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• The Southern Low Countries, England and France, 11th-12th centuries
• International relations and exchange, diplomacy, trade
• Immigration, national and class identity
• Mercenaries and paid soldiers

Eljas Oksanen’s primary research interest is the history of international relations and exchange in Western Europe during the Central Middle Ages. He is currently working on adapting his PhD dissertation on the relations between England and Flanders from the Norman Conquest to the beginning of thirteenth century into a monograph for publication. The goal of this project is to offer new information and perspectives on the role of international exchanges in the historical development of the region. Major research themes in it are Anglo-Flemish diplomatic practice, growth of cross-Channel trade, Flemish immigration to England, and the development of national and class identities. His future research will continue to examine the topic of international relations, and in particular to investigate political, economic and social issues related to the history and employment of foreign mercenaries and paid soldiers in Western Europe from the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries.
 

• ‘Flemish Mercenaries in Anglo-Norman Service’, in Mercenaries and Paid Men. The Mercenary Identity in the Middle Ages, ed. J. France (Brill: Leiden, 2008), pp. 261-73

Eljas Oksanen assists in the teaching of the BA in History.

Eljas Oksanen is a Visiting Research Fellow funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Oskar Öflund Foundation. He has received an MPhil in Medieval History (2004) and a PhD in History (2007) from the University of Cambridge, England. He has previously conducted postdoctoral research at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto, Canada (2008).