Home University: University of Guelph
Email: kbecke06@uoguelph.ca
Education: BA (Hons) History, Dalhousie University; MA History, Dalhousie University
Research Fields: Scottish History, Early Modern English law, politics, religion from Henry VII to the Stewarts
Supervisor: Cathryn Spence
Kristen Becker is a PhD student in the Department of History at the University of Guelph. She completed both her BA and MA in history at Dalhousie University. Kristen's previous research focused on various legal changes in English and Scottish history and Anglo Scottish relations. Her BA honours thesis examined the use and legality of torture during the Stuart reign in England and Scotland to determine if (and how) this influenced Anglo Scottish relations. Kristen's MA thesis examined legal reform in Cromwellian Scotland during the 1650s to determine if (and how) the brief union affected Anglo Scottish relations, and the ways in which legal reform influenced contemporaries' own understandings of the laws. Building upon her previous projects, Kristen will examine treason cases during the reign of James VI in early modern Scotland to suggest that legislation surrounding treason, considerations of, and reactions to treason, are reflective of contemporary understandings of kingship, sovereignty, and subjecthood.