
Professor Helen Nicholson
Professor of Medieval History (Research Leave 2020/1)
School of History, Archaeology and Religion
- nicholsonhj@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 2087 4250
- Fax:
- +44 (0)29 2087 4929
- 5.45, John Percival Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff, CF10 3EU
- Media commentator
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
A former Head of the History Department, I am a world-leading scholar in research into the military religious orders and the Crusades. I have very extensive experience in teaching students at all levels, and a strong record in impact and engagement with the wider public. I am a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.
Research interests
- The Military Orders: the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitaller, and the Teutonic Knights;
- The Trial of the Templars in the British Isles;
- The Templars' English estates, 1308-1311;
- The Hospitallers in the British Isles in the fourteenth century;
- The Crusades in the Middle Ages;
- Women in the crusades and in religious orders in the middle ages;
- The use of medieval 'fictional' literature as historical evidence.
Research projects
- The Trial of the Templars in the British Isles;
- The Knights Templars' English estates, 1308-1311;
- The Hospitallers in the British Isles in the Fourteenth Century;
- Queen Sybil of Jerusalem (1186-1190).
Impact and engagement
Research blog on the Knights Templar estates
In past years I have regularly given talks to general interest groups on the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitaller, and the Crusades.
Details of Professor Helen Nicholson's academic publications
Biography
Education and qualifications
1990 PhD (History), for thesis entitled: 'Images of the Military Orders, 1128-1291: spiritual, secular, romantic'. Supervisor: Norman Housley, Department of History, University of Leicester.
1986 Admitted to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
1986 MA (Oxon.)
1979–1982 BA Ancient and Modern History, University of Oxford (St Hilda's College). Class awarded: First.
Career overview
1994–present member of staff in School of History and Archaeology, Cardiff University (1994–96: fixed-term lecturer; 1996 lecturer; 2000: Senior Lecturer; 2004 Reader; 2013 Professor).
1992–1994 Part-time teaching assistant in the Department of History, University of Leicester.
1990–1992 Maternity break.
1986–1989 Open Research Scholarship in the Department of History, University of Leicester.
1982–1985 Employer: Coopers and Lybrand, Chartered Accountants, Abacus House, 32 Friar Lane, Leicester, LE1 5RA. Final position: Audit Senior.
Honours and awards
2003–2004 British Academy/Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship
Other awards:
- 2013 (with Dr Bronach Kane): Royal Historical Society grant for their postgraduate visiting speakers series, subsidising a one-day symposium ‘Conflict in Historical Perspectives’, 23 January 2015;
- 2009, 1997 Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust grants towards publication of conference proceedings;
- 2008 Cadw grant to the Cardiff Centre for the Crusades towards conference costs;
- 2011, 2003 British Academy Overseas Conference Grants towards attending the Ordines Militares – Colloquia Torunensia Historica conferences XII and XVI in Toruń, Poland;
- 1999 Isaiah Berlin travel award from the Academic Study Group on Israel and the Middle East
12 June 2019: as one of the Scientific Committee for the Military and Religious Orders conferences at Palmela, Portugal, I shared in the award of a Council Medal of Muncipal Merit by the Municípo Palmela. This award was to acknowledge thirty years of these conferences.
Professional memberships
- 2017 elected as Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales;
- 2002 elected as a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society;
- Member of the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East, the Ecclesiastical History Society, the International Arthurian Society, and Societas Magica
Speaking engagements
I am regularly asked by publishers and the broadcast media to comment on the crusades and the military orders for the general public and for students. I regularly speak at international academic conferences.
Recent research papers and conferences
(presented during the last eighteen months)
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15 November 2019: ‘The Trial of the Templars in Britain and Ireland’ at the conference ‘Gli Ordini di Terrasanta: questioni aperte, nuove acquisizioni (XII–XVI secolo)’ at Perugia, Italy, 14–15 November 2019
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16 October 2019: ‘The Hospitallers in medieval Britain: champions, churches and charity’, 2019 Jonathan Riley-Smith Memorial Lecture for the St John Historical Society, St John’s Gate, Clerkenwell, London
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11 October 2019: ‘Queen Sybil of Jerusalem and the Third Crusade’, Graduate Centre for Medieval Studies seminar, University of Reading
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4 July 2019 at International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds in session 1616, New Approaches to the Third Crusade II: ‘A Queen Alone: Queen Sybil of Jerusalem between Hattin and Acre, 1187–1189’
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1 June 2019, ‘Women connected with the Knights Templar and Hospitaller’, at ‘War and Welfare in Late Medieval England’, a Study Day organised by the Gloucestershire Branch of the Richard III Society
Committees and reviewing
2018–20: Chair of SHARE Research Ethics Committee;
2017–18: Chair of the Board of Studies for Integrated degrees in SHARE;
2016–17: Chair of the Board of Studies in History & Welsh History;
2012–15: Head of the History Department;
2011–13: Chair of the Board of Studies in History & Welsh History;
2011–14: Member of School Senior Management Team;
2011–12: Member of School Research Committee, Equality and Diversity Committee, Health and Safety Committee;
2010–11: Admissions tutor for Single Honours History;
2004: Postgraduate Tutor in History and Welsh History; Chair of the HISAR Undergraduate Quality Committee; [anti]Unfair Practices co-ordinator;
2002–3: Chair of the Board of Studies for Integrated Degrees within the School;
1999–2002: Examinations Secretary for History and Welsh History;
1995–98: Chair of the School Library Committee.
External Committees
2019– : member of Council of the Royal Historical Society (elected for five years);
2019– : Editorial Advisory Board, British Journal for Military History
2018– : Editorial Board, Crusades, Journal of the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East;
2017–: Editorial Board, Ordines militares – Colloquia Torunensia Historica. Yearbook for the History of the Military Orders
2017–: Editorial Board, Advances in Crusades Research
2015–: Editorial Board, The Military Religious Orders
2007–: Editorial Board, Outremer: Studies in the Crusades and the Latin East
1999–2004: associate editor of Crusades, journal of the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East;
1999–2002: Treasurer of the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East
Peer reviewer of papers on medieval studies for a range of scholarly journals
Publications
2020
- Nicholson, H. J. 2020. The hospitallers in medieval Britain. In: Sarnowsky, J. et al. eds. Studies on the Military Orders, Prussia, and Urban History: Essays in Honour of Roman Czaja on the Occasion of His Sixtieth Birthday / Beiträge zur Ritterordens-, Preußen- und Städteforschung. Festschrift für Roman Czaja zum 60. Geburtstag. Debrecen: University of Debrecen, pp. 41-55.
- Nicholson, H. 2020. Queen Sybil of Jerusalem as a military leader. In: Burgtorf, J., Hoffart, C. and Kubon, S. eds. Von Hamburg nach Java. Studien zur mittelalterlichen, neuen und digitalen Geschichte zu Ehren von Jürgen Sarnowsky. Nova Mediaevalia: Quellen und Studien zum europaeischen Mittelalter Vol. 18. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, pp. 265-276.
- Nicholson, H. and Burgtorf, J. eds. 2020. The Templars, the hospitallers and the crusades: essays in homage to Alan J. Forey. The Military Religious Orders: History, Sources, and Memory Vol. 2. London: Routledge.
- Nicholson, H. 2020. What the Hospitaller said to the bishop. In: Nicholson, H. and Burgtorf, J. eds. The Templars, the Hospitallers and the Crusades: Essays in Homage to Alan J. Forey. The Military Religious Orders: History, Sources, and Memory Vol. 2. London: Routledge, pp. 215-226.
- Nicholson, H. 2020. Negotiation and conflict: the Templars’ and Hospitallers’ relations with diocesan bishops in Britain and Ireland. In: Smith, T. W. ed. Authority and Power in the Medieval Church, c. 1000–c. 1500. Europa Sacra Vol. 24. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 272-389.
2019
- Nicholson, H. 2019. The Military Orders. In: Jones, R. W. and Coss, P. eds. A Companion to Chivalry. Woodbridge: Boydell and Brewer, pp. 69-84.
- Nicholson, H. 2019. The surveys and accounts of the Templars’ estates in England and Wales (1308–13). In: Lippiatt, G. E. M. and Bird, J. L. eds. Crusading Europe: Essays in Honour of Christopher Tyerman. Outremer: Studies in the Crusades and the Latin East Vol. 8. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 181-209.
- Nicholson, H. 2019. Holy warriors, worldly war: Military religious orders and secular conflict’. In: France, J., DeVries, K. and Rogers, C. J. eds. Journal of Medieval Military History., Vol. 17., pp. 61-79.
- Nicholson, H. 2019. The true gentleman? Correct behaviour towards women according to Christian and Muslim writers: from the Third Crusade to Sultan Baybars. In: Hodgson, N. R., Lewis, K. J. and Mesley, M. M. eds. Crusading and Masculinities. Crusades Subsidia Vol. 13. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 100-112.
- Nicholson, H. 2019. Women's writing and cultural patronage. In: Bale, A. ed. The Cambridge companion to the literature of the Crusades. The Cambridge Companions to Literature Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 72-84., (10.1017/9781108672832.006)
- Nicholson, H. J. 2019. The construction of a primary source. The creation of Itinerarium Peregrinorum 1. Cahiers de recherches médiévales et humanistes / Journal of Medieval and Humanistic Studies 37, pp. 143-165., article number: 7. (10.15122/isbn.978-2-406-09701-3.p.0143)
2018
- Nicholson, H. 2018. Evidence of the Templars' Religious Practice from the Records of the Templars' Estates in Britain and Ireland in 1308. In: Shagrir, I., Kedar, B. Z. and Balard, M. eds. Communicating the Middle Ages: Essays in honour of Sophia Menache. Crusades - Subsidia Vol. 11. London: Routledge, pp. 50-63.
- Nicholson, H. 2018. Remembering the crusaders in Cyprus: the Lusignans, the Hospitallers and the 1191 conquest of Cyprus in Jean d’Arras’ Mélusine. In: Parsons, S. T. and Paterson, L. M. eds. Literature of the Crusades. Woodbridge, Suffolk: D. S. Brewer, pp. 158-172.
- Nicholson, H. 2018. Memory and the military orders: an overview. In: Fernandes, I. C. ed. Entre Deus e o Rei: O Mundo das Ordens Militares., Vol. 1. Palmela: Município de Palmela – GEsOS, pp. 17-28.
2017
- Nicholson, H. J. 2017. The everyday life of the Templars: The Knights Templar at home. Stroud: Fonthill.
- Nicholson, H. J. and Slavin, P. 2017. “The Real Da Vinci Code”: The accounts of Templars’ estates in England and Wales during the suppression of the Order. In: Borchardt, K. et al. eds. The Templars and their Sources. London: Routledge, pp. 237-247.
- Nicholson, H. J. 2017. Documents, editions and translations. In: Loughran, T. L. ed. A Practical Guide to Studying History: Skill and Approaches. London: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 171-183.
- Nicholson, H. J. 2017. What became of the Templars after the trial of 1307-14?. In: Jordan, W. C. and Phillips, J. R. eds. The Capetian century, 1214–1314. Cultural Encounters in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages Vol. 22. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 323-347.
2016
- Nicholson, H. J. 2016. “La Damoisele del chastel”: women’s role in the defence and functioning of castles in medieval writing from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries. In: Sinibaldi, M. et al. eds. Crusader Landscapes in the Medieval Levant. The Archaeology and History of the Latin East. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, pp. 387-401.
- Nicholson, H. J. 2016. St Ursula and the military religious orders. In: Cartwright, J. ed. The Cult of St Ursula and the 11,000 Virgins. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, pp. 41-59.
- Nicholson, H. J. 2016. How secret were the Templars’ ceremonies? Evidence from the proceedings in the British Isles. In: Sammarco, S. ed. Commilitones Christi: Miscellanea di studi per il Centro Italiano di Documenttzione sull’Ordine del Tempio, MMXI–MMXVI. Rome: Lisanti, pp. 85-98.
- Nicholson, H. J. 2016. The Templars’ Estates in the west of Britain in the early fourteenth century. In: Schenk, J. and Carr, M. eds. The Military Orders, vol. 6. Culture and Conflict in Western and Northern Europe., Vol. 2. The Military Orders Vol. 6. London: Routledge, pp. 132-142.
2015
- Nicholson, H. J. 2015. A long way from Jerusalem: the Templars and Hospitallers in Ireland, c. 1172–c.1348. In: Browne, M. and Ó Clabaigh, C. eds. Soldiers of Christ: The Knights Hospitaller and The Knights Templar in Medieval Ireland. Dublin: Four Courts Press, pp. 1-22.
- Nicholson, H. J. 2015. “Nolite confidere in principibus”: The Military Orders’ relations with the rulers of Christendom. In: Josserand, P., Oliveira, L. F. and Carraz, D. eds. Élites et Orders Militaires au Moyen Age: Recontre Autour d’Alain Demurger. Madrid: Casa de Veláquez, pp. 261-276.
- Nicholson, H. 2015. Women's involvement in the Crusades. In: Boas, A. ed. The Crusader World. Routledge Worlds Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 54-67.
2014
- Nicholson, H. J. 2014. Re-translating William of Tyre: The origins of the templars and hospitallers according to London, British library additional manuscript 5444, fols 242v-248r. In: Edgington, S. B. and Nicholson, H. J. eds. Deeds Done Beyond the Sea: Essays on William of Tyre, Cyprus and the Military Orders presented to Peter Edbury. Crusades - Subsidia Farnham: Ashgate, pp. 53-68.
- Nicholson, H. J. 2014. 'Martyrum collegio sociandus haberet': Depictions of the Military Orders' Martyrs in the Holy Land, 1187-1291. In: John, S. and Morton, N. eds. Crusading and Warfare in the Middle Ages: Realities and Representations. Essays in Honour of John France. Crusades - Subsidia Burlington, VT: Ashgate, pp. 101-118.
- Edgington, S. B. and Nicholson, H. J. eds. 2014. Deeds done beyond the sea: essays on William of Tyre, Cyprus and the military orders presented to Peter Edbury. Crusades - Subsidia Vol. 6. Aldershot: Ashgate.
2013
- Nicholson, H. J. 2013. The Templars in Britain: Garway and South Wales. In: Baudin, A., Brunel, G. and Dohrmann, N. eds. L'économie templière en Occident: Patrimoines, commerce, finances - Actes du colloque international. Langres: Éditions Dominique Guéniot, pp. 323-336.
- Nicholson, H. J. 2013. The Knights Hospitaller. In: Burton, J. and Stober, K. eds. Monastic Wales: New Approaches. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, pp. 147-161.
- Nicholson, H. J. 2013. The hero meets his match: Cultural encounters in narratives of wars against Muslims. In: Jensen, K. V., Salonen, K. and Vogt, H. eds. Cultural Encounters during the Crusades: Proceedings of the First Medieval Conference at the Danish Institute in Damascus, 2009. University of Southern Denmark Studies in History and Social Sciences Vol. 445. Odense: University Press of Southern Denmark, pp. 115-118.
- Nicholson, H. J. 2013. The military religious orders in the towns of the British Isles. In: Carraz, D. ed. Les ordres militaires dans la ville méduévale (1100-1350). Presses Universitaires Blaise-Pascal, pp. 113-126.
2012
- Nicholson, H. J. 2012. The Hospitallers' and Templars' involvement in warfare on the frontiers of the British Isles in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. Ordines Militares: Colloquia Torunensia Historica: Yearbook for the study of the Military Orders 17, pp. 105-119.
- Nicholson, H. J. 2012. Love in a hot climate: Gender relations in 'Florent et Octavien'. In: Lambert, S. and Nicholson, H. J. eds. Languages of Love and Hate: Conflict, Communication and Identity in the Medieval Mediterreanean. International Medieval Research Vol. 15. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 21-36.
- Nicholson, H. J. 2012. The military orders in Wales and the Welsh March in the Middle Ages. In: Edbury, P. W. ed. The Military Orders Volume 5: Politics and Power. The Military Orders Vol. 5. Farnham: Ashgate, pp. 189-207.
- Nicholson, H. 2012. Charity and hospitality in military orders. In: As Ordens Militares : Freires, Guerreiros, Cavaleiros : Actas do VI Encontro sobre Ordens Militares : 10 a 14 de Março de 2010., Vol. 1. Palmela, Portugal: Município de Palmela, pp. 193-206.
2011
- Nicholson, H. J. 2011. Myths and reality: the Crusades and the Latin East as presented during the Trial of the Templars in the British Isles, 1308–1311. In: Nicholson, H. J. ed. On the Margins of Crusading: the Military Orders, the Papacy and the Christian World. Crusades - Subsidia Vol. 4. Farnham: Ashgate, pp. 89-99.
- Nicholson, H. J. ed. 2011. On the margins of crusading: the military orders, the Papacy and the Christian world. Crusades – Subsidia Vol. 4. Farnham: Ashgate.
- Nicholson, H. J. ed. 2011. The proceedings against the Templars in the British Isles - Volume 2: The Translation. Farnham: Ashgate.
- Nicholson, H. J. ed. 2011. The proceedings against the Templars in the British Isles - Volume 1: The Latin Edition. Farnham: Ashgate.
- Nicholson, H. J. ed. 2011. The Proceedings against the Templars in the British Isles. Volume 1: The Latin Edition, Volume 2: The Translation. Ashgate.
- Nicholson, H. J. 2011. Water in medieval warfare. In: Tvedt, T., Chapman, G. and Hagen, R. eds. Water, Geopolitics and the New World Order. A History of Water: Series 2 Vol. 3. London and New York: I. B. Tauris, pp. 138-155.
2010
- Nicholson, H., Crawford, P. F. and Burgtorf, J. eds. 2010. The debate on the Trial of the Templars (1307–1312). Farnham and Burlington, VT (USA): Ashgate.
- Nicholson, H. J. 2010. The trial of the Templars in Ireland. In: Nicholson, H. J., Crawford, P. F. and Burgtorf, J. eds. The Debate on the Trial of the Templars (1307–1314). Farnham: Ashgate, pp. 225-235.
- Nicholson, H. J. 2010. The changing face of the Templars: current trends in historiography. History Compass 8(7), pp. 653-667. (10.1111/j.1478-0542.2010.00691.x)
- Nicholson, H. J. 2010. At the Heart of Medieval London: the New Temple in the Middle Ages. In: Park, D. and Griffith-Jones, R. eds. The Temple Church in London: History, Architecture, Art. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press, pp. 1-18.
- Nicholson, H. J. 2010. A brief history of the Knights Templar. London: Robinson.
2009
- Nicholson, H. J. 2009. The Knights Templar on trial: The trial of the Templars in the British Isles, 1308-1311. Stroud: The History Press.
2008
- Nicholson, H. J. 2008. The Hospitallers and the 'Peasants' Revolt' revisited. In: Mallia-Milanes, V. ed. The Military Orders Volume 3: History and Heritage. The Military Orders Vol. 3. Aldershot: Ashgate, pp. 225-233.
- Nicholson, H. J. 2008. The Hospitallers and the "Peasants' Revolt" of 1381 revisited. In: Mallia-Milanes, V. ed. The Military Orders. Volume 3, History and heritage. Aldershot: Ashgate, pp. 225-234.
2006
- Luttrell, A. and Nicholson, H. J. eds. 2006. Hospitaller women in the Middle Ages. Aldershot: Ashgate.
- Nicholson, H. J. 2006. “La roine preude femme et bonne dame”: Queen Sybil of Jerusalem (1186–1190) in History and Legend, 1186–1300. The Haskins Society Journal 15
2005
- Nicholson, H. J. and Burgtorf, J. eds. 2005. International mobility in the military orders: travelling on Christ's business. Religion and Culture in the Middle Ages. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
- Nicholson, H. J. ed. 2005. Palgrave advances in the crusades. Palgrave Advances. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Nicholson, H. J. 2005. The Sisters’ House at Minwear, Pembrokeshire: analysis of the documentary and archaeological evidence. Archaeologia Cambrensis 151, pp. 109-138.
2004
- Nicholson, H. J. 2004. Echoes of the past and present crusades in Les Prophecies de Merlin. Romania 122(3-4), pp. 320-340.
2003
- Nicholson, H. J. 2003. Medieval warfare: theory and practice of war in Europe, 300-1500. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
2001
- Nicholson, H. J. 2001. The knights hospitaller. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer.
- Nicholson, H. J. 2001. The Knights Templar: a new history. Stroud: Sutton Publishing.
2000
- Nicholson, H. J. 2000. Following the Path of the Lionheart: the De ortu Walwanii and the Itinerarium peregrinorum et gesta regis Ricardi’. Medium Aevum 69(1), pp. 21-33.
- Nicholson, H. J. 2000. Love, war and the Grail: Templars, Hospitallers and Teutonic Knights in Medieval epic and romance, 1150-1500. Leiden: Brill.
1999
- Nicholson, H. J. 1999. Margaret de Lacy and the Hospital of St John at Aconbury, Herefordshire. The Journal of Ecclesiastical History 50(4), pp. 629-651.
1997
- Nicholson, H. J. 1997. Women on the Third Crusade. Journal of Medieval History 23(4), pp. 335-349. (10.1016/S0304-4181(97)00013-4)
- de Templo, R. and Stubbs, W. Nicholson, H. J. ed. 1997. The chronicle of the third crusade: the itinerarium peregrinorum et gesta regis Ricardi.Nicholson, H. J. Crusade Texts in Translation Vol. 3. Aldershot: Ashgate.
1993
- Nicholson, H. J. 1993. Templars, hospitallers and Teutonic knights: images of the military orders, 1128–1291. Project Report. Leicester: Leicester University Press.
Teaching
Teaching profile
Undergraduate
With my colleagues in medieval history, archaeology and religion, I contribute to:
- Medieval Worlds - 20 credits (HS1112)
And I participate in teaching the core modules History in Practice 1 and 2 - each 20 credits (HS1119, HS1120)
Year two: I teach an option course, currently:
- Heresy and Dissent, 1000-1450 - 30 credits (HS1710)
and supervise students for:
- Exploring Historical Debate - 30 credits (HS1702)
Year three: I teach an option course:
- The Military Orders, 1100–1320 - 30 credits (HS1805)
and supervise students on:
- Dissertation - 30 credits (HS1801)
Postgraduate
I have offered postgraduate modules on the history of the Crusades and of the Military Religious Orders and on religious belief and heresy in the Middle Ages.
I have also contributed to the MA in Medieval British Studies, and contributed to the core module Approaches to Medieval History (HST642), the optional module Palaeography (HST833), and the postgraduate training module Reading Old French (HST838) -- all 20 credits.
I have also contributed to the MA in Ancient and Medieval Warfare, offering modules on Sources for the History of the Crusades (HST624) and The Military Orders (HST908), and contributed to the teaching of the core module Themes in Ancient and Medieval Warfare (HST903) and the option modules Siege Warfare (HST905) and Epic Warriors (HST906) - all 20 credits.
These MA programmes are not available in 2020–21.
Projects
The Trial of the Templars in Britain and Ireland
The proceedings of the trial of the Templars in the Britain and Ireland, 1308-1311, contain a wealth of information about national and international mobility of lay religious, religious beliefs among the lay population, and the activities of the mendicant orders in the British Isles in the early fourteenth century. Although some of the manuscripts had been edited in full, others had not; and some of the previous editions remain difficult to access. Scholars had not compared the various manuscripts to produce an overall picture of the trial.
The objective of this project was to make these extensive resources readily available to scholars and, by providing a translation, more accessible to the wider research community. In addition, by comparing these sources and analysing the data that they contain, the project aimed to advance historical knowledge of the internal workings of the Order of the Temple, and of ecclesiastical inquisitorial procedures.
My edition of the proceedings was published in 2011 in two volumes. Additional analysis has been published as a series of articles: see the link above.
Funded by a British Academy/Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship, this project had a value of £ 27,658.79.
The Knights Templars' estates in England and Wales, 1308-1311
The Templars' estates in England and Wales were inventoried at the time of the Templars' arrests early in January 1308. From that time until the dissolution of the Order in Britain in July 1311, the estates were administered by royal keepers. Full records were taken and are preserved in the National Archives (TNA). These records have hardly been studied by scholars. They offer a unique opportunity to study how a non-noble institution exploited its landed property and how it related with its local community, at a time when English landowners were just beginning to run their estates indirectly, employing skilled bailiffs, rather than directly.
This project aims to answer a number of questions, including:
- What property did the Templars in England and Wales hold in January 1308? Is it possible to establish (e.g. through the Inquisitiones post Mortem or the Hundred Rolls) what this property was worth in earlier years? Is it possible to discover what it was worth in future years (e.g. in 1324, 1338, or in later Inquisitiones post Mortem)?
- Whom did the Templars employ on their estates, on what terms?
- How was their property exploited/ developed between 1308-11, when the Order was dissolved in Britain?
- What did they produce (such as wool, beef, cider, fish, coal)?
- What were their relations with local communities?
- Did the form of the documents recording this information vary from one locality to the next? Were they audited?
Outputs to date include a series of articles on the Templars' estates in Britain and a book, The Everyday Life of the Templars (2017)
The Hospitallers in Britain and Ireland in the Fourteenth Century and onwards
This project investigates the role of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland in the 14th century and onwards, and attitudes towards it. This builds on my previous research into attitudes towards the Military Religious Orders in the Middle Ages, and my current research into the Order of the Temple in the early fourteenth century. Much research is being done on the Hospital of St John in the fourteenth century, but the Order in the Britain and Ireland has been largely overlooked.
Questions include: how did the trial and destruction of the Order of the Temple in 1312 affect attitudes towards its sister order, the Hospital? How far did the Hospital replace the Temple in its various functions, from its role in royal administration to its roles in the local community? What was the state of the Templars' estates by the time that the Hospital was able to acquire them – how far had their economic value declined? How far did the Hospitallers continue the Templars' relations with their secular patrons, and with the Church?
Queen Sybil of Jerusalem (1186-1190)
Queen Sybil of Jerusalem, queen in her own right, was ruler of the kingdom of Jerusalem from 1186 to 1190. Her reign saw the loss of the city of Jerusalem to Saladin, and the beginning of the Third Crusade. Yet although her reign began with her nobles divided and crisis looming, by the end of the reign the military forces of Christian Europe were uniting alongside her and her husband, intent on recovering the city. Sybil died before the bulk of the forces of the Third Crusade could arrive in the kingdom, and Jerusalem was never recovered. But although she failed, she went down fighting. This study will trace Sybil’s life, from her childhood as daughter of the heir to the throne of Jerusalem to her death in the crusading force outside the city of Acre. It will set her career alongside that of other European queens and noblewomen of the twelfth century who wielded or attempted to wield power and ask how far the eventual survival of the kingdom of Jerusalem in 1192 was due to Sybil’s determination in 1187 never to give up.
Building on my previous work on the Third Crusade and women's roles in warfare, this research project will produce a book-length scholarly study for Routledge's series Rulers of the Latin East and will be complemented by a trade book for Oxford University Press on Women and the Crusades. It will extend our knowledge of medieval queenship, of how far twelfth-century queens had agency and could wield power in their own right. It will also contribute towards understanding of crusading and Catholic attitudes towards the kingdom of Jerusalem in the second half of the twelfth century.
Research blog
As my research on the Knights Templars' estates in England and Wales develops, I am developing a blog which explores my latest research findings. You can follow the blog here: http://blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/knightstemplarsestates/author/shahjn/
Research group
The Cardiff Centre for the Study of the History of the Crusades
The Cardiff Centre for the Crusades was established in 2000 to encourage and develop Cardiff as a focus for research collaboration, conferences and publications in the field of crusading history. The Centre's interests embrace the history and ideology of the crusading movement, the history and archaeology of the lands conquered by the crusaders, the impact of the crusades on those lands and peoples against which expeditions were directed and from which expeditions were launched, and the history of the Military Orders. All theatres of crusading activity and any crusade from the end of the eleventh century onwards are included.
The Cardiff Centre for Medieval Studies
The Centre for the Study of Medieval Society and Culture is interdisciplinary in approach, bringing together medievalists from a variety of subject areas within the University who wish to co-operate in research and in teaching at graduate level. The Centre runs BA and MA courses in Medieval Studies, organises seminars, conferences, and workshops, sponsors publications, recruits doctoral students, and brings scholars to the University from overseas. In addition, the Centre organises intellectual and social events for medievalists in the region, enhances resources, and generally promotes the interests of medieval studies at Cardiff University.
Supervision
I am interested in supervising PhD students in the areas of:
- The Crusades
- The Military Religious Orders (Templars, Hospitallers, Teutonic Knights)
Current supervision
Past projects
- Sole supervisor for Jennifer Halliday: ‘Oblation and Recruitment in the Medieval Period’ (MPhil, awarded 2010)
- Sole supervisor for James Jenkins: ‘King John and the Cistercians in Wales’ (PhD, awarded 2012)
- Second supervisor (10%) for Hannah Buckingham: ‘Identity and Archaeology in Everyday Life: the Material Culture of the Crusader States’ (first supervisor Professor Denys Pringle) (PhD, awarded 2016)
- First supervisor (80%) for Christie Majoros, ‘The Function of Hospitaller Houses in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales’ (PhD, awarded 2017)
- First supervisor (60%) for Gregory Leighton, 'Terra Matris: Crusading, the Military Orders, and Sacred Landscapes in the Baltic, 13th–14th Centuries’ (PhD, awarded 2018)
- Second supervisor (40%) for Louise Tingle, ‘Royal Women in late fourteenth-century England’ (first supervisor Bronach Kane) (PhD, awarded 2019)
- I am also currently supervising four PGR students.