross-cultural exchanges. Recent work includes the 2024 book Merovingian Worlds and ongoing projects on early medieval medical texts and Jewish apocalypticism, reflecting his commitment to global medieval frameworks beyond Eurocentric narratives.

While his 2018 articles examined apocalyptic rhetoric and liturgical history, current scholarship analyzes pandemic responses, medicalization of religious culture, and Merovingian political structures, demonstrating continuity in exploring how crisis narratives shaped medieval intellectual landscapes across continents.

Palmer has supervised six postgraduate researchers and actively mentors new PhD candidates. His research is funded by major grants including The British Academy (Corpus of Early Medieval Latin Medicine, 2023-2028), Rothschild Foundation (Jewish Apocalypticism at Islam's Emergence, 2020-2023), Leverhulme Trust (Science and Belief in Early Medieval Europe, 2018-2021), and AHRC (Apocalyptic Traditions, Society and Power, 2011-2012).

He leads the international Corpus of Early Medieval Latin Medicine project alongside Claire Burridge, Jeff Doolittle, Meg Leja, and Carine van Rhijn, and contributes to the Centre for Late Antique Studies and Institute of Medieval Studies at St Andrews, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration on pre-modern Eurasian networks.