The Team

Director’s Representative for the Organization of the Research Centre Post-Teutonic Heritage

Dr. Gregory Leighton

Dr. Gregory Leighton studied in the United States (BA, University of Florida; MA, Fullerton, California) and in the United Kingdom, where he defended his PhD at Cardiff University in 2019.

Before coming to Malbork, he worked at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń between 2021–2023, where he received the prestigious Ulam Fellowship from the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA).

Dr. Leighton’s research interests include both tangible and intangible aspects of the history of the Teutonic Order from the 13th to the 15th centuries, not only in Prussia but also in Livonia. He is particularly interested in the Teutonic Order’s self-image (Selbstbild) and its expression in the written and visual culture of the Order.

His first monograph, Ideology and Holy Landscape in the Baltic Crusades, was published in 2022 by Arc Humanities Press, while his second monograph—an edition of sources and translations—is currently in preparation for Routledge. It is to appear in the series The Military Religious Orders – History, Sources, Memory.

Dr. Leighton’s works have also appeared in the Journal of Medieval History, Zapiski Historyczne, Zeitschrift für Ostmitteleuropa-Forschung, and several edited volumes. In addition to his academic and administrative work, Dr. Leighton serves on the editorial board of the journal Ordines Militares. Colloquia Torunensia Historica. He was recently appointed a member of the Historische Kommission für ost- und westpreußische Landesforschung as well as the Internationale Historische Kommission zur Erforschung des Deutschen Ordens.

As the first staff member of the Research Centre for Post-Teutonic Heritage, Dr. Leighton focuses primarily on studying the perception of “heritage” from the Middle Ages to the modern era and is preparing a database of post-Teutonic tangible heritage.

He is also involved in the development, organization, and supervision of the project Days After World War II around the Baltic Sea (D.A.B.S.), which brings together museums and castles from the Baltic Sea region. The project focuses on the impact of the Second World War on the development of heritage protection and the management of museums and castles.

email: g.leighton@zamek.malbork.pl

phone: +48 725 555 817