Rate My Professor Paul Brown

Paul Brown is a historian of medieval Europe with a focus on military history. He earned his PhD from the University of New England in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia, in October 2009. Dr. Brown lectured in Medieval History at the University of New England's School of Humanities and also served as an adjunct lecturer teaching ancient and medieval history courses. He held these positions for ten years before transitioning to independent scholarship.

Dr. Brown's research examines the Norman adventurers who arrived in southern Italy as mercenaries in the eleventh century and evolved into conquerors across the Mediterranean, including southern Italy, Sicily, Antioch, and the Balkans. His key publication, Mercenaries to Conquerors: Norman Warfare in the Eleventh- and Twelfth-Century Mediterranean (Pen & Sword Military, 2016), details their tactical developments, combat methods, and significant contributions to victories in these regions. In 2011, he published 'The Gesta Roberti Wiscardi: A "Byzantine" history?' in the Journal of Medieval History (volume 37, issue 3, pp. 278-293), analyzing Byzantine influences in William of Apulia's account of Robert Guiscard's campaigns. Brown contributed a chapter to Questions of Gender in Byzantine Society, edited by Bronwen Neil and Lynda Garland (2013). He presented on military history and demography topics at the International Medieval Congress in Leeds in 2011. His work highlights the cultural, literary, and military dimensions of Norman expansion.