Dr Michael Hahn

The Dom Gregory Dix Lecturer and Programme Leader for Postgraduate Programmes in Christian Spirituality, Sarum College

Visiting Lecturer, University of Durham
Visiting Professor, Ruusbroec Institute, University of Antwerp

Michael Hahn is a theologian, medievalist and church historian working primarily on the history and development of Christian mysticism and on Franciscan spirituality and theology. He has particular experience researching the lives and theologies of Francis of Assisi, Clare of Assisi, Bonaventure and Angela of Foligno.

Michael leads the postgraduate programmes in Christian spirituality at Sarum College in Salisbury and is also the tutor in the history of Christianity at the University of London. Additionally, he is a research affiliate at the Ruusbroec Institute for the Study of the History of Spirituality in the Low Countries at the University of Antwerp and at Centre for Catholic Studies at the University of Durham.

Previously he has taught at the University of St Andrews, York St John University and the University of Toronto, and was an Andrew Mellon Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies. Alongside John Arblaster, Michael has received funding for a four-year research project examining the late medieval and early modern reception history of Angela of Foligno, considering the changing perception and reception of medieval female theologians as teachers of theology.

As well as many academic publications (see below), Michael has written for various public-facing publications such as the Church Times, The Tablet and The Franciscan. He has been an invited speaker at academic conferences in the United States, Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Poland. He has given public talks including at Romsey Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral, and has taught many public-facing day and evening courses at Sarum College.

Photo courtesy of Thom Mertens

Publications

Selected publications:

Edited with Pablo Acosta-García. A Companion to Angela of Foligno. Brill Companions to the Christian Tradition, 500-1800. Brill, 2027.

‘Franciscan Mystical Theologies after Bonaventure’ In The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Franciscan Thought. Edited by Lydia Schumacher and Drew Rosato. Oxford University Press, 2027.

‘Third Orders.’ In The Routledge Handbook of Medieval European Women and Christianity. Edited by Michelle M. Sauer and Jenny Bledscoe. Routledge, 2027.

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

‘Kenotic Christology, Poverty, 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. Peeters, 2025, pp. 117-44.

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. SCM Press, 2024, pp. 147-62.

Find a full list of Michael’s publications here

Lecture titles

Franciscan spirituality from St Francis to Pope Francis
We consider the major innovations made to the Christian spiritual life by St Francis of Assisi (d. 1226) and his early followers (female and male) who changed the shape of Christianity and Christian devotion. This is followed by looking at the enduring influence of Franciscan spirituality in 20th and 21st century writers such as Thomas Merton, Thea Bowman, Richard Rohr and Ilia Delio. Finally, we look at how the spiritual vision of St Francis continues to reverberate in Church leaders, particularly his namesake, Pope Francis (and Pope Leo), as well as the Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew. Throughout this session, we consider some of the ways in which St Francis and his followers are held up for particular causes today, such as ecology, rebuilding the Church, and treatment of the marginalised in society.
Medieval women theologians
We consider whether female writers and mystics from the 13th and 14th centuries – Angela of Foligno, Marguerite Porete, Hadewijch, Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Siena and others – can be considered theologians, and the implications of this. We think about the education women had access to at the time, ways that they could be thought of as theological teachers, and their claims to theological authority, as well as the ramifications (both positive and negative) of those claims.
Sanctity in a Digital Age: Carlo Acutis
Those familiar with the history of saints will know that ‘making’ a saint is a complex and controversial process. But what does it mean to ‘make’ a saint in the 21st century? We will consider this question with regard to St Carlo Acutis, the remarkable young man who died in 2006 of leukaemia, aged 15, and who was canonised as a saint within 20 years. We will look at Acutis’ role as a ‘computer whizz’ and how this image played an important factor in his beatification and canonisation. We will also think about the ways in which Acutis is held up as a role model for young people today in a digital age.