EDUCATION

July 2020

PHD, UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND

• Thesis Title: “Effectiveness and Authority: The Bishop of Lincoln’s Court of Audience in the Early Sixteenth Century”.

Although concentrating on just one of many church courts of the time, and particularly between March 1528 and March 1530, my thesis provided new insight into the ecclesiastical legal system throughout late medieval England. It investigated the court’s jurisdictional coverage and procedural flexibility and considered the men who spent much of their working lives engaged within its arenas, their legal knowledge, acuity, professionalism, ethical outlook, inter-personal and community relations, constructing short biographies on several key figures whilst doing so. It looked at marriage litigation to reveal more about lay and lawyer involvement, courtroom dynamics, and decisions made by or forced upon participants whilst it was underway. It examined enforcement of discipline, especially after sexual misconduct by the laity, and particularly the processes of inquisition, judicial sentence construction and penitential punishment. Part of the process involved transcription (and translation from Latin) of a 45,000-word manuscript, previously rarely considered by academics and containing evidence from over 150 church court cases, and the creation of a database of 600-plus members of the laity, lawyers, and clergy who featured therein.

November 2016

MA MEDIEVAL STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF LINCOLN, ENGLAND

During my MA at Lincoln I studied the following modules: Research Methods; Priests and Parishioners; Palaeography and Diplomatic; and Medieval Latin Language and Documents. I also wrote a 15,000 word dissertation on the Court of King Henry II of England.

July 1984

LLB, UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS

I obtained my law degree from Leeds University in July 1984. From there I attended the College of Law, Chester, for further professional training, qualified as a solicitor in 1987 and worked full time in the law until I retired early at the end of 2013.