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Topic · Classics

Medieval Literature and History

Medieval Literature and History is a research topic within Classics. Science Explorer counts 26k research works in it since 1950. 13.3% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers covers a wide range of topics related to medieval studies, including literature, religion, society, manuscripts, monasticism, Anglo-Saxon history, culture, and philosophy in Europe during the medieval period.

  • Medieval
  • Literature
  • Religion
  • Society
  • Manuscripts
  • Monasticism
  • Anglo-Saxon
  • History
  • Culture
  • Philosophy
Research works
26k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
3.5k
per year above
Top-10% rate
13.3%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+14%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Medieval Literature and History research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (985 and 794 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 985 works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 794 works
  3. 3 France 319 works
  4. 4 Germany 156 works
  5. 5 Italy 147 works
  6. 6 Canada 120 works
  7. 7 Spain 94 works
  8. 8 Netherlands 67 works
  9. 9 Ireland 60 works
  10. 10 Russia 58 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 35.2%United Kingdom: 28.4%France: 11.4%Germany: 5.6%6 others listed: 19.5%35%largest
United States985 · 35.2%United Kingdom794 · 28.4%France319 · 11.4%Germany156 · 5.6%6 others listed548 · 19.5%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Medieval Literature and History research?

By volume in 2022–2025, University of Oxford publishes the most Medieval Literature and History research, followed by University of Cambridge and University of St Andrews.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 115 works
  2. 2 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 56 works
  3. 3 University of St AndrewsUnited Kingdom 35 works
  4. 4 Film IndependentUnited States 33 works
  5. 5 Durham UniversityUnited Kingdom 30 works
  6. 6 University of GlasgowUnited Kingdom 25 works
  7. 7 University of EdinburghUnited Kingdom 24 works
  8. 8 University of YorkUnited Kingdom 24 works
  9. 9 University of BristolUnited Kingdom 24 works
  10. 10 University of TorontoCanada 24 works

Who are the leading researchers in Medieval Literature and History?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Medieval Literature and History include David R. Matthews and George C. Homans.

  1. 1 David R. Matthews United Kingdom 4.2k citations
  2. 2 George C. Homans United States 1.7k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

Where is Medieval Literature and History research done?

The largest centres of Medieval Literature and History research in 2022–2025 are Oxford (United Kingdom), London (United Kingdom), Paris (France) and Cambridge (United Kingdom). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in St Andrews, Caen and Durham.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Oxford United Kingdom 124 works
  2. 2 London United Kingdom 91 works
  3. 3 Paris France 86 works
  4. 4 Cambridge United Kingdom 58 works
  5. 5 New York United States 46 works
  6. 6 Los Angeles United States 45 works
  7. 7 Dublin Ireland 40 works
  8. 8 St Andrews United Kingdom 35 works
  9. 9 Chicago United States 34 works
  10. 10 Toronto Canada 33 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. St AndrewsGB · 35.2 works49×
  2. CaenFR · 24.7 works28×
  3. DurhamGB · 29.8 works24×
← less than its size predictsmore →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Medieval Literature and History than the world average.

See Medieval Literature and History on the map

Where is the best place to study Medieval Literature and History?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Oslo, University of Oxford and University of Iceland score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 16.67%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →University of Oslo: 22, 29.0%University of Oxford: 115, 11.1%University of Iceland: 10, 18.5%University of Lincoln: 11, 17.2%University of Cambridge: 56, 14.8%University of Chicago: 22, 22.7%Cardiff University: 18, 11.7%Ca' Foscari University of Venice: 9, 17.2%Royal Holloway University of London: 11, 10.8%Trinity College Dublin: 20, 13.7%University of OsloUniversity of IcelandUniversity of LincolnUniversity of Oxford
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 University of OsloNorway 73.229.0%13.8×22 +133.3%
2 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 67.411.1%27.5×115 +56.3%
3 University of IcelandIceland 64.218.5%25.1×10 +234.6%
4 University of LincolnUnited Kingdom 61.517.2%31.8×11 +196.7%
5 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 60.514.8%15.9×56 -13.1%
6 University of ChicagoUnited States 57.422.7%8.3×22 +119.8%
7 Cardiff UniversityUnited Kingdom 57.211.7%13.8×18 +129.5%
8 Ca' Foscari University of VeniceItaly 56.117.2%10.9×9 +477.4%
9 Royal Holloway University of LondonUnited Kingdom 55.310.8%27.3×11 +213.3%
10 Trinity College DublinIreland 55.113.7%18.6×20 +38.6%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Medieval Literature and History research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 14% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2019. The fastest-growing topics are Medieval Literature and History.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.