David Gehring
Associate Professor in Early Modern History, Faculty of Arts
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Biography
Born and raised in America's Dairyland (Wisconsin), I received my BSc in History and Economics before earning the MA and PhD from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. I've been a research fellow at higher education institutions like Warwick, Durham, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, as well as elite archives such as the Huntington Library, Newberry Library, Folger Shakespeare Library, and the Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel. By way of teaching, before coming to Nottingham in September 2014, I taught in Wisconsin (at Madison and elsewhere) and California (just east of Los Angeles).
Expertise Summary
My general area of research is in early modern British history with reference to the wider European context. More particularly, most of my focus is dedicated to Elizabethan England's relations with the Protestant territories of the Holy Roman Empire and Denmark. Commercial and other economic connections are of interest, but of greater significance in my research are the wars of religion, religious diplomacy, and international intellectual networks. In recognition of my contributions to early modern history, in 2016 I was elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. In recognition of my dedication to university teaching and learning, in 2017 I achieved the status of Fellow of The Higher Education Academy.
Students interested in any aspect of early modern British or European history are encouraged to contact me, though I would be especially excited to supervise students interested in international relations, religious and intellectual history, or Elizabethan England. To date (August 2023) I have supervised and examined postgraduate projects (MA and PhD) on religious and political exiles, religious and political minorities, the politics of print, Anglo-Muscovite relations, Anglo-Scandinavian relations, Anglo-Italian relations, cartography, women and power, drama and melancholy, religion and theatre, travel literature, nicodemism, maritime captivity narratives, and witchcraft in Germany. Three of my PhD students have completed their studies, while another four are in progress.
Teaching Summary
Having come to Nottingham in 2014, my teaching has developed in fun ways that look well beyond Tudor England. I contribute lectures to first-year survey modules in early modern history and Learning… read more
Research Summary
My current project is a book on Robert Beale, Queen Elizabeth's primary specialist on German affairs. This book will be the first full-scale work on Beale to be published, as only a smattering of… read more
Having come to Nottingham in 2014, my teaching has developed in fun ways that look well beyond Tudor England. I contribute lectures to first-year survey modules in early modern history and Learning History, and to upper level modules on the BA dissertation and MA topics. With my colleague, Dr Liudmyla Sharipova, I co-convene a second- and third-year module, 'Slaves of the Devil' and other Witches: A History of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe, and I have taught a module on Luther - The Turbulent Friar: Martin Luther and the Origins of Protestantism in Early Modern Europe. Additionally, I convene my third-year special subject, Overseas Exploration, European Diplomacy, and the Rise of Tudor England, which runs over the course of a full academic year. Finally, along with colleagues in early modern history, I developed and contribute to an MA-level module: Conflict and Coexistence in Early Modern Europe.
By way of postgraduate teaching, I've been involved either as a supervisor or examiner of MA dissertations on a variety of subjects ranging from exile and travel to theatre and witchcraft. My supervision and examination of PhD theses has been similarly broad in scope, with some on Lollardy, royalism, Anglo-Muscovite relations, politics and print, English Catholicism, witchcraft, and more. Those interested in applying to postgraduate study in early modern British and European history are warmly invited to contact me.
More broadly, my concern for students has long been known to those around me, and at Durham and Nottingham I've been involved with various aspects of student support and welfare. For a couple of years I coordinated the Peer Mentoring programme in the Department of History (2016-17, '17-18), which was a richly rewarding experience for the mentors while being a key support mechanism for students new to the university (first-year as well as exchange students). For four academic years 2018-22, I serve as the department's Senior Tutor, a role new to me but exciting because of its increased significance regarding student welfare -- especially during a pandemic.
Current Research
My current project is a book on Robert Beale, Queen Elizabeth's primary specialist on German affairs. This book will be the first full-scale work on Beale to be published, as only a smattering of articles have come to light (though a few excellent PhD theses on various aspects of Beale's career remain unpublished). The sources to be consulted include not only Beale's own papers in the British Library and other State Papers in London but also stray materials in Aberdeen, Chicago, and Utah. Given the source base and various contexts, the book will take years to complete.
Past Research
My doctoral thesis was significantly abridged and revised as Anglo-German Relations and the Protestant Cause: Elizabethan Foreign Policy and Pan-Protestantism (details here). Challenging accepted notions of Elizabethan foreign policy, the book argues that Elizabeth's relationship with the Protestant Princes of the Holy Roman Empire was more of a success than had been previously thought. Based on extensive archival research, AGR contends that the enthusiastic and continual correspondence and diplomatic engagement between the Queen and these Protestant allies demonstrated the deeply held sympathy between the English Church and State and those of Germany and Denmark. Another major research project was my edition of three manuscript treatises of intelligence on the Holy Roman Empire and Denmark during the reigns of Elizabeth I of England and James VI of Scotland. The book was published by Cambridge University Press for the Royal Historical Society's Camden Series (details here). Additional projects have included an article on Elizabeth's hitherto unknown Lutheran tutor, another on John Foxe's use of foreign sources in his Acts and Monuments, one on English publications of German Protestant works, an investigation of diplomatic intelligence and travel literature, chapters in edited collections, and a historiographical review on Anglo-German relations during the Reformation.