Melissa Sartore

Melissa Sartore has been a writer with Ranker since 2017 and a content creator and editor since 2020. She earned a B.A. and an M.A. in history from Western Illinois University before continuing to get her Ph.D. in medieval history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In addition to writing for Ranker, Melissa’s work has appeared in National Geographic, The Popular Culture Studies Journal, Studies in Popular Culture, and Al-Masas: Islam and the Medieval Mediterranean, and The Collector. In line with her interests in outlaws, especially medieval outlaws, Melissa published a book called Outlawry and Governance in Medieval England as well. 

Melissa is fascinated by the power of popular culture to present accessible information about the past. Interested in all things history, Melissa strives to make history enjoyable and intriguing while simultaneously highlighting its relevance in the modern world. 

A lover of dogs, yarn, and mustard, Melissa also teaches history and writes short stories about historical events told from a snarky perspective. In addition to her website featuring some of these stories (https://historyaccordingtosnark.wordpress.com/) she has published several books:

The first volume of the stories can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTLTDL43

And the second volume (the prequel!) is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CVWB96FH

And, because trilogies are the best, here's the third volume (the sequel!): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWDD2BWK