Reflecting on her work for the publication, Geneva commented, ‘My article has a particular focus on the chroniclers of the kings of England in the High Middle Ages, specifically on their depictions of King Henry I. It was taken from an essay that I wrote for the module Europe in the High Middle Ages, and so many of the edits I made before publishing was suggested by Dr. Mark Hagger, as well as the editors of the website I have been published to. In the article I look at the works of Orderic Vitalis in Normandy, William of Malmsbury in England, and the Brut y Tywsogyon which was written in Wales. From these sources, I made an attempt to answer why these historians 'invariably' depicted Henry as a good king ... If they did at all!
‘It is published by The Young Historians, which is a web page founded by Harry Hughes with the aim to encourage young people to write articles on history topics that they are passionate about. I had been friends with Harry on Instagram, and so when he founded the website, he asked me if I wanted to contribute and naturally, I agreed! There are plenty of amazing articles written by some very talented young historians!’
Dr Mari Wiliam, lecturer of Modern History, commented: 'Geneva's involvement with The Young Historians project shows how there's such a vibrant scene of people passionate and driven about making history enticing for everyone. It's so impressive that her blog article was praised and shared on social media by Matt Lewis from the Gone Medieval Podcast, and fantastic to have an undergraduate student communicating ideas about the chroniclers of Henry I of England in such a lucid and appealing style.'
This publication highlights the possibilities that are available to students, both undergraduate and postgraduate, to contribute to wider academic discourses, as well as being testimony of Geneva’s hard work and scholarship. Well done!
To read the article, see: ‘The Chroniclers of King Henry I of England: Do Twelfth Century Historians Invariably Depict Henry as a Good King?’