Joelle Rollo-Koster, PhD

URI Professor Joëlle Rollo-Koster: Medieval historian, papacy expert 

Key topics:  French culture, medieval history, the papacy, Game of Thrones

URI Professor Joëlle Rollo-Koster is a leading historian on the papacy. A professor of medieval history at URI, she is leading an international team compiling a complete history of the papacy for Cambridge University Press. She is the author of eight books on medieval history and the papacy.

Koster was knighted by the French government with the medal of the Chevalier des Palmes académiques in 2016. A native of France, Koster recently shared her insights on the impact of the 2019 fire at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris with numerous media outlets. 

A professor, at URI, Koster incorporates the popular Game of Thrones series into her curriculum. She was featured in a Time.com story (4/25/19), discussing the history of medieval knights after the character Brienne, from Game of Thrones, was knighted — a true milestone for fans of the hit series.

Joëlle Rollo-Koster received her undergraduate degree and master's degree in history from the University of Nice, France. She earned a Ph.D. in History at SUNY Binghamton in 1992.

Select authored publications:
-Raiding Saint Peter: Empty Sees, Violence, and the Initiation of the Great Western Schism (1378), 2008, Brill, ISBN 9789047433118
-The People of Curial Avignon: A Critical Edition of the Liber Divisionis and the Matriculae of Notre Dame la Majour, 2009, Edwin Mellen Press, ISBN 077344680X
-Avignon and Its Papacy, 1309–1417: Popes, Institutions, and Society, 2015, Rowman and Littlefield, ISBN 9781442215320
-Death in Medieval Europe: Death Scripted and Death Choreographed, Routledge, 2016, ISBN 9781138802131