Dr Deborah Youngs has been a lecturer in medieval history at Swansea since 1998. Her interests lie in the social and cultural history of Britain and Europe from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries. Early research focused on the cultural history of the late medieval English gentry with particular emphasis on their reading preferences and religious devotions. More recently her research has focused on the aging process, exploring the construction, representation and experience of life’s stages in the late Middle Ages.

Dr Youngs is a member of MEMO , the Swansea Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Research.

Current research

Dr Youngs’ interest in age and life stage is developed in a number of essays including ‘The life cycle’ in A cultural history of childhood and the family in the Middle Ages, edited by Louise Wilkinson (Berg, forthcoming) and ‘Adulthood in medieval Europe: The prime of life or midlife crisis?’ in Debating the medieval life cycle, edited by Isabelle Cochelin and Karyn Smith (Brepols, forthcoming). A long-term project focuses on ‘adulthood’ in late medieval Britain, covering the transition from youth to maturity and the aging process to ‘old age’. This includes a regional study of older people in Wales in the medieval and early modern periods.

At the same time, Dr Youngs’ research into the social and cultural networks of the English aristocracy has led her to the life of Henry, Lord Stafford (1501–1563) and his collection of c.300 books. She is preparing an edition of his letter book for the Staffordshire Record Society, and intends to examine further his literary associations.

Principal publications

Books

• Humphrey Newton (1466–1536): An Early Tudor Gentleman. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer, 2008.
• The Life Cycle in Western Europe, c.1300–c.1500. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2006.

Book-chapters & journal articles

• ‘House-hunting and home-making in sixteenth-century England: The case of Henry, Lord Stafford (1501–1563),’ in People, places and perspectives: Essays on later medieval and early Tudor England, edited by K. Dockray and P. Fleming. Stroud: Nonsuch Publishing, 2005. 167–183.
• ‘Cultural networks,’ in Gentry culture in late medieval England, edited by R. Radulescu and A. Truelove. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2005. 119–133.
• ‘A spiritual community among Cheshire gentry,’ in Much heaving and shoving: Late medieval gentry and their concerns, edited by M. Aston and R. Horrox. Chipping: Lavenham Press, 2005. 76–87.
• [with Simon Harris] ‘Demonising the night in medieval Europe: A temporal monstrosity?’ in The monstrous Middle Ages, edited by B. Bildhauer and R. Mills. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2003. 154–181.
• [with Philip Morgan] ‘The documentary evidence,’ in Stafford Castle: Survey, excavation, and research 1978–98. Volume 1: The Surveys. Stafford: Stafford Borough Council, 2001. 31–82.
• ‘Estate management, investment and the gentleman landlord in later Medieval England.’ Historical Research 73 (2000) 124–141.
• ‘The late medieval commonplace book: The example of the commonplace book of Humphrey Newton of Newton and Pownall, Cheshire (1466–1536),’ Archives 25 (2000), 58–73.
• ‘The Parson’s tale: A newly discovered fragment,’ The Chaucer Review 34 (1999) 207–216.
• ‘Servants and labourers in a late medieval demesne: the case of Newton, Cheshire 1498–1520,’ Agricultural History Review 47 (1999), 145–160.
• ‘“A vision in a trance”: A fifteenth-century vision of Purgatory,’ Medium Aevum 67 (1998), 212–234.
• ‘“I see by sight of evidence”: Information gathering in late medieval Cheshire,’ in Courts, counties and the capital in the later Middle Ages, edited by D. Dunn. Stroud: Sutton, 1996. 71–92.

Principal research awards, fellowships & prizes

• AHRC Research Leave Scheme (October 2005–January 2006)