Mark Bailey

Mark David Bailey, (born 21 November 1960) is a British academic, headteacher and former rugby union player. Since 2020, he has been Professor of Late Medieval History at the University of East Anglia. In 2019, he delivered the James Ford Lectures in British History at Oxford University, which were later published as a book, After the Black Death: Economy, society, and the law in fourteenth-century England.

Bailey played rugby union for Cambridge University R.U.F.C., Bedford Blues, London Wasps, and for England. He completed a doctorate at Cambridge during his playing career, and was then elected a fellow at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge in 1986 and then at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge in 1996. He left academia in 1999 to become headmaster of Leeds Grammar School before returning in 2010 when he was appointed Professor of Later Medieval History at the University of East Anglia (UEA). He left that post after a year to become High Master of St Paul's School, London, while maintaining a visiting professorship at UEA. He has once again been Professor of Late Medieval History at UEA since 2020.

Early life Bailey was born on 21 November 1960 in Castleford, Yorkshire. He was educated at Love Lane Primary School, Pontefract, Dale Hall Primary School, Ipswich, Ipswich School and Durham University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economic history in 1982. He completed his doctoral studies at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. His PhD was awarded in 1987 for his thesis, "At the margin: Suffolk Breckland in the Middle Ages".

Sporting career In 1979, Bailey won the Cricket Society's Wetherell Award for the best public school all-rounder. In 1980, he played for the NCA Young Cricketers and made his debut in the Minor Counties for Suffolk, for whom he played until 1991 and served as captain between 1988 and 1990.

Bailey played rugby for Durham University and the University of Cambridge, captaining the latter in the 1983 and 1984 Varsity matches. He won four Blues at Cambridge. He later served as secretary of Cambridge University R.U.F.C. as its representative on the Rugby Football Union, and was president of the club. Bailey played on the wing for Bedford in 1981–2 and for London Wasps between 1984 and 1990, winning the premiership in the 1989–90 season. Bailey was a captain of the England B national team. He also received international honours for England, and played seven times. He made his international debut in a 1984 series against South Africa, He also played for the Barbarians invitational side.

After retiring, Bailey became a member of the Rugby Football Union's playing committee. On 16 June 2003, Bailey was honoured with Durham University's Palatinate Award for Sport.

Academic career Bailey was elected to a fellowship at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge in 1986. He was additionally a lecturer in local history at the Board of Continuing Education, University of Cambridge in 1991. In 1996, he left both positions and became a fellow at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. In 1999, he was appointed headmaster of Leeds Grammar School, an all-boys independent school in Leeds, West Yorkshire. In 2020, he was succeeded as high master by Sally-Anne Huang, and he returned to the University of East Anglia.

He has written seven books and published a number of academic articles on the economy and society of medieval England. In 2014 he published The Decline of Serfdom in late medieval England: from bondage to freedom. Bailey was invited to deliver the Ford Lectures in British History at the University of Oxford in 2019; these were published in 2021 by Oxford University Press as After the Black Death: Economy, society, and the law in fourteenth-century England. In 2025, he published Serfdom in England: Theory and Practice 1200 to 1500 , which won the Joan Thirsk Memorial Prize for the best book in British and Irish Agricultural History in 2025.