![Hayley Bassett BA (Cardiff), MA (Cardiff), AFHEA](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/319?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Hayley Bassett
(she/her)
BA (Cardiff), MA (Cardiff), AFHEA
Research student
Overview
I am a PhD candidate researching Anglo-Norman and French international law, politics and diplomacy in the early Middle Ages. I am particularly interested in the use of marriage alliances by leaders to underpin peace treaties. I came to university as a mature student, progressing from the award-winning Exploring the Past pathway onto a degree in 2011 and completed both my BA in Ancient and Medieval History and my MA in Medieval British Studies at Cardiff University.
I am a coordinator of Cardiff University's School of History, Archaeology and Religion community outreach project SHARE with Schools.
I currently teach Medieval Worlds AD500-1500 and Global Histories Year 1 modules.
My research interests include:
- 10th to 12th century ducal and royal power and authority.
- Royal and noble inheritance, female succession and regnant queenship.
- Diplomacy and peacemaking.
- Dynastic marriage alliances.
Research
Current research projects:
Melisende Queen of Jerusalem, Women and Power in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Treaties of Normandy 911 - 1066, formation of a Duchy.
The history of 'The Vexin' between Anglo-Normandy and the French crown, tenth to twelfth centuries.
Flanders, Brittany and Normandy.
Scholarships & Awards
- December 2023 British Federation of Women Graduates, 2023-2024
- September 2021 The St. John Historical Society Award for original research 2021.
- July 2021 Ursula Henriques Scholarship, Cardiff University, 2021-2022.
- September 2016 Masters Excellence Scholarship, Cardiff University, 2016-2019.
Publications
- "Queen Melisende and Queen Sybil: Queenship, Co-Rule and Conflict in the Kingdom of Heaven" in Papers in Honour of Professor Helen Nicholson, eds. Jenny Benham, Peter Edbury and Paul Webster (forthcoming 2025)
- "Emma of Normandy: The Woman who laid the disturbances of War to rest" in Indentities of Noblewomen, eds. Harriet Kersey and Charlotte Pickard (Brepols, forthcoming 2025)
- “Betrothed and Betrayed: The Unconventional Life of Princess Alys of France 1160-1220” in Queens in Waiting: Potential and Prospective Queens, Ambitions and Expectations, eds. Sarah Betts and Chloe McKenzie (Queenship and Power series, Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming 2025)
- “Regnant Queenship and Royal Marriage between the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Nobility of Western Europe” in A Companion to Global Queenship, ed. Elena Woodacre (ARC Humanities Press, 2018), pp. 39-52.
Online Publications
- “Princess Alys of France: a Twelfth-Century Patty Hearst?” in War, Peace and Diplomacy in the Middle Ages, https://jembenham.wordpress.com (February 2017).
- “Empress Matilda - a study of Succession, Gender & Power in the Twelfth Century”, https://www.academia.edu/13540292/ (2016)
- Review of “Stephen: The Reign of Anarchy”, Carl Watkins, Royal Studies Journal, 2016, vol. III
- Review of “The Daughters of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine”, Colette Bowie, Royal Studies Journal, 2015, vol. II
Conference Papers
- July 2023: "Melisende and Sybil: An Examination of gendered power in the kingdom of Jerusalem in the Twelfth Century", International Medieval Conference, University of Leeds.
- July 2022: "From Poppa of Bayeux to Gunnor: The Role of 'More Danico' Wives as the Mothers of Heirs to the Duchy of Normandy", International Medieval Conference, University of Leeds.
- May 2022: "Anglo-French Marriage Diplomacy: An Examination of the Treaty of Gisors 1160", Cardiff's Late Antique and Medieval Early Researchers Seminar Series, Cardiff University.
- March 2022: "Conflict Resolution in Normandy: The Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte 911", Gregynog Colloquium, Swansea University.
- February 2022: "Co-rule and Conflict in the Kingdom of Jerusalem: Melisende and Baldwin III", Women and Warfare in the Medieval World Virtual Inaugural Conference.
- July 2021: “Emma of Normandy: The Queen who ‘laid the disturbances of war to rest’?” International Medieval Conference, University of Leeds.
- June 2021: “Women and Power in the Kingdom of Heaven: Melisende and Sibyl: Two Medieval Queens of Jerusalem”, in partnership with Professor Helen Nicholson. Eileen Younghusband Memorial Lecture, Cardiff University.
- February 2021: “Case study of royal marriage: Henry I, king of England and Queen Matilda”. Exploring the Past Queenship Guest Lecture, Cardiff University Centre for Lifelong Learning.
- September 2020: “Inter-dynastic Marriage Alliances – Law, Diplomatic Practice and Policy in Normandy and England 911-1204”.Virtual Inaugural Noblewomen Network Conference.
- June 2019: “Melisende of Jerusalem: A Female King?” Cardiff University Society for Women Graduates Inaugural Conference.
- March 2019: “Empress Matilda c.1102-1167: Heiress to England and Normandy”. Championing Her Story: Women’s History Conference, Cardiff University.
- January 2018: “To Have and To Hold: An Examination of Inter-dynastic Royal Marriage in Twelfth Century Western Europe”, Postgraduate Symposium, Cardiff University.
- January 2017: “An Instrument of Diplomacy? Marriage between Ruling Dynasties” Diplomacy and Peace-making Postgraduate Conference, Cardiff University.
Professional Memberships
Royal Historical Society Postgraduate Membership (2019-present)
Royal Studies Network Membership (2015-present)
Thesis
‘Inter-dynastic Marriage Alliances – Law, Diplomatic Practice and Policy in Normandy and England 911-1204’
Teaching
Teaching:
Graduate Tutor (2021-2022)
- HS1112 Medieval Worlds AD500-1500
SHARE with Schools
Community Engagement and Outreach Project. Co-ordinator since November 2020.
Delivered 'Museum Curator' virtual workshops to Year 7, Fitzalan High School 25th June 2021
Supervisors
Contact Details
Research themes
Specialisms
- Medieval history
- Anglo Norman history
- Interdynastic Marriage Alliances
- Female Inheritance and Succession