Dr Michael Hahn

Bio:

Dr Michael Hahn

Role 
The Dom Gregory Dix Lecturer and Programme Leader for Postgraduate Programmes in Christian Spirituality

Usual office hours & location 
Monday to Friday (in college)

About 
Michael leads the postgraduate programmes in Christian Spirituality at Sarum College. He gained degrees in theology and ecclesiastical history from the Universities of St Andrews and Oxford, including a PhD on early Franciscan mystical theology from St Andrews in January 2020. Before working at Sarum, Michael taught at the universities of St Andrews, York St John, Toronto and London in theology and medieval studies. Michael is a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Catholic Studies at the University of Durham and an Associate Research Fellow at the Ruusbroec Institute, University of Antwerp. He also holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Assessment in Higher Education from York St John University which granted him Associate Fellowship of Advance:HE.

Research interests 
Michael’s research is situated in the areas of theological (and church) history, medieval studies and Franciscan studies. The majority of his work is at the intersection of these areas in the study of thirteenth-century Franciscan mystical theology, particularly concerning Francis and Clare of Assisi (d. 1226 and d. 1253), Bonaventure (d. 1274) and Angela of Foligno (d. 1309).

Michael has recently written a number of articles on early Franciscan mysticism, and is currently finalising his monograph on Bonaventure and Angela. He has recently edited, alongside Pablo Acosta-García, A Companion to Angela of Foligno, for Brill’s Companions to the Christian Tradition book series which is currently being reviewed.

Alongside John Arblaster (University of Antwerp), Michael has instigated a research project which was recently awarded €427,060 by the Flanders Research Council (FWO). This four-year project entitled, From Umbrian Laywoman to the “Teacher of Theologians”: How Angela of Foligno was made Magistra Theologorum. Michael has also begun a research project entitled Removing the Superfluous Elements and Correcting the Defects: John-Jerome of Prague and Mystical Texts and the end of the Middle Ages.

Teaching 
Michael teaches at postgraduate level on the history of Christian spirituality, Christian mysticism of all periods, methodologies of studying spirituality and mysticism, church history and historical theology, and ecclesiastical historiography.

Supervision 
Michael has supervised doctoral students through the Universities of Winchester and Antwerp, and welcomes enquiries from prospective PhD students in the study of Christian mysticism, medieval Church history and theology, and Franciscan studies.

Professional Memberships & Responsibilities 
Mystical Theology Network (Grants Officer)
Mysticism and Lived Experience Network
The Other Sister: Towards a Re-Conceptualization of Christian Religious Women from 1100 to 1800 (former Committee Member)
Royal Historical Society (Early Career Research Member)
Women in the Franciscan Intellectual Tradition
Society for the Study of Theology
Associate Fellow of Advance: HE [formerly: Higher Education Academy]

List of Publications

Edited with Pablo Acosta-García. A Companion to Angela of Foligno. Brill Companions to the Christian Tradition, 500-1800. [Under review]

Co-written with John Arblaster. ‘The Reception of Angela of Foligno and her Texts.’ In A Companion to Angela of Foligno. Companions to the Christian Tradition, 500-1800. Boston: Brill, 2026; forthcoming.

‘Emptying, Annihilation and Deiformity.’ In A Companion to Angela of Foligno. Companions to the Christian Tradition, 500-1800. Boston: Brill, 2026; forthcoming.

Co-written with Pablo Acosta-García. ‘Introduction: the state of Angela of Foligno studies and its future.’ In A Companion to Angela of Foligno. Companions to the Christian Tradition, 500-1800. Boston: Brill, 2026; forthcoming.

‘The Franciscan Mystical Tradition and the “post-Bonaventurean School.”’ In The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Franciscan Thought. Edited by Lydia Schumacher and Drew Rosato. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2026; forthcoming.

‘God as Lover.’ In The T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Christian Theology. Edited by Jana Bennett, Jason Fout, Stephen Cone and Asle Eikrem. London: T&T Clark, 2026; forthcoming.

‘Becoming nothing in Christianity, Sufism and Buddhism: Why Christian annihilation is not nirvāṇa. A response to Barbara Newman.’ In The Bloomsbury Handbook to Comparative Mysticism. Edited by Louise Nelstrop and Saeko Yazaki. London: Bloomsbury, 2026; forthcoming.

‘Angela of Foligno, the Order of Penance, and the Category of “Franciscan” Mysticism.’ In The Other Sister: New Research on Non-Cloistered Religious Women (1100-1800). Edited by Isabelle Cochelin and Alison More. Turnhout: Brepols, 2026; forthcoming.

‘Third Orders.’ In The Routledge Handbook of Medieval European Women and Christianity. Edited by Michelle M. Sauer and Jenny Bledscoe. Abingdon: Routledge, 2026; forthcoming.

‘Hagiographic Memorization and Performance: Angela of Foligno’s sources for the life and spirituality of Francis of Assisi.’ In Hoghe minne es deen vor dander: Essays on the Christian Mystical Tradition in Honour of Rob Faesen SJ. Edited by John Arblaster. Turnhout: Brepols, 2026; forthcoming.

‘Poverty and Gender.’ In A Cultural History of Poverty in the Medieval Age (800-1450). Edited by Eliza Buhrer. A Cultural History of Poverty, vol. 2. London: Bloomsbury, 2026; forthcoming.

‘Angela e Bonaventura: svuotamento, annientamento, divinizzazione.’ In Teologia e storia di Angela da Foligno: celebrazione del 10° anniversario della canonizzazione [Book title TBC]. Edited by Alessandra Bartolomei Ramagnoli and Massimo Vedova. Spoleto: CISAM, 2026; forthcoming.

‘Angela van Foligno in de Lage Landen.’ In Ruusbroec 100, 1925-2025, Boek 3: Begeesterde vrouwen. Een rijke religieuze geschiedenis. Edited by Lieke Smits, Tine Van Osselaer, John Arblaster, and Daniël Ermens. Leuven: Peeters, 2025; forthcoming, pp. 39-52.

‘Mariology, Mysticism and the Manger: the Christmas Crib in Bonaventure’s Theology.’ Archivum Franciscanum Historicum 118, no. 1 (2025): 5-34.

‘Kenotic Christology and Annihilation in Clare of Assisi and Angela of Foligno.’ In Medieval Mystical Women in the West: Growing in the Height of Love. Edited by Rob Faesen and John Arblaster. Contemporary Theological Explorations in Christian Mysticism. Abingdon: Routledge, 2025, pp. 117-44.

‘Angela of Foligno’s Reception in England and in English.’ In Celebrating 800 Years of Franciscans in the British Isles. Edited by Brenda Abbott. Darlington: The Franciscan Publishing Company, 2024, pp. 355-88.

Co-written with Lydia Shahan. ‘Pregnancy, Mysticism and Motherhood: Reading the Texts of Angela of Foligno.’ In Pregnancy and Birth: Critical Theological Conceptions. Edited by Karen O’Donnell and Claire Williams. London: SCM Press, 2024, pp. 147-62.

‘Angela of Foligno.’ In The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Medieval Women’s Writing in the Global Middle Ages. Edited by Michelle M. Sauer, Diane Watt and Liz Herbert McAvoy. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024. Available at: https://link.springer.com/referencework/10.1007/978-3-030-76219-3.

‘Angela of Foligno: Teacher of 21st-century Theologians in the Time of COVID-19?’ In Pandemic Reflections: Saint Francis and the Lepers Catch Up with COVID. Edited by Geoffrey Karabin. Cambridge: Ethics Press, 2023, pp. 239-62.

‘Pourquoi les reliques de Saint André de Fife n’attirèrent jamais autant de pèlerins que celles de Saint Jacques à Compostelle?’ Compostelle: Cahiers du Centre d’Études, de Recherches et d’Histoire Compostellanes 19 (2016): 10-28.

Selected Invited Talks

‘The Deification of the Fraternity and Sorority of Creation: Insights from Bonaventure and Angela of Foligno.’ The Franciscan Vision Global Summit. Online talk with live translations into Spanish, French, Portuguese, Hindi, Tamil, and Italian. 22nd November 2025.

‘Mystical Language of the Abyss in the Theological Writings of Bonaventure.’ Centre for Catholic Studies Research Seminar, Department of Theology and Religion, University of Durham, UK. 6th November 2025.

‘Deification and Action.’ Expert meeting on ‘The Spiritual Process.’ Titus Brandsma Institute, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. 13th-14th June 2025.

‘Angela e Bonaventura: svuotamento, annientamento, divinizzazione.’ Angela da Foligno santa: incontro commemorative a dieci anni dalla canonizzazione. Chiesa di San Francesco, Foligno, Italy. 15th-16th 2023.

‘Angela of Foligno in early Franciscan (mystical-)genealogies.’ The Other Sister: New Research on Non-Cloistered Religious Women (1100-1800). University of Toronto, Canada. 18th-20th May 2023.

‘Deification in Bonaventure and Angela of Foligno.’ Ruusbroec Institute, Spring Lecture. Antwerp, Belgium. 28th April 2023.

‘Angela of Foligno: a medieval voice for twenty-first-century theology?’ Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology Research Seminar, Cambridge, UK. 9th January 2023.

‘Significant Women in the Early Franciscans.’ Ethelflaeda Lecture, Romsey Abbey, UK. 19th October 2022.