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Zoe Opacic

Positions held:
  • Reader in the History and Theory of Architecture, School of Historical Studies
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  • Overview

    Overview

    Extended absence from the college

    2026-2027 Leverhulme Research Fellowship

    Biography

    Zo毛 Opa膷i膰 is Reader in History and Theory of Architecture and specialises in medieval art, architecture and urbanism. She is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. She was the editor of the Journal of the British Archaeological Association (2015-2018)

    Zo毛 received her BA and MA at the Courtauld Institute of Art, where she also completed her PhD (2003). Her doctoral thesis on the Emmaus Monastery in Prague, focused on the relationship between that religious institution, its cultural and urban context, as well as its role in the displays of relics in Medieval Prague. This was followed by a series of publications on medieval Prague, Vienna and Krakow and has led to her first Leverhulme Research Fellowship (2015 -2016) working on the project entitled Architecture and Spectacle in the Late Medieval City.

    Her profound interest in Central European cities and urbanism generally has led her to a fellowship at the Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies, at University of Erfurt, where she collaborated on an international project Religion and Urbanity: Reciprocal Formations (2018-2026); and to a visiting fellowship at the Institut f眉r vergleichende St盲dtegeschichte, University of M眉nster (2026).

    She is currently working on the unique 19-metre scroll depiction of sixteenth-century Rostock drawn by the merchant Vicke Schorler, and studies this remarkable object in the context of Hanseatic trade, architecture, tradition of city views and the Late Medieval and Early Modern visual culture. This research is supported by the Leverhulme Research Fellowship (2026-2027).聽

    Zo毛 is a regular academic advisor for the Czech, Slovak and Austrian academies of sciences and the Fund for Scientific Research of Belgium. In 2024 and 2025 she was a judge on the panel for the Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion awarded by the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain to a book that makes an outstanding contribution to architectural history.

    She has authored and edited publications in English, German, Czech and Italian.

    Visiting posts

    • Visiting lecturer, , 01 June 2017

    Professional memberships

    • Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries

    • Fellow of the Royal Historical Society

    • Member of the Council of the British Archaeological Association

    Honours and awards

    • Visiting Fellow 2018-26 ,
    • Leverhulme Research Fellowship 2026-27 The Leverhulme Trust,
    • Visiting fellow , September 2026
    • Leverhulme Research Fellow 2015-16 The Leverhulme Trust,
    • Visiting Fellow , June 2016
    • Research Grant British Academy, May 2007
    • Visiting Fellowship Czech Academy of Science, May 2006
  • Research

    Research

    Research interests

    • Late medieval art and architecture
    • Central Europe
    • Medieval cities and urbanism
    • Patronage of the courts
    • The relationship between architecture and ritual

    Research Centres and Institutes

    • member,
    • member,
    • fellow,
  • Supervision and teaching

    Supervision and teaching

    Teaching

    Zoe teaches on the following courses:

    • Art History: a Survey (BA History of Art, 1st year)
    • Materials and Processes in Art (BA History of Art, 1st year)
    • Debates in Art History (BA History of Art 1st year)
    • Architecture and Society in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (2nd year course)
    • Gothic Cathedral (BA History of Art 3rd  year)
    • Art and the Sacred (BA History of Art 3rd year)
    • (Option module for MA History of Art and MA History of Architecture)
    • Gothic in England: Architecture, Liturgy and Identity 1170- 1360 (Option module for and )
    • Frameworks: Histories and Theories of Art (MA History of Art)

    Teaching modules

    • Research Portfolio
  • Publications

    Publications

    Article

    • Opacic, Zoe Rau, S. and R眉pke, J., eds. (2026) . Religion and Urbanity Online
    • Opacic, Zoe (2014) . Wiener Jahrbuch f眉r Kunstgeschichte 62 (1), pp. 81-108. ISSN 0083-9981.

    Book

    • Chl铆bec, J. and Opacic, Zoe, eds. (2015) . Setk谩v谩n铆 [Encounters]. Prague, Czech Republic: Artefactum Publishing House. ISBN 9788086890753.
    • Opacic, Zoe and Timmermann, A., eds. (2011) . Studies in Gothic Art. 1, Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols. ISBN 97825035316701.
    • Opacic, Zoe and Timmermann, A., eds. (2011) . Studies in Gothic Art. 2, Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols. ISBN 97825035316871.
    • Opacic, Zoe (2009) . British Archaeological Association Conference Transactions. 32, Leeds, UK: Maney Publishing, British Archaeological Association. ISBN 9781906540586.
    • Gajewski, A. and Opacic, Zoe (2008) . Architectura Medii Aevi. 1, Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols. ISBN 9782503522869.
    • Opacic, Zoe (2005) . London, UK: Architectural Association. ISBN 9781902902470.

    Book review

    • Opacic, Zoe (2017) .
    • Opacic, Zoe (2015) .
    • Opacic, Zoe (2013) .
    • Opacic, Zoe (2011) .
    • Opacic, Zoe (2011) .
    • Opacic, Zoe (2011) .
    • Opacic, Zoe (2006) .
    • Opacic, Zoe (2003) .

    Book section

    • Opacic, Zoe and Szak谩cs, B.Z. (2022) . In: Ze膷evi膰, N. (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Central Europe. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190920715.
    • Opacic, Zoe (2022) . In: Rando, D. and Schlotheuber, E. (eds.) Carlo IV nell鈥橧talia del Trecento. Il "Savio Signore" e la Riformulazione del Potere Imperial. Nuovi Studi Storici. Rome, Italy: Istituto Storico Italiano per il Medio Evo. pp. 623-639. ISBN 9788831445285.
    • Opacic, Zoe (2021) . In: Gruber, E. and Zapke, S. (eds.) Companion to Medieval Vienna. Brill's Companions to European History. Brill. pp. 497-523. ISBN 9789004395756.
    • Opacic, Zoe (2021) . In: Luxford, J. (ed.) Tributes to Paul Binski. Medieval Gothic: Art, Architecture & Ideas. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. pp. 98-109. ISBN 9781912554744.
    • Opacic, Zoe (2017) . In: Gruber, C. and Lutter, E. and Schmitt, J.O. (eds.) Kulturgeschichte der 脺berlieferung im Mittelalter: Quellen und Methoden zur Geschichte Mittel- und S眉dosteuropas. UTB. B枚hlau. pp. 388-398. ISBN 9783825245542.
    • Opacic, Zoe (2016) . In: Gruber, E. and Popovi膰, M. and Scheutz, M. and Weigl, H. (eds.) St盲dte im lateinischen Westen und im griechischen Osten zwischen Sp盲tantike und Fr眉her Neuzeit: Topographie - Recht - Religion. Publications of the Institute for Austrian Historical Research. Bohlau Verlag. ISBN 9783205202882.
    • Opacic, Zoe (2015) . In: Chl铆bec, J. and Opacic, Zoe (eds.) Studie o st艡edov臎k茅m um臎n铆 v臎novan茅 Kl谩艡e Bene拧ovsk茅 [Essays on Mediaeval Art Dedicated to Kl谩ra Bene拧ovsk谩]. Setk谩v谩n铆 [Encounters]. Prague, Czech Republic: Artefactum Publishing House. ISBN 9788086890753.
    • Opacic, Zoe (2014) . In: Roznowska-Sadraei, A. (ed.) Medieval Art, Architecture and Archaeology in Cracow and Lesser Poland. The British Archaeological Association Conference Transactions. Routledge. ISBN 9781909662407.
    • Opacic, Zoe (2013) . In: Nordeide, S.W. and Brink, S. (eds.) Sacred Sites and Holy Places: Exploring the Sacralization of Landscape through Time and Space. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols. ISBN 9782503541006.
    • Opacic, Zoe (2013) . In: Brekke, O.H. and Ersland, G.A. (eds.) H氓konshallen 750 years: Royal residence and national monument. Bergen, Norway: Dreyer's. ISBN 9788282650632.
    • Bene拧ovsk谩, K. and Opacic, Zoe (2011) . In: Opacic, Zoe and Timmermann, A. (eds.) Architecture, Liturgy and Identity Liber Amicorum Paul Crossley. Studies in Gothic Art. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols. pp. 157-175. ISBN 97825035316701.
    • Opacic, Zoe (2009) . In: Fajt, J. and Langer, A. (eds.) Kunst als Herrschaftsinstrument. Munich, Germany: Deutscher Kunstverlag. ISBN 9783422068377.
    • Opacic, Zoe (2009) . In: Opacic, Zoe (ed.) Prague and Bohemia: Medieval Art, Architecture and Cultural Exchange in Central Europe. British Archaeological Association Conference Transactions. Leeds, UK: Maney Publishing, British Archaeological Association. pp. 1-7. ISBN 9781906540586.
    • Opacic, Zoe (2008) . In: Gajewski, A. and Opacic, Zoe (eds.) The Year 1300 and the Creation of a New European Architecture. Architectura medii aevi. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols. ISBN 9782503522869.
    • Opacic, Zoe (2008) . In: Benesovska, K. and Kubinova, K. (eds.) Emauzy Benediktinsk媒 kl谩拧ter Na Slovanech v srdci Prahy. Prague, Czech Republic: Academia. ISBN 9788020015334.
    • Opacic, Zoe (2007) . In: Engel, U. (ed.) Mainz and the Middle Rhine Valley: Medieval Art, Architecture and Archaeology. The British Archaeological Association Conference Transactions. Maney. ISBN 9781904350835.
    • Sommer, P. and T艡e拧t铆k, D. and 沤emli膷ka, J. and Opacic, Zoe and Berend, N. (2007) . In: Berend, N. (ed.) Christianization and the Rise of Christian Monarchy. Cambridge University Press. pp. 214-262. ISBN 9780511496400.
    • Crossley, P. and Opacic, Zoe (2005) . In: Drake Boehm, B. and Fajt, J. (eds.) Prague, The Crown of Bohemia, 1347鈥1437. New Haven, U.S. and London, UK: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and Yale University Press. pp. 59-74. ISBN 9780300111385.
    • Opacic, Zoe (2005) . In: Draper, P. (ed.) Current Work in Architectural History - Papers Read at the Annual Symposium of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain 2004. Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain. ISBN 9780953925438.
    • Opacic, Zoe (2003) . In: Fajt, J. (ed.) Court Chapels of the High and Late Middle Ages and Their Artistic Decoration. Prague, Czech Republic: N谩rodn铆 galerie v Praze. ISBN 9788070351901.
  • Business and community

    Business and community

    Outreach

    , which explored the world of medieval architecture (Sam Fogg Gallery and YouTube, October 2020)

    In this , Zo毛 Opa膷i膰, discusses her current research into how royalty, religion and relics impacted town planning and architecture, and thus changed the shape of major cities in central Europe (MECERN podcast December 2022)

    (Norwegian television, September 2011)

    Object in Focus - (Sam Fogg and YouTube October 2022)

    (BAA and You Tube, March, 2018)

    Summer university taught at Budapest, Brno and Prague (YouTube July 2022)

    Lecture on (The Society of Antiquaries and Youtube, Feb 2019)聽

    (Architectural Association, June 2005)