Emma Herbert-Davies

Profile

I first came to the University of Leeds in 2014 as a mature student to study a Foundation Year in Arts and Humanities, completing the course with an Award for Academic Excellence. I went on to study a BA (hons) in History (First Class). During my degree I was awarded a two-year Laidlaw Scholarship which focused on cataloguing the Winchester Cabinet, a collection of over 3000 ancient coins, medals and tokens belonging to the University’s Special Collections. I graduated in 2018 and went on to complete a Medieval Studies MA (Distinction) and a PhD at the Institute for Medieval Studies. Both my MA and PhD were made possible by funding from the School of History and Institute for Medieval Studies.

In 2021 I was the PGR tutor for the undergraduate module HIST1055 Historiography & Historical Skills with the themetic strand The Norman Conquest, and in 2022 I taught the undergraduate module HIST1000 Exploring History. Since 2020 I have been a regular guest lecturer and seminar tutor on the Foundation Year in Arts & Humanities at the Lifelong Learning Centre at the University of Leeds where I teach The Middle Ages. Outside of the University I am a Community Education Tutor in Latin and teach in collaboration with Prince Henry’s Grammar School, Otley. 

I have delivered talks on numismatics at various institutions including the British Museum and Blackburn Museum, and have delivered papers on medieval horses and equestrianism at several international conferences including the International Medieval Congress in Leeds.

I have owned and ridden horses for many decades, competing in eventing, showing, racing and team chasing. My doctoral reseach combines a lifetime’s knowledge of horses with my interest in the Middle Ages.

Publications

 ‘The Methodologies of Medieval Horse Training’, in Festschrift in Honour of John Clark, ed. by Emma Herbert-Davies and Anastasija Ropa (Budapest: Trivent, est. pub. 2025)

 ‘Appraising the Warhorse: Restaurum Equorum in the Reigns of Edward I and Edward II’, in Historical Practices in Horsemanship, ed. by Anastasija Ropa and Timothy Dawson (Budapest: Trivent, 2023), pp. 414-58

 David Jones and Emma Herbert-Davies, ‘Evaluation of Mail Horse-Armour’, EXARC (2022), 1-9, DOI: https://exarc.net/ark:/88735/10624

 ‘We Defy: 264 Squadron’, Everyone’s War: The Journal of the Second World War Experience Centre, 36 (2018), 79-80

 ‘The Pembrokeshire Mosquito Men’, Everyone’s War: The Journal of the Second World War Experience Centre, 35 (2017), 79-81

Conferences

May 2024: ‘Medieval Horse Breeding & Training: Evidence from Royal Stud Accounts’, Equine History Collective & Cheiron Journal , Horse Training Series (seminar 2)

February 2023: ‘Horse Management in the Middle Ages’, Cheiron: The International Journal of Equine and Equestrian History Conference

March 2022: ‘Human/Animal Relationships: The Medieval Warhorse’, University of Leeds Excellence in the Arts Conference 

July 2021: ‘Appraising the warhorse: Restaurum equorum and Horse Evaluation, International Medieval Congress, Leeds

May 2021: ‘Insuring the Warhorse: Restaurum equorum 1272-1327, Equestrian History Conference Series, University of Latvia 

February 2019: ‘Numismatics’, Leeds Institute for Teaching Excellence Conference, University of Leeds.

November 2018: ‘The Winchester Cabinet: An Eighteenth-Century Collection’ Something For My Native Town Conference, Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery.

September 2018: ‘The University of Leeds Coin Collection’, Money and Medals Network Conference, British Museum, London.

March 2018: ‘The University of Leeds Coin Collections: The Winchester Cabinet’, Discovering Treasures in Special Collections Conference, University of Leeds

November 2017: ‘Laidlaw Scholarship: The Winchester Cabinet’, Leeds Excellence in the Arts Conference, University of Leeds

September 2017: ‘The University of Leeds Winchester Cabinet’, Laidlaw Conference, University of Leeds

September 2017: ‘The University of Leeds Winchester Coin Collection’, Money and Medals Network Conference, University of Leeds

February 2017: ‘The Winchester Cabinet’, Undergraduate Research Conference, University of Leeds

February 2016: ‘It’s Only Rock & Roll: The Medieval Ambling Horse’, Undergraduate Research Conference, University of Leeds 

Exhibitions

Unlocking the Winchester Cabinet, Brotherton Library, University of Leeds (2018). Number of pieces: 20 

The Winchester Coin Cabinet Virtual Exhibition, Special Collections, University of Leeds (2018). Number of pieces 14. https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections/view/2177

Panels & Workshops

March 2018: University of Leeds panel representative, Money and Medals Network Conference, British Museum

March 2018: Be Curious Event, University of Leeds, public coin handling workshop 

February 2018: Laidlaw Scholarship Panellist, Undergraduate Research Event, University of Leeds

December 2017: Advocating Classics in Education event, University of Leeds, public coin handling workshop

September 2017: Treasures of the Brotherton, University of Leeds, public coin workshop

September 2017: Old English Reading Group numismatic workshop 

February 2017: Laidlaw Scholarship Panellist, Undergraduate Research Event, University of Leeds

Awards

School of History and Institute for Medieval Studies Doctoral Scholarship 
Institute for Medieval Studies Taught MA Scholarship 
Laidlaw Undergraduate Research and Leadership Scholarship 
Lifelong Learning Centre Award for Academic Excellence 

Research interests

Outside of my doctoral studies I hold the following research interests:

The cultural representation of gender in medieval texts and images

Chivalry and tournaments in medieval and Renaissance literature

The transmission of equine veterinary medicine in medieval Europe

The efficacy of leather, mail, and plate horse barding

Qualifications

• PhD The Warhorse Under Edward I and Edward II: 1272-1327
• MA Medieval Studies (Distinction)
• BA (Hons) History (First class)
• Foundation Year Arts and Humanities