Martyn Rady

Martyn Rady's books examine empire, monarchy, political power, law, territory, dynasty, and the changing structures that connect regions over long periods. The Habsburgs follows the rise and decline of a ruling house whose authority depended on inheritance, negotiation, war, and administration. Emperor Charles V concentrates those forces in the challenges faced by one reign.

The Middle Kingdoms widens the frame to several connected lands, showing how borders and political identities shift across competing institutions. Anonymus and Master Roger brings medieval texts into the study of conquest and memory. Rady's works link large structures with particular documents and decisions: an empire appears not as a fixed map, but as a continuing effort to coordinate different peoples, laws, and claims.