Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 28, 2026

Thomas Asbridge

Thomas Scott Asbridge is a British historian at Queen Mary University of London, a position he has held since 1999. 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.

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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.23

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).56

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

References

  1. "Dr Tom Asbridge Senior Lecturer in Medieval History". Queen Mary University of London. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  2. Massie, Allan (April 2004). "The Cross and the Crescent". Literary Review (309). Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  3. Ruthven, Malise (3 January 2010). "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 12 May 2026.
  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 12 May 2026.
  6. "Richard I: The Crusader King". Biblio.com. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  7. Asbridge, Thomas. "The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power Behind Five English Thrones". Thomasasbridge.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2018.
  8. "The Greatest Knight: William the Marshal". BBC Programmes. BBC. 12 December 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
Bibliography

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).1
  • Asbridge, T., The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land (London, 2010).2
  • 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).3
  • Asbridge, T., Richard I, The Crusader King (Penguin Monarchs) (London, 2018).4
  • Asbridge, T., The Black Death: A Global History (London, 2026).5


  1. The First Crusade. 26 January 2012. ISBN 978-1-84983-769-9.
  2. The Crusades. 9 July 2020. ISBN 978-1-4711-9643-0.
  3. The Greatest Knight. 15 January 2015. ISBN 978-1-4711-3951-2.
  4. Asbridge, Thomas (22 February 2018). Richard I (Penguin Monarchs).
  5. Asbridge, Thomas (30 April 2026). The Black Death.