I grew up in the Lake District in north-west England, and gained a BA and an MA with Distinction in medieval history and literature from the University of Manchester. I've been researching and writing about Edward II's reign since 2004, and have run a blog about him since December 2005. In 2011 I had an article about him published in the prestigious English Historical Review, and in 2014 appeared as an expert on Edward in the BBC documentary The Quest for Bannockburn. In July 2016, I read a paper about him at the International Medieval Congress at the University of Leeds, and often give talks about him and aspects of his life and reign to a variety of audiences. In June 2017, I led a study day about Edward at Sutton Hoo, and in June 2018 I took part in a symposium at the University of Reading. Another academic article appeared in the tenth volume of Fourteenth Century England in 2018, and another in the Journal of the Mortimer History Society that same year. So far I have published biographies of Edward (2014) his queen Isabella of France (2016), their great-grandson Richard II (2017), Edward's powerful 'favourite' Hugh Despenser the Younger, the houses of Lancaster and York from 1245 to 1415 (both published 2018), Edward III's queen Philippa of Hainault (2019), Philippa's son John of Gaunt (2022), Edward I's granddaughters the three de Clare sisters (2020), the medieval Despenser family, and Edward I's daughters (both 2021). I have also published a detailed account of Edward II's murder in 1327 or his survival for years after that date, titled Long Live the King: The Mysterious Fate of Edward II. A travel guide titled Following in the Footsteps of Edward II came out in 2019, as well as a work of social history called Living in Medieval England: The Turbulent Year of 1326 in 2020. A social history of London in the first half of the fourteenth century will appear in June 2022, and Sex and Sexuality in Medieval England a few months later. Current and future projects include a biography of Edward III's granddaughters, an account of Edward II's sexuality and relationships, another work of social history provisionally titled Life in the Medieval Town, and a history of various parts of Europe and the Mediterranean between 1200 and 1400, seen through the eyes of the Brienne-Beaumont family.
