prominent intellectuals, which included Walter Johannes Stein, Herbert McCabe and Eric John. The circle was characterized by secularism and radical socialist ideas. Several members of the group were Marxists, most notably his close friend Walter Stein, and throughout his life, Márkus would belong to the political left. Among the members of Markus' intellectual circle was the history student Margaret Catherine Bullen, with whom Marcus would eventually marry. One of the members of the group was the "very liberal" Roman Catholic priest Father Vincent Whelan. Seeing the need for Christian conscience in the aftermath of the invention of nuclear weapons, Márkus received instruction as a Catholic from Father Whelan in 1946. His parents and brother followed him into conversion. Together with Walter Stein, Willy Schenk and Louis Allen, Robert founded the journal Humanitas, which aimed to united Catholic values and social reform through radical change of both the Church and secular society. Together with Stein, Márkus wrote Nuclear Warfare and the Christian Conscience (1949), which argued in favor of nuclear disarmament. In the summer of 1949, Márkus went on a pilgrimage to Rome with his close friend Father Wheelan. Márkus envisioned a more diverse Church where the Vatican had less authority, and would later rejoice over the radical changes implemented at the Second Vatican Council under Pope John XXIII. Career With his friend McCabe, Márkus left Manchester for Oxford in 1950, where he joined the Dominican Order at Blackfriars, Oxford. It was at this time was he changed his name to Robert Austin Markus. Forbidden by his novice master from reading philosophy during his first year at Blackfriars, Markus was encouraged to read the scriptural commentaries of Augustine. The study of Augustine would later become central to his scholarly work. In 1954, Markus left Blackfriars for Birmingham, where he found work as a librarian. In 1955, Markus moved to Liverpool, where he worked at the university library under the librarian and scholar Kenneth Povey. Povey encouraged Markus to continue his research and from 1958, Markus was lecturer, and later senior lecturer and reader, in the department of medieval history at the University of Liverpool. At the time the department was headed by Christopher N. L. Brooke. At the time Markus lectured on a number of subjects, including Bede, and on ancient and medieval political thought. By 1960, Markus had become greatly interested in Pope Gregory I, and was offered to supervise