Sophie Therese Ambler - 快播视频

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 Rise 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 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 Rise 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, .

Web Links

Television:

Sky History, Great British Castle Rescue (), introducing research on Lowther's Norman castle and the Norman conquest of Cumbria

Channel 5, 22 Kids & Counting (), discussing political violence in the Wars of the Roses for an episode on family history

BBC2, Digging for Britain , discussing the Lowther Medieval Castle and Village project and the Norman conquest of Cumbria, and showcasing Lowther’s medieval charters

History Hit TV, Rebellion in the North , discussing the Norman Conquest of England and the Harrying of the North

Channel 4, Bone Detectives: Britain’s Buried Secrets , discussing the thirteenth-century execution cemetery excavated at Andover (Hampshire)

BBC Parliament: ‘BOOKtalk’ with Mark D’Arcy, discussing The Song of Simon de Montfort

Channel 4, Walking Through History , discussing King John’s reign and forest law, and the charters of Chatsworth House

BBC's Democracy Day: showcasing the 'first House of Commons' in 1265, with live interviews in Westminster Hall on BBC Breakfast, and consulting for and appearing in an extended feature for and , a radio version of which was also aired on the .

Radio and Podcasts (select):

BBC Radio 4's In Our Time: '

BBC History Extra podcast:

Charlie Higson's podcast 'Willy Willy Harry Stee ...: History of the Monarchy': episodes on , , and

Cabinet Office podcast with Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg MP, 'Why Parliament Works'

BBC History Extra podcast: '

BBC History Weekend:

Career Details

At 快播视频, I am a Research Theme Lead at The Ruskin - Museum and Research Institute and, from August 2026, I will be Co-Director of the Regional Heritage Centre. Previously I have been Deputy Director, Director and Co-Director of the Centre for War and Diplomacy, where I remain an active member. I am a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. In 2020 I was awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize in History, and in 2022 I was a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. I joined 快播视频 in 2017; previously I was at the University of East Anglia, where I was a researcher on the AHRC's , and from 2012-13 I was a researcher on the , part of the AHRC's project, which explored the period leading up to the Scottish Wars of Independence. I undertook an AHRC-funded PhD at King's College London with joint supervision at University College London, and was Thornley Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research.

External Roles

Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London
Co-convenor of the at the Institute of Historical Research
Trustee of
Panel Member, 's Battlefields Panel, providing expert advice on battlefield research, development threats, and strategy and policy
Council Member and Trustee,
Member of the AHRC-funded research network
Member of the AHRC-funded research network
Member of Steering Committee,
Editorial Advisory Board member:
Advisory Board member:
Editorial Board member:
(2017–2025):Secretary of the

Current Teaching

In 2025-26 I am co-teaching (with Lorenzo Caravaggi) the undergraduate module 'Death: From the Fall of Rome to the Reformation' (HIST216) and MA module 'Medieval Primary Sources: Genre, Rhetoric and Transmission' (HIST424). In the summer term, I teach a first-year undergraduate module on '1415: Agincourt and its Aftermath' (HIST119). I am also contributing sessions on the High Middle Ages and 'Disputed Histories' to the first-year undergraduate survey module 'From Medieval to Modern: History and Historians' (HIST100), and on warfare in the High Middle Ages to the MA module 'Warfare in History' (HIST443). In previous years, I have also taught undergraduate modules 'Crusade and Jihad: Holy War in the Middle East, 1095-1291' (HIST208) and 'From Rebellion to Revolution: The War for the Throne, 1199-1265' (HIST316).

Qualifications

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

PhD Supervisions Completed

I have previously supervised to completion the following PhDs:

Dr Thomas Brosset, 'Siege Warfare in Medieval Syria and the Jazīra (1097-1192)' (2025)
Dr Meredith Guthrie, 'The Minority Government of Richard II: 1377-1380' (2024)
Dr Louis Pulford, 'Order from Chaos: Reappraising the Historia Albigensis of Peter of les Vaux-de-Cernay' (2024)
Dr Jenny McHugh, 'Foi e Leuté: The Allegiance, Identity and Service of Scottish Bishops in the Wars of Independence, between 1332 and 1357' (2023)

PhDs Examined

I have examined the following PhD theses:

Dr Camille Mai Lan Vo Van Qui (University of Exeter), ‘The Education of a Noble Beast: The Breaking-in and Training of Horses in Medieval France (1250-1550)’ (2023)
Dr Christopher Tinmouth (快播视频), ‘The Construction of Institutional Memory and Identity in the Furness Abbey Coucher Book’ (2022)
Dr Antonia Shacklock (Cambridge), ‘The Piety of Henry III’ (2021)

PhD Supervision Interests

I welcome enquiries from potential doctoral and postdoctoral candidates interested in the military, political, landscape and legal history of Britain, western Europe and the crusader states c.1100-1400.

07/07/2025 → …
Research
15/06/2025 → …
Research
01/11/2021 → 31/12/2021
Research
01/09/2021 → 01/09/2024
Research
01/07/2021 → 30/04/2023
Research

Participation in workshop, seminar, course

Types of Public engagement and outreach - Festival/Exhibition

Centre for War and Diplomacy