Dr Sophie Therese Ambler

Reader in Medieval History

Profile

I am a historian of war and politics in medieval Britain. My current research centres on war between the Norman Conquest and the fourteenth century. It combines archival, archaeological and landscape evidence with comparisons from across historical periods and insights from anthropology, law and medicine. It ranges from kings to war-torn communities and soldiers, from kingdoms to borderlands and battlefields, and from the legal institutions utilised by warring governments to the neighbourhood juries who delivered post-war justice. It examines war as a total historical phenomenon: from strategy, recruitment and campaigning to battle, medical care, the treatment of the dead, post-war justice and the ways wars were remembered by the communities through which they tore. My third monograph, provisionally titled Soldiers, Kings and the Ascent of War in Medieval Britain, will be published by Picador in 2027.

This approach underpins the Medieval Lowther Project at Lowther Castle and Gardens (Cumbria), where I also serve as a Trustee. Bringing together historians and archaeologists, the project investigates Lowther’s place in the Kingdom of Cumbria and its conquest and colonisation by the Normans in 1092, a critical but sparsely documented episode in the making of medieval Britain. Read more on our project website.

My research on war builds on earlier work exploring the ethics and practice of war, politics, rebellion and revolution in medieval Britain, centred on a fundamental question: what could people do when they were dissatisfied with their government? My work has charted how different constituencies challenged rulers who contravened the legal limits of their office or failed in their duty. This research has examined the role of Magna Carta in political life and revolutionary politics, the emergence of parliament, and the career of Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester (d.1265), whose seizure of power from Henry III brought the First English Revolution. This work resulted in two books: The Song of Simon de Montfort: England's First Revolutionary and the Death of Chivalry (Picador/Oxford University Press, 2019), and Bishops in the Political Community of England, 1213–1272 (Oxford University Press, 2017), which explored the interaction of political thought and action in the age of Magna Carta and the Montfortian revolution.

I work with broadcasters and heritage organisations, both as an on-screen contributor and as a historical consultant. My work has featured on BBC television and radio, including Digging for Britain and In Our Time, as well as documentaries for Channel 4, Sky History, History Hit and Channel 5. Alongside my academic publications, I write history for a general readership. My biography The Song of Simon de Montfort: England's First Revolutionary and the Death of Chivalry was named one of Waterstones' top ten bestselling history books of the year. My third monograph, Soldiers, Kings and the Ascent of War in Medieval Britain (Picador, forthcoming 2027), brings original scholarship on medieval war to a broad readership. Media enquiries should be directed to my agent, Georgina Capel.

Regional Heritage Centre: Archaeology Forum
Participation in workshop, seminar, course

Regional Heritage Centre Study Day: ‘Manuscripts and Medieval Life: the Great Cowcher Book of the Duchy of Lancaster’
Participation in workshop, seminar, course

The Great Cowcher display: Light Up Lancaster 2023
Types of Public engagement and outreach - Festival/Exhibition

  • Centre for War and Diplomacy