Michael Bennett

Biography

Educated at the University of Liverpool and the University of Lancaster, Michael Bennett moved to Australia in 1974, and was a lecturer at the University of Sydney prior to moving to Tasmania in 1977. He was appointed Professor of History at the University of Tasmania in 1993 and was, until 2014 Head of the School of History and Classics and Director of the Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies. He works on politics, religion and society in late medieval and early modern England. His research made the front page of The Times (18 July 1997) when he discovered a charter of Edward III which attempted to change the order of the royal succession in England. The author of four books on late medieval and early Tudor England, he is currently engaged in a major project on the early global spread of smallpox vaccination. He is Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and Life Member of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge.