Posted by Levi Roach
26 May 2026Eagle-eyed medievalists may have noticed, back in April, a member of the Centre making a media splash, as an article co-authored by Levi Roach on the rediscovery of a seal belonging to Edward the Confessor reached news outlets from from the USA to India. Levi wasn’t solely responsible for the work that underpinned the article, though, and in this week’s post, he discusses what is still an unusual activity for some humanities scholars: co-authorship.
Historians are, by nature, lone wolves. Already in our undergraduate dissertations, we’re encouraged to choose our own subjects. And our PhDs are generally independent (often highly individual) projects. It is, therefore, scarcely surprising that most published research in the field is single authored. I want to take the opportunity of this post, however, to reflect on the potential of collaboration, in light of recent experiences of co-authoring a major research article.
I must admit that I did not go out and seek collaboration – rather, it found me. Early last year, the much-lamented Stephen Baxter (St Peter’s College, Oxford) got in touch to ask if I might be interested in working with Guilhem Dorandeu, a talented French ECR (presently of the École française de Rome). In the course of his doctoral studies, Guilhem had rediscovered the Saint-Denis seal impression of Edward the Confessor within the detached seals (sceaux detachés) section of the Archives nationales de France (Paris). This is the only well-preserved impression of Edward’s seal – itself the earliest surviving royal seal from England. Guilhem had originally approached Stephen about working together on the find. But Stephen knew that I was in the process of editing the documents to which the seal had originally been appended, so (with characteristic generosity) instead suggested that the two of us should write up the find.
After an initial Zoom meeting, Guilhem and I agreed to proceed, starting by re-reading the classic study of Brigitte Bedos-Rezak on the subject. In a second meeting, we then began sketching out the contours of what a joint article might look like. Here we each agreed to take primary responsibility for distinct sections, so that work could proceed separately. In this respect, we each brought distinct skills and expertise to the project. Guilhem is a sigillographer (i.e. specialist in medieval seals), so knows his way much better around the relevant iconographic traditions represented by the impression; by contrast, I’m an expert in English documentary practices of the period. He therefore agreed to take the lead on drafting the sections on the rediscovery of the impression (I) and the significance of its innovative iconography (II). I then had primary responsibility for sections on the development of the writ-charter (III), the new type of document to which the seal was appended, and on how these developments fit within wider evidence from England (IV).
This division of labour enabled us each to proceed at our own pace. I drafted my sections in the spring and early summer, then took late July and August (the school summer holiday in England and Wales) off. Guilhem, by contrast, completed most of his work over those summer months. By early September, we already had a good working draft of the whole text. We took the opportunity to present our findings at the British Academy’s annual Anglo-Saxon Charters Symposium (9 September), before revising the text in light of comments there. We then submitted the final manuscript to Early Medieval England and its Neighbours in late September. Following helpful and positive peer reviews, we were finally able to see it into print in April, just barely over a year since our first discussions.
The entire experience has been eye opening. By pooling our knowledge and resources, we were able to work much faster than we could possibly have alone. We were also able to cover more ground, to better effect. Guilhem made discoveries about the seal’s debt to Byzantine iconographic traditions which I would never have been able to make. Equally, I was able to place these within the context of wider English debts to mainland European documentary traditions in a manner Guilhem would have struggled to do. Above all, it’s been great fun. We’ve both learned things we wouldn’t have otherwise, and we’ve made a new friend in the process. In fact, we’re already planning on our next collaboration, a co-authored book review in French. (Which means Guilhem now gets to correct my linguistic eccentricities…)
Featured image: Saint-Denis Seal Impression of Edward the Confessor (1053 × 1057). © Paris, Archives nationales, Sc/x/832.