Jonathan Shea


Jonathan Shea is an historian of the Byzantine Empire and sigillographer. His research interests include the development of towns and cities across the medieval world, the mechanisms of empire, and interaction between Europe and the Middle East. He has taught courses ranging from the history of the crusades to Byzantium in the tenth century. Jonathan also works at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection where he studies and catalogues the collection of Byzantine seals. These objects provide information on the social standing, careers, piety, and family connections of thousands of individual Byzantines, and can also be used to explore the structure and evolution of the Byzantine state, army, and church. Jonathan is currently working on a history of the Byzantine administration, and the thousands of people who worked to keep the empire running.


  • Medieval Europe
  • Middle East
  • Medieval History

HIST 3001: New Rome: Byzantium 330-1453

HIST 3001: The Crusades

HIST 3001: Byzantium's Heroic Age 900-1050

HIST 3001: Polis, Civitas, and Madina: Cities in the Medieval World

HIST 3001: The World of Late Antiquity 300-750

Ph.D., University of Birmingham, 2010