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Biography
I studied for a BA Hons degree in History at the University of York, 1990-93. I was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) to complete my Masters (M.Phil) at the University of Cambridge in 1994, and my D.Phil (PhD) at the University of York, under the supervision of Professor W. M. Ormrod. My PhD research focussed on the English parliament between 1369 and 1422. Between 1998 and 2001 I held a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at York. I was appointed to my post at the University of Nottingham in 2002.
Research Summary
RESEARCH
My research focuses on the politics, governance and administration of England from the late thirteenth to mid-fifteenth centuries. A central strand of my work is an exploration of the relationship between late medieval English kings and their subjects, and the idea that in England at this time there existed a broad-based polity whose different constituent members actively engaged in the governance of the realm. My interests focus on the institutions, people and ideas/language which shaped this polity, and the political culture of the English late Middle Ages. Many of my publications reflect a strong interest in the workings and development of the English parliament. In parallel, I have developed a broad portfolio of work on the petitionary culture of late medieval England. Other published areas include: historiography; the political content of poetry; patterns of language use; the development of equity law; war and the development of the 'state'; bureaucracy and administration; the royal affinity; and the exercise of kingship.
Current Research:
I am currently writing a major scholarly monograph on The Late Medieval English Parliament, 1272-1461. This work places parliament within broad historical developments across two hundred years of history, focussing on politics, public finance, justice and legislation. Drawing on the research I have conducted on the subject for almost three decades, the book seeks a far-reaching new appraisal of the role of institutions in the political life and governance of late medieval England.
Since 2020 I have been working as part of a team on the Leverhulme funded project 'Understanding the Medieval Gough Map through Physics, Chemistry and History' (PI C. Delano-Smith). This is an ambitious multi-disciplinary project investigating the map's content, its codicological aspects and the contexts which could explain its compilation.
Monograph and Editions:
1) Justice and Grace: Private Petitioning and the English Parliament in the Late Middle Ages (OUP: Oxford, 2007), 374 pages, focuses on the key role of the English medieval parliament in hearing and determining the requests of the king's subjects in the period c.1270-1450. It looks at the nature of medieval petitioning, how requests were written and how and why petitioners sought redress specifically in parliament. It also sheds new light on the concept of royal grace and its practical application to parliamentary petitions. Its conclusions contribute to our understanding of the nature of medieval monarchy, and its ability (or willingness) to address local difficulties, as well as the nature of local society, and the problems that faced individuals and communities in medieval society.
The research for this book was initially facilitated by the award of a British Academy Post-doctoral Fellowship (1998-2001), and was then subsequently enhanced by my involved as Co-Investigator with Prof W. Mark Ormrod (PI) in two major AHRC Resource Enhancement Awards between 2003-7: 'Medieval Petitions: A Catalogue of the "Ancient Petitions" in the National Archives' (£291,984) and 'Medieval Petitions: A Catalogue of the Gascon, Chancery and Exchequer Petitions in the National Archives (£120,747).
2) Petitions to the English crown from English Religious Houses, c. 1272 c. 1485, ed. G. Dodd and A. K. McHardy, Canterbury and York Society 100 (2012), 352 pages. A selection of over 200 cases shows the religious of medieval England taking full advantage of this mechanism, petitioning as landowners, neighbours, citizens, individuals, and religious orders.
This publication arose out of project funded by the award of a British Academy Larger Research Grant (£99,174), for which I was Principal Investigator.
3) Petitions from Lincolnshire, c.1200 -c. 1500, ed. G. Dodd and A.K. McHardy, Lincoln Record Society 108 (2020), 375 pages. When the normal channels for righting wrongs or asking favours were unavailable, the people of medieval England petitioned their kings - in parliament, council, or chancery. This volume demonstrates how petitions were presented by all sections of Lincolnshire society: men and women, aristocrats, peasants, merchants, townsmen, bishops, abbots, and other clergy. Their stories illuminate political turmoil, religious and economic change, and the influence of geography. They also show vividly how Lincolnshire's experience was part of the national, and even international, story.
This publication arose out of a grant of £8,098 funded by the Lincoln Record Society.
Edited Collections of Essays:
I have edited, or jointly-edited, ten collections of essays, including a number of volumes offering new perspectives on the reigns of specific late medieval English kings (Edward II, Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V). Many of these volumes have arisen from conferences and other scholarly engagements I have organised at Nottingham and elsewhere.
I was deeply honoured to bring to publication two essay collections recognizing the enormous contributions to academic life of the late Prof. W. Mark Ormrod. Monarchy, State and Political Culture (York Medieval Press, 2020) contains essays from some of Prof. Ormrod's former PhD students and research collaborators; People, Power and Identity in the Late Middle Ages (Routledge, 2021) contains essays from some of his closest colleagues working in the field of medieval studies.
Since 2011 I have been a member of the editorial board of the series Fourteenth Century England (Boydell Press), which publishes essays on aspects of the history, politics and culture of England and its neighbours during the 'long' fourteenth century. In this time I have brought to publication two volumes (IX and X). With Helen Lacey, I will be editing volume XIII, with an expected publication date of 2024. As a member of the editorial board of FCE I have regularly organised sessions at the International Medieval Congress, Leeds, under the auspices of the 'Society for Fourteenth Century Studies' (please contact me if you are interested in presenting a paper at the next IMC).
SUPERVISION AND MENTORING:
I have supported the successful the application of Dr Matt Raven who currently (from 2020) holds a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship in the department, working on a project entitled, 'Earls and Transnational Kingship in the Medieval Plantagenet Empire, c.1300-1400'.
Current PhD Students
Connor Williams, 'Kingship, Nobility and Gentry: The Uses and Abuses of Wardship from Edward III to Henry IV (c. 1350-1413)', started 2020 (M4C AHRC 3 year studentship, Lead Supervisor)
Fred Lloyd-Williams, 'The Cult of Henry VI: Medieval Memory, Sainthood and Kingship', started 2019 (M4C AHRC 3 year studentship, Joint Supervisor)
Becca Wheddon, 'Propaganda an Persuasion: Political Discourse and the Negotiation of Power and Authority in Yorkist and early Tudor England', started 2019 (M4C AHRC 3 year studentship, Lead Supervisor)
Claudia Minnett, 'Politics, Patronage and Power: The Office of Chancellor 1437-1485, started 2019 (Lead Supervisor)
Pam Powell, 'Commerce and Politics in Chester, 1377-1413', started 2019 (Joint Supervisor)
Jen Caddick, 'The Distribution of Royal Patronage to the Gentry in the Minority of Henry VI, 1422-c.1437', started 2017 (M3C AHRC 3 Year studentship, Lead Supervisor)
Former PhD Students
Matt Hefferan, 'Edward III's Household Knights', PhD 2018 (M3C AHRC 3 year studentship, Lead Supervisor)
Mike Jefferson, 'The Templar Lands in Lincolnshire and their Fate, 1185-1338', PhD 2016 (Joint Supervisor)
Janice Musson, 'Commoners and the Assize of Novel Disseisin, 1156-1285: A Study of Low Status Litigants', PhD 2016 (Joint Supervisor
Matt Phillips, 'Church, Crown and Complaint: Petitions from Bishops to the English Crown in the Fourteenth Century', PhD 2013 (AHRC 3 year studentship, Lead Supervisor)
Peter Russell, 'Aspects of Political Society in South Nottinghamshire, 1327-1360', PhD 2009 (Lead supervisor)
Sharon Walker, 'Tyranny, Complaint and Redress: the Impact and Aftermath of Despenser Rule, c. 1320-1335', PhD 2013 (Lead Supervisor)
Former MASTERS BY RESEARCH Students
Lucy Lynch, 'Until Peace Return to the Earth": A Comparative Study of the Hampshire Gentry During the Wars of the Roses and the English Civil Wars', M.Phil 2016 (Joint Supervisor)
Remy Ambühl, 'The Prisoners of Agincourt (1415): Ransoming in the late Middle Ages', M.Res 2004 (Lead Supervisor)
UNDERGRADUATE TEACHING
The modules I teach reflect the broad interest I have in late medieval history. My second year option 'Kingship in Crisis: People, Politics and Power in Late Medieval England' provides an introduction to the key political episodes in English history between 1272 and 1485. I also offer a third year option module 'The Wars of the Roses'. My Special Subject on 'The Reign of Richard II', and associated dissertation module, allows students to take advantage of the remarkable body of primary sources which survive for this reign, enabling them to form their own opinions about one of the most controversial and enigmatic kings to have ruled England.