Academics

Welcome

My research interests cover early modern politics, religion, print culture, and intellectual culture and the interactions between them. My current project focusses on the cultural history of Tudor diplomacy.

I teach the History of the British Isles 1500-1700 and General History 1400-1650, as well as several more specialised early modern papers.

Research Interests

My doctorate, and the book that developed out of it, examined the activities of Henry VIII’s most prolific propagandist, Richard Morison (c.1513-56). Active as a polemicist during the crucial years of the 1530s, Morison wrote many of the tracts that justified Henry’s religious policies and political manoeuvres. He also played a role in the English Reformation, was a noted humanist and active politician, who represented Edward VI at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V before ending his life as a religious exile. I have also written several articles and essays on diplomacy, propaganda, print culture, and religion in the sixteenth century.

At present, I am researching the cultural history of Tudor diplomacy, considering how English diplomatic practice, personnel and theory adapted to three major sixteenth century developments: the introduction of resident ambassadors, the English Reformation and female rule. I am also interested in the role of diplomacy as a site of cultural exchange, diplomatic gifts, the circulation of ideas and texts through diplomatic channels, ambassadors’ intellectual and religious networks, the effectiveness and uniformity of royal iconography, the equipping of diplomats and the impact of ambassadorial service on politicians’ notions of the English state. Diplomatic activity was a crucial form of political culture where even seemingly small actions has the potential to influence the relations between princes. Only by understanding the ways in which diplomacy was conducted can we truly understand how and why England interacted with its neighbours in this period in the manner it did.

Recent Publications

• ''Anne Boleyn's Coronation'' in The Oxford Handbook to Tudor Drama, ed. T. Betteridge and G. Walker (Oxford University Press, 2012)
• '1535' in The Oxford History of Popular Print Culture, vol. 1: Britain and Ireland to 1660, ed. J. Raymond (Oxford University Press, 2011)
• 'Richard Pate, the Royal Supremacy, and Reformation Diplomacy' in Historical Journal, 54.2 (2011), 265-85
• Renaissance and Reform in Tudor England: The Careers of Sir Richard Morison c.1513-1556 (Oxford University Press, 2010)
• 'Ambassadors and the Use of Cipher' in State Papers Online II (2009)
• '"All our books do be sent into other countreys and translated": Henrician Polimic in its International Context' in English Historical Review, cxxi (2006), 1271-99
• with Alastair J.L. Blanshard, 'Thomas Wilson's Demosthenes and the Politics of Tudor Translation' in International Journal of the Classical Tradition, 12.1 (2005), 46-80