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Debby Banham

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Debby Banham
Academic background
Alma materNewnham College, Cambridge
Academic work
DisciplineEarly Medieval English social history
Sub-disciplineFood production, diet, medicine, sign language
InstitutionsBirkbeck, University of London
Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic

Debby Banham is a British historian of early medieval England, specialising in food production, diet, and medicine. She has published on Anglo-Saxon farming and food and drink, as well as on medieval sign language.

Biography

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Banham received a Diploma in Advanced Education from the University of Nottingham and her PhD from Newnham College, Cambridge.[1] In 1987, she and Jane Renfrew instigated the creation of an Anglo-Saxon Herb Garden at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge.[2]

Until 2018, she taught palaeography, Latin, and Anglo-Saxon history at Birkbeck College, London. She has also been a lecturer at Queen Mary University of London.[3]

She returned to Newnham College in 2007 as Special Supervisor in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic.[1] Her other roles at the University of Cambridge have included Affiliated Lecturer in Palaeography and Anglo-Saxon History in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic; Affiliated Lecturer in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science; Director of Studies at Lucy Cavendish and Murray Edwards Colleges; and Assistant Tutor and Postgraduate Mentor at Newnham College.[3][4]

She has been a research associate at the Cambridge Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine and the Thorndike and Kibre project, and worked with Martha Bayless on the Early English Bread Project.[3]

She has been honoured with a panel at the 2018 Leeds International Medieval Congress[5] and a festschrift, Cultivating the Earth, Nurturing the Body and Soul: Daily Life in Early Medieval England (2025).[6]

Select publications

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  • with Rosamond Faith, Anglo-Saxon Farms and Farming, Oxford University Press, 2014[7]
  • Food and Drink in Anglo-Saxon England, Tempus, 2004[8]
  • Monasteriales indicia: The Old English Monastic Sign Language, Anglo-Saxon Books, 1991 (rev. ed. 1996)[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Debby Banham | Newnham College". newn.cam.ac.uk. 2024-02-13. Retrieved 2025-06-06.
  2. ^ Richardson, Tim (2019-10-08). Cambridge College Gardens. White Lion Publishing. p. 167. ISBN 978-0-7112-3851-0.
  3. ^ a b c Voth, Christine (2025), "Introduction", Cultivating the Earth, Nurturing the Body and Soul: Daily Life in Early Medieval England, History of Daily Life, vol. 12, no. 12, Brepols Publishers, pp. 9–17, doi:10.1484/m.hdl-eb.5.143378?mobileui=0, ISBN 978-2-503-61193-8, retrieved 2025-06-06
  4. ^ "Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic". www.asnc.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 2025-06-06.
  5. ^ "International Medieval Congress". www.imc.leeds.ac.uk. Retrieved 2025-06-06.
  6. ^ "Brepols - Cultivating the Earth, Nurturing the Body and Soul: Daily Life in Early Medieval England". www.brepols.net. Retrieved 2025-06-06.
  7. ^ Banham, Debby; Faith, Rosamond (2014). Anglo-Saxon Farms and Farming. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-920794-7.
  8. ^ Banham, Debby (2004). Food and Drink in Anglo-Saxon England. Tempus. ISBN 978-0-7524-2909-0.
  9. ^ Banham, Debby (1991). Monasteriales Indicia: The Anglo-Saxon Monastic Sign Language. Anglo-Saxon Books. ISBN 978-0-9516209-4-6.