Profile
Dr Stuart Pracy
Lecturer in Medieval History
My research confronts inequity by studying state power, land-lording, violence, and the agency of labourers. To this end, I examine subaltern groups (peasants and the urban poor) in the medieval world and unpick discourses of power, how relations of exploitation were and are legitimized, and local vs. supra-local experiences of state control. Concentrating on medieval England, c. 900-1200 CE, my research counters the dominance of elite sources which overshadow the historical record to find the voices of labourers who actively shaped their local societies. These subaltern experiences are put into conversation with the processes of exclusion which marginalize communities of labourers today, seeking to problematise entrenched historiographical and political narratives.
Modules taught
- HIH1400 - Making History
- HIH1410 - Understanding the Medieval and Early-Modern World
- HIH1616 - Producing Poverty: Peasants in a Global Perspective, 700-1300CE
- HIH2001 - Doing History: Perspectives on Sources
- HIH2002 - Uses of the Past
- HIH3005 - General Third-Year Dissertation
- HIH3110 - The Celtic Frontier: Sources
- HIH3111 - The Celtic Frontier: Context
- HIH3117 - The Age of AEthelred 'the Unready': Sources
- HIH3118 - The Age of AEthelred 'the Unready': Context
- HISM016 - Advanced Historical Research Skills
- HISM042 - Working with Medieval Manuscripts and Documents
- HISM045 - Medieval Masterclass
- HISM183 - Interpreting the Middle Ages
Biography
I began my current role as a Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Exeter in the spring of 2021, after completing a PhD at the University of Manchester under the supervision of Drs Charles Insley and Paul Oldfield.