David Bates (historian)


David Bates is a historian of Britain and France during the period from the tenth to the thirteenth centuries. He has written many books and articles during his career, including Normandy before 1066, Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum: The Acta of William I, 1066–1087, The Normans and Empire, and William the Conqueror .

Education and career

During this peripatetic career, he has held several positions that have involved responsibilities for the general development of his subject, such as Head of History and Welsh History in Cardiff, Head of the Department of Medieval History, Head of the School of History and Archaeology, and Head of History in Glasgow, and Director of the Centre of East Anglian Studies at the University of East Anglia. His time at the Institute of Historical Research, among other things, required that he animate public debate about History’s role in British education and in public life and that he participate in delegations and projects that took him to Japan, Russia, Israel, and the United States.

Publications

Books

The most important of his books are:
The Normans and Empire argues for a new analytical framework for the expansion of the Normans in Western Europe and for the experience of the British Isles. William the Conqueror proposes a radical revision of the life of William the Conqueror. A co-authored book on the Bayeux Tapestry will be published soon by Citadelles & Mazenod.
All of his books are based on extensive researches in the archives and libraries in France and Normandy that have uncovered a lot of new or inadequately known material, some of it published in Regum Anglo-Normannorum: The Acta of William I. He retains an interest in the interpretation of charters as literary sources and is currently working on further innovative approaches to the history of northern Europe during the period from the tenth to the thirteenth century. A Festschrift has been published in his honour:-
David has always been committed to encouraging collaboration between scholars from different countries. While at the Institute of Historical Research he organised five annual Anglo-American conferences from 2004 to 2008 and several other major conferences. He was Director of the Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies from 2010 to 2012.
In addition to the three volumes of Anglo-Norman Studies based on the Battle conferences he directed, he has edited or co-edited the following conference proceedings:-
David has given many talks and lectures at universities and historical societies, many of them to branches of the Historical Association, of which he is a committed supporter.
Major lectures which have led to publications are:-
As Director of the Institute of Historical Research from 2003 to 2008, David held one of the most important posts in the UK historical profession. He has always been committed to making a contribution to making History accessible to as wide a public as possible and to organising conferences and producing edited volumes. In addition to what is mentioned above, he was, for example, the founding editor of the Longmans/Pearson Medieval World series from 1987 to 2001, thereby encouraging publications by many other scholars. Twenty-four books were published during this period and many are still in print. He contributed all the pre-1066 entries to The History Today Companion to British History, ed. Juliet Gardiner and Neil Wenborn and to The History Today Who’s Who in British History, ed. Juliet Gardiner. He has also published extensively in France. He is currently working on more publications relating to the history of Britain and France during the period from the tenth to the thirteenth centuries.