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Staff profile

Overview

Emma Yeo

Considering the existence/lack of a seventeenth century 'General Crisis', within the context of studies of individual communities within the North East of England.

Affiliations
Affiliation
Considering the existence/lack of a seventeenth century 'General Crisis', within the context of studies of individual communities within the North East of England. in the Department of History

Biography

Emma Yeo is an early modern historian focusing on the local history of North East England.

She is currently studying for a PhD at Durham and has previously graduated from Durham with an MA in Social and Economic History (Research Methods) and an MA in Classics and Ancient History from Newcastle, both with distinction. 

Project Summary

The concept of a ‘General Crisis’ represents a widespread belief among historians that the seventeenth century witnessed a crisis in interpersonal conflict, as part of demographic, environmental and economic crises. Initially referring to Europe, the concept of a General Crisis in the seventeenth century has now been extended to societies across the globe.

Instead of focusing on global societal, economic or political tensions, I will examine the General Crisis in regional context and evaluate the evidence for a General Crisis in North-East England, particularly the Palatinate of Durham. I will test the ways in which this specific regional society experienced and resolved crises on the ground, balancing systemic issues such as climate change and demography with the agency of individuals. The resilience of communities within seventeenth-century Durham and the reasons for variations in levels of vulnerability to disaster will be considered.

Research Interests

Emma is also interested in the history of crisis more broadly, as reflected by her previous dissertation projects on the ill-fated fifth century Roman emperor Honorius (MA) and the local Easington Colliery Disaster (BA).

During the pandemic she joined a student-run autoethnography group designed to help us reflect upon our experiences of COVID-19 within an academic context. The first, and hopefully not last, journal article from this ongoing project has now been published.