Alice Rio is a French historian of early medieval Europe. She is currently Professor of Medieval History at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, and in October 2025 will take up the Chichele Professorship of Medieval History at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. She is currently co-editor, with Matthew Kelly, of the journal '' Past & Present''.

Early life and education

Rio was born and raised in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. She earned her BA, MA and PhD in history at

, being supervised for the latter by

Janet Nelson Dame Janet Laughland Nelson (; 28 March 1942 – 14 October 2024), also known as Jinty Nelson, was a British historian and professor of Medieval History at King's College London. Early life and education Janet Muir was born on 28 March 1942 i ...

. Her doctoral thesis was entitled ''Frankish legal formularies, c. 500–1000'' and completed in 2006.

Academic career

After earning her doctorate Rio held a junior research fellowship at

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

and a fellowship at

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Sidney Sussex College (historically known as "Sussex College" and today referred to informally as "Sidney") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1 ...

. In 2009 she returned to King's College London as a lecturer in medieval European history. She was appointed Professor of Medieval History in 2018. In 2011 Rio joined the editorial board of ''Past & Present'', and in October 2022 succeeded

Alexandra Walsham Alexandra Marie Walsham (born 4 January 1966) is an English-Australian academic historian. She specialises in early modern Britain and in the impact of the Protestant and Catholic reformations. Since 2010, she has been Professor of Modern Hist ...

as the journal's co-editor, first alongside Matthew Hilton and then Matthew Kelly. She previously served as the journal's publications editor. Rio is an elected fellow of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

. In October 2025 Rio will take up the Chichele Chair in Medieval History at the

and a fellowship of

All Souls College All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...

in succession to Julia M. H. Smith.

Research

Rio's first research interest was in early medieval legal culture, reflected in her first monograph which examined the "lively, eclectic textual community" visible in the handbooks of Frankish notaries. John J. Contreni, reviewing the book for ''

Speculum The term speculum, Latin for "mirror", and its plural specula, may refer to: * ''Speculum'' (journal), a journal of medieval studies published by the Medieval Academy of America * Speculum (medical), a medical tool used for examining body cavities ...

'', praised Rio for re-examining legal ''formulae'', a popular focus of study for nineteenth-century historians, with fresh questions. For him, her examination of slavery and unfreedom in the formularies reminded historians to "look at these documents afresh". Contreni concluded by noting that Rio's success was in emphasising that "many people, from ''servi'' to emperors, fell within the purview of ordinary, ad hoc written culture", demonstrating the utility of these documents for further study. Rio built upon this focus on slavery in her second monograph, ''Slavery after Rome'', published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

in 2017. Her goal was to "move away from the “transition from slavery to serfdom” narrative which dominated the literature" and identify the complexities of slavery and unfreedom as markers defining particular experiences. Hannah Skoda, reviewing the book for the ''

English Historical Review ''The English Historical Review'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that was established in 1886 and published by Oxford University Press (formerly by Longman). It publishes articles on all aspects of history – British, European, a ...

'', praised Rio's "extremely important" intervention in a period in the history of slavery which "has often been marginalised, or seen as transitional" in comparison with Roman slavery and late medieval serfdom. Skoda noted Rio's focus on the "sense of flexibility in degrees of unfreedom" and how individuals could manipulate this flexibility. For Skoda, Rio demonstrated persuasively that normative frameworks of slavery were "overlapping, interlocking, and sometimes challenging one another" rather than being universal. Rio's current research project is a trade book exploring early medieval European history through the lens of women travellers as "bearers of a minority culture". The book will be published by

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

as Rio's first work of history aimed at a general readership.

Media work

In 2019 Rio and Alice Taylor, a fellow medieval historian at King's College London, began hosting the podcast ''Medieval History for Fun and Profit'', described as covering "everything you’ve always wanted to know about the middle ages but were afraid to ask".

Honours and awards

In 2008 Rio won the Royal Historical Society's Early Career Article Prize for her article 'Freedom and Unfreedom in Early Medieval Francia: the Evidence of the Legal Formulae' (2007). In 2009 she won the society's Gladstone Book Prize for her monograph ''Legal Practice and the Written Word in the Early Middle Ages: Frankish Formulae, c. 500–1000''. In 2010 Rio was awarded a

Philip Leverhulme Prize The Philip Leverhulme Prize is awarded by the Leverhulme Trust to recognise the achievement of outstanding researchers whose work has already attracted international recognition and whose future career is exceptionally promising. The prize sche ...

for the international impact of her research. In January 2012 she was awarded a £666,000

Arts and Humanities Research Council The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), formerly Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB), is a British research council, established in 1998, supporting research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities. History The Arts a ...

grant as principal investigator of the three-year project 'The Making of Charlemagne's Europe (768–814)'.

Bibliography

*''The Formularies of Angers and Marculf: Two Merovingian Legal Handbooks'' (editor; Liverpool:

Liverpool University Press Liverpool University Press (LUP), founded in 1899, is the third oldest university press in England after Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press. As the press of the University of Liverpool, it specialises in modern languages, lit ...

, 2008) *''Legal Practice and the Written Word in the Early Middle Ages: Frankish Formulae, c. 500–1000'' (Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 2009) *''Slavery after Rome, 500–1100'' (Oxford:

, 2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rio, Alice Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Writers from Paris 21st-century French historians 21st-century French women writers French women historians Alumni of King's College London Fellows of New College, Oxford Fellows of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Members of the University of Cambridge faculty of history Academics of King's College London Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Chichele Professors of Medieval History Philip Leverhulme Prize winners History journal editors Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Historians of slavery French women medievalists French legal historians French expatriates in England