Projects per year
Personal profile
Key Research Interests
Areas of Expertise
Medieval history; Plantagenet kingship; Thomas Becket; relics and charters; Magna Carta.
Biography
Nicholas Vincent has published twenty-five books and some 150 academic articles on various aspects of English and European history in the 12th and 13th centuries. Having taught at Oxford, Cambridge, Paris and Canterbury, he has been based at UEA since 2003. For the British Academy, he is engaged in an edition of the charters of the Plantagenet kings and queens, from Henry II to King John. The first six volumes of this (The Letters and Charters of Henry II) were published in 2020. A seventh is due to appear in 2023, and an eighth shortly thereafter. These are to be followed soon by an edition of the letters and charters of Henry II's Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Gathered from materials scattered internationally across more than 300 libraries and archives, these volumes are intended to transform understanding of English, French, and northern European history, in the broad period from 1150 onwards. For the 800th anniversary celebrations of 2015, he led a major project researching the background to Magna Carta, including the discovery of a new original of the charter, now displayed in its own museum in Kent. With Professor Joerg Peltzer (Heidelberg and UEA), he currently leads a project researching the life and letters of 'Richard of Cornwall (d.1271): Germany's First (and Only) English King'.
At undergraduate level, he teaches courses in medieval British and European History. He is happy to supervise graduate students in most subjects relating to the period 1000-1300 AD, with an additional and particular interest in medievalism and the post-medieval reception of the medieval past. He has thus far supervised to completion more than a dozen PhD theses, with ongoing MA or doctoral candidates working on such themes as magic and heresy, the Templars, the chancery of King Henry III, the life and career of Edmund first earl of Lancaster, and the religious foundations established during the reign of King Stephen.
He is an elected Fellow of the British Academy, a Corresponding Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America, and has held visiting fellowships or professorships at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Poitiers, and at the École des Chartes in Paris.
Nicholas Vincent Publications (PDF 131 KB)
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AHRC Impact Acceleration Account
Jowitt, C., Barrow, S., Johnston, K. M., Kassim, H. & Vincent, N.
Arts and Humanities Research Council
1/04/22 → 31/03/26
Project: Other
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A Diplomatic Edition of the Letters and Charters of King Richard I
1/10/18 → 30/09/21
Project: Research
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New Connections between Cologne, Paris and London, 1207-1306
Vincent, N., 2025, (Accepted/In press) Thirteenth Century England XX. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 25 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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The Walmer Castle Address (1935) and the Cinque Port Seal Matrixes: Medieval Authority in Action
Vincent, N., Jul 2025, From Miniature to Monumental: Studies in Medieval Art and Architecture: Tributes to T.A. Heslop. de Beer, L., Lunnon, H. & Stewart, Z. (eds.). Brepols, 23 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Thirteenth Century England XX
Vincent, N. & Peltzer, J., 2025, (Accepted/In press) Boydell Press.Research output: Book/Report › Book
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What Did Stephen Langton Really Think of King John? Fact and Forgery in the Magna Carta Civil War, 1215-1217
Vincent, N., 2025, (Accepted/In press) Pensée Politique et gouvernement en Occident médiéval. Michel, N. (ed.). Paris: Classiques Garnier, 18 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Generational Disjunction at the English and French Royal Courts, 1066-1485
Vincent, N., 2024, (Accepted/In press) England and France Before 1500: Essays in Honour of Jenny Stratford. Michael, M. A. (ed.). Paul Watkins Publishing, 30 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review