Contact details
- Name:
- Mr Sam Gibbs
- Position/Fellowship type:
- IHR training course leader, 'Databases for Historians'
- Institute:
- Institute of Historical Research
- Email address:
- samuel.gibbs@sas.ac.uk
- Website:
- https://www.history.ac.uk/people/sam-gibbs
Research Summary and Profile
- Research interests:
- History
- Summary of research interests and expertise:
-
Dr Sam Gibbs convenes and teaches the ‘Databases for Historians’ course at the IHR.
Sam is a medieval historian with a specialism in digital history and database design.
Dr Sam Gibbs convenes and teaches the ‘Databases for Historians’ course at the IHR and provides database design and building services to the IHR and external projects.
Sam is a historian of the late medieval period, focused on England during the Hundred Years War. Although heavily linked to military history, the bulk of his previous research has focused on the social and economic drivers of military service, with patterns of service between English archers and landowners being the primary topic of his doctoral research at the University of Reading. This research was carried out using a large scale database containing over 500,000 records, including data from the Poll Tax Returns and the Exchequer Muster Rolls, along with supplementary sources including Letters of Protection and Attorney, and Inquisitions Post Mortem.
As well as the late medieval period, Sam also has a research interest in the use of databases and data analysis for historical research in any period and is able to work with other researchers to support the development of research tools for their projects. Recently this has included the Historic England funded Post-war English pubs, and the Norwich Freeman Records Online projects.
Selected publications:
- ‘The fighting men of Essex: Service relationships and the Poll Tax’, The Fighting Essex Soldier, University of Hertfordshire Press (Hatfield, 2017)
- ‘Fighting merchants: Mercantile activity and military service in the later fourteenth century(Opens in new window)’, Medieval Merchants and Money: Conference Proceedings in Honour of Jim Bolton, Institute of Historical Research (London, 2016)
Recent database designs:
- The English Heritage Pubs Project(Opens in new window)
- The Norwich Freemen Records Online