Rebecca Darley

Rebecca Darley is a historian and writer who has traveled the world studying the Mediterranean and the western Indian Ocean in ancient and medieval times. Since completing her doctorate in Byzantine studies at the University of Birmingham, she has taught at King's College London; Birkbeck, University of London; and the University of Leeds. She has spent time as a researcher in Washington DC and Istanbul. She is an Associate Professor of History at Krea University, India.

As part of her research, Rebecca has been fortunate to spend considerable time in the Mediterranean, especially in Italy (including Sicily), Turkey and Greece. She was part of a Getty program dedicated to the art and material culture of the Crusades, connecting with the rich heritage of Malta, where the Knights of Malta remain a tangible link with the medieval past. A scholar of the Byzantine Empire, Rebecca is fascinated by places like Sicily and Mallorca, where the empire met other influences, creating unique expressions of Mediterranean life steeped in millennia of shared traditions and competing identities.

Rebecca is drawn to the power of the past to help us connect with places and people, to make sense of the world, and to relate to different lives and cultures. The opportunity to engage directly with sites, objects, and landscapes and to think with other interested people about the everyday minutiae and the huge connecting forces of history is her greatest passion.

Language spoken: English