Her scholarly work has re-shaped conceptions of female spirituality in the early Middle Ages. Particularly in her work on saints' lives, Blanton has demonstrated that the lives of female saints such as Æthelthryth and their later cults offer powerful insights into the devotional lives of men and women in the Middle Ages. Her first book, Signs of Devotion: The Cult of St. Æthelthryth in Medieval England, 695–1615Signs of Devotion: The Cult of St. Æthelthryth in Medieval England, 695-1615 (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2007) received the Best First Book award from the Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship in 2008.Prize at hosted.lib.uiowa.edu Blanton's later work focusses on the role of nuns in medieval book production and manuscript culture.
