My doctoral research explores violence and male identity-building in early modern Britain and Ireland. In particular, I examine how shifting understandings of legitimate and illegitimate violence shaped archetypes defining the ideal of the fighting man throughout the seventeenth century. After identifying the evolution of these archetypes in both specialised military texts and more widely disseminated cheap print (chiefly ballads and pamphlets), I am now looking at personal accounts to explore how these changes impacted fighting men’s understanding of themselves, including not only how they sought to replicate the disseminated narratives, but also how they defied them.

This project is supported by the South West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership. My supervisory team consists of Professor Ronald Hutton at the University of Bristol and Professor Henry French at the University of Exeter. 

My research interests more widely include early modern social and cultural history, martial and maritime violence, social deviancy and crime, popular narratives, gender and identity.

I'm happy to hear from any undergraduate or postgraduate students who would like to discuss their work or are considering applying to do a PhD and would like to hear more about the application process.