Judith Herrin won the Heineken Prize for History (the Dutch 'Nobel Prize') in 2016, for her pioneering work on the early Medieval Mediterranean world, especially the role of Byzantium, the influence of Islam and the significance of women.

She is the author of Byzantium- The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire, The Formation of Christendom, devoted to the Mediterranean world from the mid-sixth to the mid-ninth century A.D., A Medieval Miscellany and Women in Purple.

She worked in Birmingham, Paris, Munich, Istanbul and Princeton before becoming Professor of Late Antiqueand Byzantine Studies at King's College London, from which she retired in 2008. Judith has published many scholarly articles, excavated in Greece, Cyprus and Turkey, and was on the editorial board Past and Present, for many years serving as Vice-Chair, from 2000-2013.