Steven Bednarski | History | University of Waterloo

Biography

I began my career as a social historian of crime and gender in premodern Europe, and then expanded to focus on preindustrial Environmental History. I work primarily on the south of France (Provence) and on England. In Provence, I read criminal trials to reconstruct the plots and plans of ordinary villagers. From them, I extract lessons on sexuality, gender, violence, and healthcare, among others. In England, I contemplate how historical changes to natural environment impact the lived human experience. More recently, my interest has taken a distinctly modern turn that builds on my work with court transcripts and gender studies. My current book project, thus, focuses on a queer man in the Second World War. I supervise graduate students in Medieval History, especially those with an interest in natural environment, and, occasionally, those interested in wartime prosecutions, gender, and microhistory. To learn more about my approach to pedagogy and scholarship, consult my book A Poisoned Past: The Life and Times of Margarida de Portu, a Fourteenth-Century Accused Poisoner.

Education

B.A. History/Linguistics, York University, 1995
M.A. History, University of Toronto, 1996
PhD Medieval History, Université du Québec à Montréal, 2002

Research and teaching interests

Medieval history
Environmental history
Social history
Criminal history
Gender history

Courses taught

HIST 115 Crusading in the Middle Ages
HIST 260 Europe, c.300 - c.1500
HIST 204 Heresy & Religious Crises in the Later Middle Ages
HIST 317 History of Sexuality, Premodern
HIST 622 Microhistory & the Lost Peoples of Europe
HIST 624 Environmental & Climate History, Premodern

Recent publications

(Co-authored with A. Moroe) « Drainer le pouvoir local : les premiers temps des Commissions of Sewers et leur environnement dans le Sussex (fin du XIVe siècle), » Memini : Travaux et documents, Vol. 30 (December 2024) (https://doi.org/10.4000/130wo).
(Co-authored with N. Graham, R. Harrap, A. Moore, Z. MacDonald, and L. Fusco), “Northeye Restored: Augmented Reality of an Abandoned Medieval Village,” in New Technologies in Medieval and Renaissance Studies: The Changing Shape of Digital Early Modern Studies, ed. Caroline Winter & Randa El Khatib, (Chicago: Iter / Univeresity of Chicago Press, 2024)
(Co-authored with Jifan Yang et al) “Fostering the AR Illusion: a study of how people interact with a shared artifact in collocated augmented reality,” Frontiers in Virtual Reality, 20 August 2024.
(Co-authored with A. Moore) “Draining the Swamp: National and Local Regulation of Drainage in a 1396 English Sewer Commission Report” Speculum: the Journal of the Medieval Academy of America, Vol. 97, No. 2 (April 2022): 322 – 348.
(Co-authored with A. Moore & T. Newfield) “New Interdisiplinary Approaches to Life and Land at Herstmonceux,” Handbook of Medieval Rural Life, ed. Miriam Muller, Routledge History Handbook Series. Oxford: Routledge, 2021.
(Co-authored with C. McCarthy) “Margarida de Portu,” Toxicology in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, History of Toxicology and Environmental Health Series, ed. Philip Wexler, National Library of Medicine (London: Academic Press, 2017): 141 – 147.
“Changing Landscapes: A Call for Renewed Approaches to Social History, Natural Environment, and Historical Climate in Late Medieval Provence,” Memini. Travaux et Documents, Mélanges offerts à Michel Hébert,19 – 20 (2015 – 2016): 423 – 457.
“Autour du corps de Catherine Fabri : un document relatif à une césarienne post-mortem en Provence au XVe siècle” in Autour de la médicalisation. Perspectives historique, pratique et re-présentations des soignants et des soignés, XVE-XX siècle, ed. Joceline Chabot, Daniel Hickey, and Martin Pâquet (Presses universitaires Laval, 2012): 27-43.
“The Search for the Father in Fourteenth-Century Provençal Society: Evidence from Manosque” in Aventiuren des Geschlechts. Konzeptionen von Männlichkeit in der Literatur des 13. Jahrhunderts, eds. Michael Mecklenburg and Matthias Meyer. Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin, 2006: 39 – 59.
“Whence Springs the Lie? Motive and Fraud in the Manosquin Criminal Court (1340-1403)” in Shell Games: Studies in Scams, Frauds, and Deceits (1300 – 1650), eds. M. Crane, R. Raiswell, and M. Murray. Toronto: Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, 2004:123 – 144.
“Keeping it in the Family? Domestic Violence in the Later Middle Ages: Examples from a Provençal Town (1340 - 1403)” in Love, Marriage and Family Ties in the Middle Ages, eds. Miriam Muller, Isabel Davis, and Sarah Rees-Jones. Turnhour: Brepolis, 2003: 277 - 297.

Works in Progress:

Reconstruction: The Life and Times of Sir Herbert Paul Latham of Herstmonceux Castle. Book project. Under review.
(Co-authored with Sahand Shaghaghi & Andrew Moore) “Material Criteria and Methods for 3D scanning and 3D printing of archaeological artifacts.” Under Review.
(Co-authored with C. Lloyd) Herstmonceux Unseen: An Illustrated History. Book project. In progress.
(Co-authored with co-investigators on SSHRC PG) Environments of Change: Collected Essays from an Interdisciplinary Medieval Project, ed. Claire Kennan, S. Bednarski, A. Moore, and C. McCarthy (Turnhout: Brepols, 2026). In progress.

Awards and achievements

STLHE - D2L Innovation Award in Teaching and Learning, 2017
SSHRC Connection Grant, 2016 – 2018
SSHRC Partnership Development Grant, 2014 – 2018
4A Award, University of Waterloo/SSHRC, 2013
Distinguished Teacher Award, University of Waterloo, 2011
Insight Development Grant, SSHRC, 2011-2012
SSRC Seed Grant, University of Waterloo, 2009-2010
Postdoctoral Fellowship, SSHRC, 2002-2004

Press

Contact information

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