Anna Brechta Sapir Abulafia, (born 8 May 1952) is a British academic who specialises in

religious history The history of religion refers to the written record of human religious feelings, thoughts, and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,200 years ago (3200 BC). The prehistory of religion involves th ...

. The main focus of her research is medieval Christian-Jewish relations within the broad context of twelfth and thirteenth-century theological and ecclesiastical developments. At the moment she is engaged in a project examining the place of Jews and Muslims in Gratian's Decretum and its glosses. Since 2015, she is the

professor of the Study of the Abrahamic Religions The Chair of the Study of the Abrahamic Religions was created at the University of Oxford in 2008. The holder of the position is a member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the university and a Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. The ro ...

in the Faculty of Theology and Religion at

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and a

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located on the banks of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more formall ...

Academic career

Anna Sapir Abulafia studied history at the University of Amsterdam (Candidaats Examen, 1974; Doctoraal Examen, 1978). She gained her doctorate in theology (Church history) at the University of Amsterdam in 1984 and a higher doctorate, LittD, at Cambridge in 2014 (DLitt by incorporation in Oxford 2015). In 1979 she was Wetenschappelijke Medewerker in medieval history at the University of Amsterdam. After moving to the UK, she became a research fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge, 1981–1986, and the Laura Ashley Research Fellow at Lucy Cavendish College 1987–90. She was fellow, college lecturer and director of studies in history at Lucy Cavendish College Cambridge, 1990–2015, where she was graduate tutor (1992–1996), senior tutor (1996–2002) and vice-president (2002–2010). From 2013 to 2015 she was affiliated college lecturer and director of studies in history at Newnham College, Cambridge. On 1 April 2015, she was appointed the

in the Faculty of Theology and Religion at

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and became a

. In July 2020 she was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...

Personal life

Anna Sapir was born in New York in 1952. She moved with her family to The Netherlands in 1967, where she completed her schooling and studied history at the University of Amsterdam. In 1979, she moved to the UK and married the historian

David Abulafia David Abulafia (born 12 December 1949) is an English historian with a particular interest in Italy, Spain and the rest of the Mediterranean during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. He spent most of his career at the University of Cambridge, ris ...

. They have two daughters.

Selected publications

*''Christians and Jews in the Twelfth-Century Renaissance'',

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

, 1995; paperback, 2014. *''Christians and Jews in Dispute. Disputational Literature and the Rise of Anti-Judaism in the West (c. 1000–1150)'', 1998. *''Religious Violence between Christians and Jews: Medieval Roots, Modern Perspectives'', Palgrave MacMillan, 2002. (editor) *''Christian-Jewish Relations, 1000–1300. Jews in the Service of Medieval Christendom'', Routledge, 2011. (

Medieval World Series The Medieval World Series is a history book series published first by Longman and later by Routledge. Works in the series are intended to be an introduction to the authors' specialist subjects and a summing up of the current scholarship and debates ...

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abulafia, Anna 1952 births Living people British historians of religion Professors of the Study of the Abrahamic Religions Fellows of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Jewish historians Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Fellows of the British Academy Jewish women writers British women historians 20th-century American Jews Historians of Jews and Judaism Historians of Christianity British medievalists 21st-century American Jews