About Me

Ashley Sarah Firth

I have always loved history, even as a child. One of my earliest memories is of visiting the Mary Rose at Portsmouth as a very small child. It had not long since been recovered from the seabed, and I can still vividly remember the horrendous sound of the water gushing onto this huge object; it both terrified and intrigued me. My interest in historical objects and people continued throughout my school years, and I studied both Modern and Ancient History at A Level.

By this time, history was evidently a passion of mine, which made choosing my degree course incredibly easy. In 2004, I began studying at the University of Huddersfield. After obtaining my BA (Hons), I went on to complete a Master’s degree. At this point, I was now a fully fledged medievalist; the subject of my dissertation was the Knights Templar. It was then that my love for studying the Crusades really began. I began my PhD in 2010, examining the lives of the Jerusalemite rulers through a chronicle authored by William of Tyre. The title of my thesis was: ‘The Creation of the Jerusalemite Dynasty in the Twelfth-Century: Kingship, Military Masculinity and Fatherhood in William of Tyre’s Historia Rerum in Partibus Transmarinis Gestarum‘.

After working as a university lecturer for several years, I decided to become a full-time historian and author.

Publications

My first book, Trailblazing Medieval Women was published in July 2026 with Pen & Sword. My second book, England’s Medieval Queen Consorts, is due for publication in October 2027, and my third book, The Norman Queen Consorts will be published in October 2028.

In April 2026, my article, Baldwin, Saladin, and the Fall of Jerusalem was featured in History Today. I also have several forthcoming articles which will appear in both academic and general readership publications in the months ahead.

Research Interests

I love all things medieval, and I have loved teaching a variety of medieval modules over the course of my career as a lecturer. Some of my favourites include Early Medieval Britain and The Crusades. As an author and historian, my interest in the Crusades and the Jerusalemite dynasty has continued; I now also focus on medieval queenship and kingship.

Other Work

I have spent the past several years creating and developing a series of successful websites. Two of these have been created to share my historical research. Manchistorian is my personal site, and Medievaling is a platform where all historians are invited to contribute their own research. If you’d like to contribute an article to Medievaling.com, please contact me at admind@medievaling.com for more information.