Eljas Oksanen
BA, MPhil, PhD
Honorary Research Associate
Advisory Board Member, Travel and Communications in Anglo-Saxon England
e.i.oksanen@cantab.net
Current Research Projects
Trade & Travel: Commercial Networks in Medieval England
The emergence of a multiplicity of new urban and commercial sites in the High
Middle Ages was central to profound social, political and economic
transformations of England. This on-going research project seeks to investigate
and map the development of new commercial events - in particular weekly
markets and annual fairs - in relation to broader economic networks and travel
routes. It draws on both documentary sources and on Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) analysis of archaeological data, in particular the Portable
Antiquities Scheme database at the British Museum.
Research Interests
• GIS analysis of historical data from written sources and archaeological
material. Database analysis. I am interested in cross-disciplinary comparison of
information compiled from written sources with large archaeological GIS
datasets.
• The economic history of England and western Europe. The development of
market and fair events and their significance to the medieval economy from both
the local and national perspectives.
• Medieval travel and communication. Roads and overland routes. Inland
navigation, rivers and canals. Shipping and naval technology.
• History and mechanisms of interregional and international exchange across a
wide spectrum of topics, including political, military and diplomatic history, the
development of chivalric culture, and domestic and overseas commerce.
• Social and cultural exchanges across borders. Immigration. The development of
ethnic, class and other social identities during the High Middle Ages, and their
broader context within the framework of political and economic change.
• Using Digital Humanities tools to investigate patronage, landholding and other
relationships from manorial and documentary records (e.g. Domesday Book).
• History of towns and of urban growth. The development of urban identities and
socio-political structures.
Other Academic Affiliations
2015: Research Assistant, British Museum, London, UK
Postdoctoral Work
2008: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto, Canada
2009-2012: Department of History, King's College London
Educational Background
2007: PhD in History, University of Cambridge
2003: MPhil in Medieval History, University of Cambridge
2001: BA in History, University of Cambridge
Publications
Monograph
• Flanders and the Anglo-Norman World, 1066-1216 (Cambridge Studies in
Medieval Life and Thought 4th Series, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
2012)
Articles
• 'Trade and Travel in England during the Long Twelfth Century', in AngloNorman Studies 37 (Boydell & Brewer, Woodbridge, 2015), pp. 181-204
• 'Economic Relations between East Anglia and Flanders in the Anglo-Norman
Period' in East Anglia and Its North Sea World, ed. D. Bates, R. Liddiard and L.
Marten (Boydell & Brewer, Woodbridge, 2013), pp. 174-87
• 'Flemish Mercenaries in Anglo-Norman Service' in Mercenaries and Paid Men.
The Mercenary Identity in the Middle Ages, ed. J. France (Brill, Leiden, 2008), pp.
261-73
GIS Datasets
• Navigable Inland Waterways in Anglo-Norman England and Wales, Early
Medieval Atlas project website (Institute of Archaeology, University College
London, 2015)
• The Routes of the Gough Map, Early Medieval Atlas project website (Institute
of Archaeology, University College London, 2015)
Editorial Work (chief translator, assistant editor)
• Huts and Houses. Stone Age and Early Metal Age Buildings in Finland, ed. H.
Ranta (National Board of Antiquities, Helsinki and Jyväskylä, 2002)