Kathryn Salzer

I am a historian of medieval Europe, with a special interest in the social, economic, and institutional development of monasteries in France and Belgium. My first monograph is an examination of the Cistercian monastery of Vaucelles, located just south of Cambrai, France. The study (Vaucelles Abbey: Social, Political, and Ecclesiastical Relationships in the Borderland Region of the Cambrésis, 1131-1300) was published by Brepols Publishers. I am currently engaged in several projects, including a study of several castellan families in the medieval borderland region of northeastern France, Flanders, and northwestern Germany during the tenth through twelfth centuries. Although much of my research is archival, I also have a background in archaeology, and have participated in excavations on medieval sites in France and Greece, involving L’Abbaye Royale du Monçel (Pontpoint, France); Zaraka Abbey (Stymphalos, Greece); Saint-Jean-des-Vignes (Soissons, France).

I teach a variety of courses at Penn State, including:

HIST 001 – Western Civilization, I; HIST 105 – The Byzantine Empire; HIST 407 – Early Medieval Society; HIST 408 – Church and State in the High Middle Ages