Ana Paula Lloyd is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at King’s College London working on the MATERIA project. She is an early modern historian of Iberia and global Catholic Europe, specialising in cross-cultural political networks, New Christian agency, and processes of knowledge production and identity formation among mobile minority communities, as well as the interactions between formal and informal institutions.

Her research draws on a wide range of archival sources—including notarial, banking, and Inquisitorial records, alongside legal and religious materials across multiple languages and countries—to develop multi-perspectival approaches to questions often framed through binary lenses. Her doctoral research, completed at King’s College London in 2018, examined the unprecedented suspension of the Portuguese Inquisition (1672–81), focusing on how New Christians sought justice across borders and negotiated, resisted, and at times subverted powerful institutions. Her first book, Cross-Cultural Politics, Families and Resisting the Inquisition in Early Modern Europe, will be published by Routledge in 2026. She has also published several peer-reviewed articles.

Her current research on the MATERIA project explores agency and gender through material culture, examining how these were expressed and transformed within New Christian mercantile communities across diverse geographic and political contexts.

Before entering academia, Ana Paula worked in television, producing award-winning documentaries. She has a strong commitment to public history and outreach, including work with The Brilliant Club and organising visiting speaker programmes for schools.

Research interests and PhD supervision

• New Christians and material culture
• Religious History and History of the Inquisition
• Gender History
• Cross-cultural exchanges
• History of Justice and Rights

Teaching

Dr Lloyd teaches Inquisitorial history and the history of agency in ethnic minorities.

Expertise and public engagement

Ana Paula Lloyd has delivered talks to schools and public audiences about her research. She has also developed and led workshops bringing inspiring speakers to students from widening participation backgrounds, reflecting her strong commitment to widening access and education.

Selected publications

Cross-Cultural Politics, Families and Resisting the Inquisition in Early Modern Europe, forthcoming Autumn 2026, Routledge

The Suspension of the Portuguese Inquisition, 1674-1681: The Female Perspective, Journal of Early Modern History, 26(3), (2022) 199-221.

Manuel de Gama de Pádua’s Political Networks: Service, Subversion, and the Disruption of the Portuguese Inquisition, Journal of Levantine Studies, (2016) Vol. 6, Summer/Winter 2016, pp. 251-275