Leverhulme Research Fellowship success

Dr Stephen Bowd has been awarded a £42,595 Leverhulme Research Fellowship for his project ‘Massacres during the Italian Wars (1494-1559)’, which will run from September 2016 to September 2017.

About the project

Dr Bowd's project will provide the first analytical overview of mass murder during the Italian Wars and will show how vindicatory and vindictive motives drove both soldiers and non-combatants towards violence which horrified contemporaries.

The Wars were marked by regular occurrences of violence against non-combatants. The sacking of the wealthy towns of Italy by troops was often accompanied by mass murder and contemporary estimates for fatalities range from a few dozen to many thousands. Despite its impact on the historical record the origins, dynamics, and memory of such violence, the topic has not received sustained and focused examination by scholars.