Dr Katie Bridger
Research Assistant at University of Leicester
Katie has recently completed her PhD in the Centre for English Local History at the University of Leicester. Her thesis examined the role of place and landscape in the construction and expression of gentry identity in late medieval Leicestershire. By applying digital methodologies to contemporary sources, the thesis showed that place should be a recognised component of contemporary gentry culture.
She has published in the Midland History journal: '"It is no walking for thee in the high wey": Gentry encounters, hierarchy and the Leicestershire landscape in the records of Star Chamber, c.1496-1547', Midland History, 42, no. 2 (2017), pp. 159-182. Katie is also an experienced public speaker, having given many talks to general and historical interest groups across the midlands since 2014. She has been an editorial assistant for the East Midlands History and Heritage magazine since 2015, and a member of the Midland History board as social media editor since 2018. Katie is currently developing her next project on gentry identity and industry in early modern England.