Paul Ulishney

Research Profile

I am an ecclesiastical and political historian of the empires of Late Antiquity (Roman-Sasanian) and the early Middle Ages (Byzantine-Islamic). In particular, I focus on the ecclesiastical politics of the eastern Roman Empire between the 6th and 9th centuries, although I am interested more broadly in the intersection of political and ecclesiastical history in Greek, Latin, and Syriac texts within Western Eurasia up to 1204.

My doctoral thesis examines the fate of those eastern Roman Christians who remained in the Near East after the Arab-Muslim conquests of the mid-seventh century, from an ecclesiastical perspective. I focus on the communities of Egypt and Palestine from c. 640 to c. 700 CE. In particular, my thesis is dedicated to the extant literary output of one monastic raconteur and disputant who flourished during this period: Anastasius of Sinai. Our chief Greek-speaking witness to life in the ex-Byzantine provinces in the decades following the Arab conquests, Anastasius's oeuvre represents a number of marked shifts in the way Chalcedonian communities organized themselves ecclesiastically, sought patronage from their new rulers, engaged in religious polemic, and underwent social and ideological reorientation during the transition from Roman to Islamic hegemony. Moreover, many of his texts bear witness to an important period of change in early Islamic history, during which Islam began to be more publicly identified with the caliphate. Despite offering us an unusually wide array of historical material, the works of Anastasius have never been studied in toto with a view to his multiple and complex historical contexts - a lacuna my thesis aims to fill.

My degree has been generously funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation through the Stavros Niarchos Foundation DPhil Scholarship, providing me with full funding.

I have undergone dual training in History and (historical) Theology: I hold a BA (summa cum laude) in Biblical Studies/Theology from Johnson University and an MPhil with Merit in Theology (Patristic Theology) from the University of Oxford. After training in historical theology at Oxford, I transferred to History proper. I gained an MA with Distinction in History (Late Antique and Byzantine Studies) from University College London, and in 2020, moved back to Oxford, where I am a currently a doctoral candidate in History (Late Antique and Byzantine Studies).

My research interests include:

• The political and ecclesiastical history of the Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire to 1453, and in particular the period stretching from the Age of Justinain (527-565) to the Fourth Crusade (1204)
• Early Islamic history to 950 and the Christian communities who lived under the Umayyads and Abbasids
• Christology after Chalcedon, esp. that of Neochalcedonianism and the Monothelete-Monenergist Controversy

In addition to my areas of training, I maintain an abiding interest in the early modern period; in particular, American and European history during the long eighteenth century.

Supervisors: Phil Booth & Alison Salvesen