Wikipedia

Sarah Foot

For the British journalist and author, seeSarah Foot (journalist).

Sarah Rosamund Irvine Foot,FSA,FRHistS(born 23 February 1961) is an EnglishAnglicanpriest andearly medievalhistorian. She has beenRegius Professor of Ecclesiastical Historyat theUniversity of Oxfordsince 2007, andDean of Christ Church, Oxfordsince 2023.

The Very Reverend
Sarah Foot
FSAFRHistS
Foot in 2023
Born
Sarah Rosamund Irvine Foot

(1961-02-23)23 February 1961(age 63)
NationalityBritish
TitleDean ofChrist Church, Oxford
Spouses
  • Geoff Schrecker
    ​
    ​
    (m.1986;div.1999)​
  • ​
    (m.2002)​
FatherM. R. D. Foot
Academic background
Alma materNewnham College, Cambridge
ThesisAnglo-Saxon Ministers, AD 597 – ca. 900(1989)
Doctoral advisorRosamond McKitterick
Influences
Academic work
DisciplineHistory
Sub-discipline
Institutions
Main interests
Ecclesiastical career
ReligionChristianity (Anglican)
ChurchChurch of England
Ordained
  • 2017 (deacon)
  • 2017 (priest)
Offices held
CanonofChrist Church Cathedral, Oxford(2007–present)

Early life and education

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Foot was born on 23 February 1961[3]and is the daughter of the military historianM. R. D. Footand his second wife Elizabeth.[4]She was educated until 1979 atWithington Girls' Schoolin Manchester. She then went up toNewnham College, Cambridge,to study at theDepartment of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic,where she was taught by, amongst others,Rosamond McKitterickandSimon Keynes,completing thattriposin 1983.[5]She graduated with aBachelor of Arts(BA) degree in 1984; as per tradition, her BA was promoted to aMaster of Arts(MA Cantab).[6]She was awarded herDoctor of Philosophy(PhD) degree in 1990: her doctoral thesis, written under thesupervisionofRosamond McKitterick,[2]was titledAnglo-Saxon Minsters, AD 597 – ca. 900.[7][8]

Academic career and ordained ministry

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Foot was, from 1989 to 1990, research fellow atGonville and Caius College, Cambridge,before becoming a fellow and tutor there. In 1993 she took up a lectureship at theUniversity of Sheffield,being promoted tosenior lecturerin 2001.[9]In 2004, she was appointed to the newly established chair of Early Medieval History.[10]

On 22 February 2007Queen Elizabeth IIappointed Foot to theRegius Chair of Ecclesiastical Historyat the University of Oxford.[11]She is the first woman ever to hold this chair. Postholders are expected to lead research and develop graduate studies within their areas of specialisation and to take a leading part in developing the work of the Oxford theology faculty. The professorship is also annexed to acanonryatChrist Church,although the post-holder need be only a layperson; and at a special ceremony on 6 October 2007 Foot was installed as residentiary canon of the cathedral.[12]

From 2007 to 2017, Foot was alay canonofChrist Church Cathedral, Oxford.[3]During this time, she felt thecall to ordination.[13]She trained forHoly Orderson the Oxford Ministry Course, a part-time course taught atRipon College Cuddesdon.[6]On 1 July 2017, she wasordainedin theChurch of Englandas adeaconbySteven Croft,the Bishop of Oxford.[14]On 21 December 2017, she was ordained as apriestbyColin Fletcher,the Bishop of Dorchester.[15]Since 2017, she has been aresidentiary canonof Christ Church Cathedral in theDiocese of Oxford.[6][16]She was also anon-stipendiary ministerat Christ Church Cathedral from 2017 to 2019.[17]

In March 2023, Foot's appointment as theDean of Christ Churchwas approved byKing Charles III.She is the first woman to serve in the role.[18]She took up the appointment effective 1 July 2023,[19]and was installed at the cathedral during a service on 8 July.[20]The dean is both head of an Oxford college (Christ Church) and of the cathedral of theDiocese of Oxford(Christ Church Cathedral).[18]

Research interests

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Her main areas of research lie in the history ofAnglo-Saxon England,particularly Anglo-Saxonmonasteries,women and religion, and theCistercians.She also works on the history of the early medieval church and society as well as the invention of the English inhistoriography,and historical theory. In 2001 she was awarded a major grant to carry out research into the ruined Cistercian abbeys ofYorkshire.She has written a biography ofÆthelstan,the first king of all England. Among her current projects are thechartersofBury St Edmunds Abbey.She contributed to an episode ofBBC Radio 4'sIn Our Timeon the life ofSt Cuthbert,broadcast in January 2021.[21]is an editor of theOxford History of Historical Writing.

Personal life

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In 1986, Foot married Geoff Schrecker: they divorced in 1999. Together they had one son. In 2002, she marriedMichael Bentley,EmeritusProfessor ofModern Historyat theUniversity of St Andrews[3]and Senior Research Fellow and Stipendiary Lecturer in History atSt Hugh's College, Oxford.[22]

Honours

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In 2001, Foot was elected aFellow of the Royal Historical Society(FRHistS).[3]On 14 June 2001, she was elected aFellow of the Society of Antiquaries(FSA).[23]She served as president of theEcclesiastical History Societyfrom 2011 to 2012.[24]

Selected works

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  • Handbook of Historical Theory,Sarah Foot and Nancy F. Partner (eds.), London, Sage 2012.ISBN978-1-4129-3114-4
  • Æthelstan: The First English King,New Haven, Yale University Press 2011.ISBN978-0-300-12535-1
  • "The Bishops of Selsey and the Creation of a Diocese in Sussex" in: Paul Foster and Rachel Moriarty (eds.),Chichester – The Palace and Its BishopsOtter Memorial Paper Number 27. Chichester: University of Chichester, 2011, pp. 90–101ISBN978-1-907852-03-9
  • "Patrick Wormald as Historian", in: Stephen Baxter, Catherine E. Karkov, Janet L. Nelson and David Pelteret (eds.),Early Medieval Studies in Memory of Patrick Wormald,Farnham, Ashgate 2009.ISBN0-7546-6331-0
  • "Where English Becomes British: Rethinking Contexts for Brunanburh", in:Julia BarrowandAndrew Wareham(eds.),Myth, Rulership, Church and Charters: Essays in Honour of Nicholas Brooks,London, Ashgate 2008.ISBN0-7546-5120-7
  • Monastic life in Anglo-Saxon England, c. 600–900,Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 2006.ISBN0-521-85946-8
  • "Reading Anglo-Saxon Charters: Memory, Record or Story?", in: Elizabeth M. Tyler and Ross Balzaretti (eds.),Narrative and History in the Early Medieval West,Abingdon, Marston 2006.ISBN2-503-51828-1
  • "Finding the Meaning of Form: Narrative in Annals and Chronicles" in: Nancy F. Partner (ed.),Writing Medieval History (Writing History),London, Hodder Arnold 2005.ISBN0-340-80845-4
  • "The Historiography of the Anglo-Saxon 'Nation-State'" in: Len Scales and Oliver Zimmer (eds.),Power and the Nation in European History,Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 2005.ISBN0-521-84580-7
  • "Confronting Violence: A Medieval Perspective on the Ethics of Historiography"Storia della storiografia42 (2002), pp. 23–41
  • Veiled Women I: The Disappearance of Nuns from Anglo-Saxon England,Aldershot, Ashgate Publishing 2000.ISBN0-7546-0043-2
  • Veiled Women II: Female Religious Communities in England, 871–1066,Aldershot, Ashgate Publishing 2000.ISBN0-7546-0044-0
  • "Remembering, Forgetting and Inventing: Attitudes to the Past in England after the First Viking Age",Transactions of the Royal Historical Society,6th series 9 (1999), pp. 185–200
  • "English People" in: Michael Lapidge et al. (eds),The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England,Oxford, Blackwell 1998, p. 170f.ISBN0-631-15565-1
  • "The Making ofAngelcynn:English Identity before the Norman Conquest ",Transactions of the Royal Historical Society,6th series 6 (1996), pp. 25–49
  • "Violence Against Christians? The Vikings and the Church in Ninth-Century England",Medieval History1.3 (1991), pp. 3–16
  • "Glastonbury's Early Abbots" in: Lesley Abrams and James P. Carley (eds.),The Archaeology and History of Glastonbury Abbey: Essays in Honour of the Ninetieth Birthday of C. A. Ralegh Radford,Woodbrigde, Boydell 1991, p. 163-189.ISBN0-851-15284-8
  • "What Was an Anglo-Saxon Monastery?" in: Judith Loades (ed.),Monastic Studies,Bangor, Headstart History 1990, p. 48-57.ISBN1-8730-4100-4
  • "Parochial Ministry in Early Anglo-Saxon England: The Role of Monastic Communities" in: W. J. Sheils and Diana Woods (eds.),The Ministry: Clerical and Lay,Oxford, Blackwell 1989, p. 43-54.ISBN0-631-17193-2

See also

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References

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  1. ^Foot, Sarah (2006).Monastic Life in Anglo-Saxon England, c. 600–900.Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press (published 2009). p. xii.ISBN978-0-521-73908-5.
  2. ^abcFoot, Sarah (2006).Monastic Life in Anglo-Saxon England, c. 600–900.Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press (published 2009). p. xi.ISBN978-0-521-73908-5.
  3. ^abcd"Foot, Prof. Sarah Rosamund Irvine".Who's Who 2018.Oxford University Press. 1 December 2017.doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.245083.{{cite web}}:Missing or empty|url=(help)
  4. ^Brian BondObituary: MRD Foot,The Guardian,21 February 2012
  5. ^'Appendix V. Candidates who Took the Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic Tripos between 1900 and 1999', inH. M. Chadwick and the Study of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic in Cambridge,ed. by Michael Lapidge [=Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies,69–70] (Aberystwyth: Department of Welsh, Aberystwyth University, 2015), pp. 257–66 (p. 263).
  6. ^abc "Prof Sarah Rosamund Irvine Foot".Crockford's Clerical Directory(online ed.).Church House Publishing.Retrieved14 March2018.
  7. ^Foot, Sarah Rosamund Irvine (1989).Anglo-Saxon Minsters, AD 597 – ca. 900: The Religious Life in England before the Benedictine Reform(PhD thesis). University of Cambridge.OCLC53600053.
  8. ^Titles of Dissertations Approved for the Ph.D., M.Sc., M.Litt. Degrees in the University of Cambridge During the Academical Year.University of Cambridge. 1989. p. 14.Retrieved9 April2023.FOOT, SRI N PH.D. ANGLO - SAXON MINSTERS A.D. 597 - CA 900: THE RELIGIOUS LIFE IN ENGLAND BEFORE THE BENEDICTINE REFORM
  9. ^"Foot, Rev. Canon Prof. Sarah Rosamund Irvine, (born 23 Feb. 1961), Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History, University of Oxford, since 2007".Who's Who 2020.Oxford University Press. 1 December 2019.Retrieved2 April2021.
  10. ^"Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History University of Oxford".Official bulletin of 10 Downing Street.Retrieved23 February2008.
  11. ^"First woman to be Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Oxford".University of Oxford. Archived fromthe originalon 2 December 2012.Retrieved23 February2008.
  12. ^"Welcome for Canon Professors".Christ Church, Oxford.Retrieved10 October2010.
  13. ^"New clergy for Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire".Diocese of Oxford.23 June 2017.Retrieved14 March2018.
  14. ^"Petertide ordinations".Church Times.7 July 2017.Retrieved14 March2018.
  15. ^"Priesting of Canon Sarah Foot".Christ Church, Oxford.University of Oxford. 21 December 2017.Retrieved14 March2018.
  16. ^"Who's Who in the Cathedral".Christ Church, Oxford.University of Oxford.Retrieved14 March2018.
  17. ^ "Prof Sarah Rosamund Irvine Foot".Crockford's Clerical Directory(online ed.).Church House Publishing.Retrieved15 November2021.
  18. ^ab"Sarah Foot becomes first female Dean of Christ Church".University of Oxford.16 March 2023.Retrieved16 March2023.
  19. ^"Appointment of the Dean of Christ Church: 16 March 2023".GOV.UK.Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street. 16 March 2023.Retrieved16 March2023.
  20. ^"Choral Evensong with the Installation of Dean Foot".Christ Church.8 July 2023. Archived fromthe originalon 6 July 2023.Retrieved6 July2023.
  21. ^"BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Saint Cuthbert".BBC.Retrieved14 November2021.
  22. ^"Professor Michael Bentley".St Hugh's College.Retrieved12 August2023.
  23. ^"Fellows Directory - Foot".Society of Antiquaries of London.Retrieved27 December2017.
  24. ^"Ecclesiastical History Society".
Academic offices
Preceded by Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History
2007–present 		Incumbent
Professional and academic associations
Preceded by President of theEcclesiastical History Society
2011–2012 		Succeeded by
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