Thomas Scott Asbridge (born 1969) is a British historian at Queen Mary University of London, a position he has held since 1999.[1] He is the author of The First Crusade: A New History (2004), a book which describes the background, events, and consequences of the First Crusade, as well as of The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land (2010), a volume providing a view on the crusading movement, portraying the ideas of justified violence and jihad.[2][3]

Asbridge graduated from Cardiff University with a BA in Ancient and Medieval History, before earning his PhD at the Royal Holloway, University of London.[1] Asbridge's first major work was a revised version of his doctoral thesis, titled The Creation of the Principality of Antioch, 1098–1130.[4] Asbridge also wrote and presented a three-part BBC Two series on The Crusades, and was the historical consultant for Kingdom of Heaven (2005).[5][6]

Asbridge has, more recently, expanded his output with books on Medieval England and France, the first major release being The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power behind Five English Thrones in 2015,[7] based on the life of William Marshal, a knight within Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry the Young King, and Richard I's retinue. Asbridge presented a BBC documentary on Marshal in 2014.[8] He wrote a book for the Penguin Books monarch series on Richard I, which came out in 2018.[6]

References

  1. ^ "Dr Tom Asbridge Senior Lecturer in Medieval History". Queen Mary University of London. Retrieved 2026-05-12.
  2. ^ Massie, Allan (April 2004). "The Cross and the Crescent". Literary Review. ' (309). Retrieved 2026-05-12.
  3. ^ Ruthven, Malise (2010-01-03). "The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land by Thomas Asbridge and Holy Warriors: A Modern History of the Crusades by Jonathan Phillips". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-05-12.
  4. ^ Rubenstein, Jay (1 November 2011). Armies of Heaven. The First Crusade and the Quest for Apocalypse. Printed 2011. Basic Books. p. 402. doi:10.1017/S0009640713001273. ISBN 9780465019298. OCLC 795454364
  5. ^ "The Crusades - Episode guide". BBC. Retrieved 2026-05-12.
  6. ^ "Richard I: The Crusader King". Biblio.com. Retrieved 2026-05-12.
  7. ^ Asbridge, Thomas. "The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power Behind Five English Thrones". Thomasasbridge.com. Archived 21 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ^ "The Greatest Knight: William the Marshal". BBC Programmes. BBC. 12 December 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  9. ^ The First Crusade. 2012-01-26. ISBN 978-1-84983-769-9.
  10. ^ The Crusades. 2020-07-09. ISBN 978-1-4711-9643-0.
  11. ^ The Greatest Knight. 2015-01-15. ISBN 978-1-4711-3951-2.
  12. ^ Asbridge, Thomas (2018-02-22). Richard I (Penguin Monarchs)
  13. ^ Asbridge, Thomas (2026-04-30). The Black Death

Bibliography

  • Walter the Chancellor, Walter the Chancellor's The Antiochene Wars, eds. & trans. T. S. Asbridge & S. B. Edgington (Aldershot, 1999).
  • Asbridge, T. S., The Creation of the Principality of Antioch, 1098-1130 (Woodbridge, 2000).w
  • Asbridge, T. S., 'Alice of Antioch: A Case Study of Female Power in the Twelfth Century', The Experience of Crusading: Defending the Crusader Kingdom, eds. P. W. Edbury & J. P. Philips (Cambridge, 2003).
  • Asbridge, T., The First Crusade: A New History (London, 2005).[9]
  • Asbridge, T., The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land (London, 2010).[10]
  • Asbridge, T., Talking to the Enemy: The Role and Purpose of Negotiations between Saladin and Richard the Lionheart During the Third Crusade, Journal of Medieval History (2013) vol. 39 (3), pp. 275–296.
  • Asbridge, T., The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshall (London, 2015).[11]
  • Asbridge, T., Richard I, The Crusader King (Penguin Monarchs) (London, 2018).[12]
  • Asbridge, T., The Black Death: A Global History (London, 2026).[13]