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University of Southampton research into the Battle of Agincourt, and on the late medieval soldier more generally, has impacted widely on the public, enriched popular understanding and enjoyment of history, and challenged widely held beliefs. The work has inspired individuals, groups, students and academics — in the UK and across the world — to explore their family and community heritage, thereby enriching the quality of life. Notable outputs included an online database of soldiers in Henry V's army, which received over 3.4 million hits in the three months after its launch in July 2009. Further impact has been made through television documentaries, media coverage and contributions to museums in England and France.
Research produced by the University of Reading's Charlemagne in England project played a key role in a successful bid to develop community-based street theatre cultural projects in Walsall as part of a regeneration programme. Four plays have been performed in the area to date, helping to strengthen local identity. International links have been established with audiences in countries such as Canada through video-streamed performances, and there are plans to take the plays to Belgium and France. Set to become an annual tradition, the project has already brought about significant local cultural change in a relatively disadvantaged part of the country.
Direct cultural, historical, religious, creative and musical impact has been achieved through active participation of five distinct groups in a major practice-led research project (2009-2013): (i) 18 craftspeople and artists creating historically-informed artefacts; and (ii) clergy, (iii) singers, (iv) organists and (v) congregations participating in the enactment of medieval rituals (footfall over 2500). Impact over a longer period (2001-13) has been achieved through use of three reconstructed medieval organs in residencies (c.3-12 months) at cathedrals, churches and college chapels, with direct musical impact on early performance practice by choirs and organists. Wider indirect impact is ongoing through the main project websites.
This case study provides an example of impact on cultural life and cultural heritage underpinned by research undertaken by Dr Laura Wright on the history of London English. She has been broadcasting fortnightly talks devoted to this topic on BBC London 94.9 from 1999 to the present. The very considerable feedback from listeners testifies to the range and significance of its impact on their lives, substantiating a sense of their own history, in and through language.
Research led by Cayley (the Exeter Manuscripts Project) has enhanced appreciation of medieval manuscript culture, drawing upon unique Exeter holdings, and has increased public understanding of medieval game cultures and European manuscript production (Impact 1). Her iPad app, developed with Antenna International, related exhibition and workshops have effected a `translation' of medieval material culture through modern media. Research by Roberts has disseminated new understandings of Renaissance obscenity in visual form, influencing artistic practice, and engaging regional communities (Impact 2). Jones has generated impact by stimulating public engagement with theatre and the visual arts (Impact 3) based on research offering new understandings of narrative and the visual.
Professor Bartlett has written and presented two television series on medieval subjects for the BBC: Inside the Medieval Mind (four one-hour episodes, BBC4, 2008) and The Normans (three one-hour episodes, BBC2, 2010). Already one of the world's leading medieval historians, he has taken his work to a much wider audience through these series. Impact in this case is primarily on cultural life, through the exposure of millions of viewers to a historical documentary about the Middle Ages. The BBC's estimate of their value is re-emphasized by the recent completion of a third series, The Plantagenets, to be screened in autumn 2013.
In the past five years, the research of Dr Mark Blackburn and Dr Rory Naismith has been crucial to transforming the personal and professional development of amateur metal detectorists and collectors. Early medieval coins discovered by the latter have been integral to this research, and dissemination of research conclusions has led detectorists to search more responsibly and report their finds. Dr Blackburn and Dr Naismith's research has thus shaped attitudes towards the heritage value of coinage among the general public, metal-detector users and in the commercial sector. Their success in achieving this impact has been based on presentation of research through electronic databases, public outreach and printed publications.
This impact case study focuses on the ways in which original research on Anglo-Saxon textiles has contributed to the heritage industry and increased cultural understanding of early medieval life. Professor Gale Owen-Crocker's research impacts on the public's knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon world by engaging with non-professional historians, re-enactors, textile practitioners and creative writers through public lectures, consultancy work, collaborations with museums and living history organisations.
The Knights Templar are famous for their involvement in the Medieval crusades but the myths surrounding them and popular representations, as seen in The Da Vinci Code, have created an inaccurate view of the Templars' historical significance. Nicholson's research on (a) the Templars and their estates, (b) her collaborations with museum and heritage organizations, and (c) her advice on Templar properties, has challenged misconceptions about the Templars and informed professional practice in presenting heritage sites, benefiting individuals, authors, archaeologists and museum practitioners. Her research has equipped non-academic audiences with a clearer understanding of the Templars, generating new interpretations and cultural artefacts by diverse groups worldwide.
The Wars of the Roses and Richard III remain engrossing and controversial after 500 years throughout the Anglophone world and beyond. Hicks and Holford have made a significant impact on public knowledge and understanding of the period's politics and society. Their publications, printed and online, are valuable resources for professional and amateur historians, students and the general public, nationally and internationally. Hicks' Anne Neville underpinned Philippa Gregory's novel, The Kingmaker's Daughter and hence the BBC series The White Queen. The website, blog and twitter, Mapping the Medieval Countryside, are making the inquisitions post mortem (IPMs) much more widely accessible and useful than hitherto.