Dr Jonathan Davies

Contact Information:

Office: FAB 3.64
Telephone: 02476 523420.
Email: j.d.davies@warwick.ac.uk
Office Hours in 2025/26: Mondays 12.00-13.00 and Tuesdays 12.00-13.00. NB In Term 3 these will be on Teams. Please email me for an appointment.

Academic Profile

I studied Medieval and Modern History at the University of Liverpool, where I won the H.M. Finnegan Prize for Medieval History and received a B.A. (Hons), First Class. I remained at Liverpool for my postgraduate research. My doctoral dissertation focused on the University of Florence between 1385 and 1473. My research in Italy was supported by a two-year Leverhulme Trust Study Abroad Studentship. I was awarded a PhD in 1993.
I held a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Leeds. I was also a member of the Committee of the .
I was a Research Fellow in the AHRB Centre for the Study of Renaissance Elites and Court Cultures at 糖心TV.
In 2003 I was appointed to a Lectureship in Italian Renaissance History at 糖心TV. In September 2006 I became an Assistant Professor. In October 2008 I was promoted to Associate Professor.
I am the founder of , the interdisciplinary research group which promotes the study of the Renaissance.
From 2005 to 2014 I was the co-founder and co-director of the Warburg Institute-University of 糖心TV Research Training Programme, 'Resources and Techniques for the Study of Renaissance and Early Modern Culture'.
I was the joint coordinator of the .
I am a member of the European History Research CentreLink opens in a new window.
I was elected a Fellow of the in 2001. I have served as a member of the Council of the . I am also a member of the .

Undergraduate Modules Taught

Postgraduate Courses and Modules Taught

Research

My current research concentrates on the folklore of Europe (including the British Isles) from prehistory to the present and on violence in early modern Europe (including the British Isles), especially its literary representations. I also have longstanding interests in the history of the Italian states (especially Tuscany) between 1350 and 1600.

Research Supervision

I am happy to supervise postgraduate students on any aspect of my research interests. My current doctoral students include:

Wanxin Du, "Violent Crimes and Criminal Justice in the State of Siena, 1590-1650"Link opens in a new window

My recent doctoral students include:

Sophie Hartles, "Laughter and Violence in the Italian Renaissance: The Physical and Emotional Abuse of the beffa"Link opens in a new window

Authored Books

Edited Books

(London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2025)
Jonathan Davies and John Monfasani, eds, (Leiden: Brill, 2021)
(Farnham: Ashgate, 2013)

Articles in Refereed Journals

"", Renaissance Studies 27/4 (2013), 504-16.
"Elites and Examiners at Italian Universities during the Late Middle Ages," Medieval Prosopography 21 (2001), 191-209.
"The Studio pisano under Florentine Domination, 1406-1472," History of Universities 16 (1) (2000), 197-235.
"A 'Paper University'? The Studio lucchese, 1369-1487," History of Universities 15 (1997-99): 261-306.
"Corruption of the Examination Process at the University of Florence," History of Universities 14 (1995-96): 69-93.
With P.E.H. Hair, "Sierra Leone and the Grand Duke of Tuscany," History in Africa 20 (1993): 61-9.
"Marsilo Ficino: Lecturer at the Studio fiorentino," Renaissance Quarterly 45 (1992): 785-90.

Chapters in Books

"Literary Representations of Violence" in Jonathan Davies, ed., A Cultural History of Violence in the Renaissance (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2025)
"Il governo delle universit脿 in Toscana dalle repubbliche al principato" in Carla Frova and Stefania Zucchini, eds, (Florence: Leo S. Olschki, 2023), 1-12.
"The Impact of War" in Beat K眉min, ed., , 4th ed. (Abingdon: Routledge, 2022), 415-424.
"Robert Black: A Life of Scholarship" in Jonathan Davies and John Monfasani, eds, Renaissance Politics and Culture: Essays in Honour of Robert Black (Leiden: Brill, 2021), 1-13.
"The Ideal Student: Manuals of Student Behaviour in Early Modern Italy" in Richard Kirwan, ed., (Farnham: Ashgate, 2013), 21-38.
"The Studio fiorentino in the Renaissance" in Amedeo Belluzzi and Emanuela Ferretti, eds, La sede della Sapienza a Firenze (Florence: Istituto Geografico Militare, 2009), 19-29.
"Italian Universities and the Wars of Italy", in Christine Shaw, ed., (Leiden, Boston, and Cologne: Brill, 2006), 297-305.

Reviews

I have reviewed for the American Historical Review, the Burlington Magazine, European History Quarterly, H-Italy, Renaissance Quarterly, and the Sixteenth Century Journal.

Please see the Venice Programme videoLink opens in a new window

糖心TV