Professor Jason Peacey

Professor of British History

Jason Peacey

Jason Peacey’s area of interest is British history in the early modern period. His research focuses on the politics and political culture of early modern Britain, and he is particularly interested in the relationships between print culture and political life, and between citizens and the state. Jason is interested, therefore, in propaganda and censorship, and in the exploitation of the press by the political elite, as well as in the rise of news culture, and in the ways in which contemporaries from all walks of life and all parts of the country experienced the early modern ‘information revolution’ and participated in political affairs.

He is currently working on ideas and practices of citizenship, not least petitioning, not least in terms of the responsiveness (or otherwise) of political elites to the grievances of ordinary subjects, and how this generated political thinking. This has recently involved being Co-I on an AHRC project, ‘The Power of Petitioning in Seventeenth Century England’. At the same time he is also developing a new project relating to diplomatic culture in seventeenth-century Europe, which will explore the possibilities that emerged for cross-border political cooperation in circumstances of social, economic and cultural ‘entanglement’, of jurisdictional uncertainty, and of constrained sovereignty. In addition, Jason was one of the editors of a project funded by the Leverhulme Trust to produce a new edition of the letters and speeches of Oliver Cromwell, to be published by Oxford University Press in 2022.

PhD supervision

Jason is interested in supervising PhD students working on early modern British history, especially those who are interested in political history, political culture and the relationship between Britain, its colonies, and mainland Europe. Jason has a particular interest in parliamentary history, popular politics, print culture, and the history of communication, including the history of journalism, reading and the ‘reception’ of texts.

Current supervisees: Thomas Fleming; Waseem Ahmed

Recently completed: Kevin Tuffnell, ‘“A safe and honourable peace”: British political discourse, politics and policy formation in the making of the Treaty of Utrecht, 1708 to 1713’; Jack Sargeant, ‘Aesthetics and political authority in the English Revolution, 1642-49’; Misha Ewen, ‘ “To the Foundation of a Common-Wealth”: English Society and the Colonisation of Virginia, c.1607-1642’; Eilish Gregory, ‘Catholics and Sequestration during the English Revolution, 1642-60’; Estelle Paranque, ‘Elizabeth I of England through Valois Eyes: Power, Diplomacy, and Representation, 1568-1588’; Kevin Stapylton, ‘The parliamentary privilege of freedom from arrest, 1603-1629’; Edward Legon, ‘Remembering Revolution: Seditious Memories in England and Wales, 1660-1685’; Alice Ferron, ‘“The ornament of a woman is silence”: censorship, mediation and female authorship in Tudor and early Stuart England’.

Major publications

  • The Madman and the Churchrobber: Law and Conflict in Early Modern England (Oxford University Press, 2022)
  • Print and Public Politics in the English Revolution (Cambridge University Press, 2013)
  • Politicians and Pamphleteers: Propaganda in the Civil Wars and Interregnum (Ashgate, 2004)
  • Parliament at Work (ed. with Chris Kyle, Bordell and Brewer, 2002)
  • The Regicides and the Execution of Charles I (Palgrave, 2001)

For a full list of publications, see Jason’s Iris profile.

Grants/projects

Jason is one of the editors of a new edition of the letters and speeches of Oliver Cromwell, funded by the Leverhulme Trust.

Media appearances

Jason has worked as a consultant on a range of TV documentaries, including episodes of Who Do You Think You Are? and a Channel 4 series entitled Blood on our Hands relating to the English Civil War (2005). He has also contributed to a number of history programmes on Radio 3 and Radio 4, including two editions of the Long View: on state surveillance (2015) and on House of Lords reform (2009).

Teaching

  • The British Civil Wars and Interregnum, 1637-1660 (undergraduate special subject)
  • The Political City: London in the Seventeenth Century (undergraduate advanced seminar)
  • Tudor and Stuart Britain, 1500-1700 (undergraduate survey)

Contact information

Email: j.peacey@ucl.ac.uk

Telephone: 020 7679 3626

Office: 209, 25 Gordon Square

Student support & feedback hours: Wednesday, 12-1 (in person), and Friday, 9-10 (online, via Teams)

Student support & feedback hours are an opportunity for students to chat with their module tutors about their ideas, any support they might need with the module, and to go through feedback from their assessments. 

External roles

Qualifications

  • PhD Cambridge, 1994
  • Fellow of the Royal Historical Society since 2003