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Dr Dean Irwin

Biography I completed my PhD at Canterbury Christ Church University (2017-2020), where I studied the records generated by Jewish moneylending activities between 1194 and c. 1276. Having undertaken the latter stages of my studies under the restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic, I promptly left formal academia at the conclusion of my doctorate. I now work in administration, and am currently the LTEC facilitator (since Nov. 2023).

Although this was a professional shift, I remain fully research active. Between 2020 and 2023, I completed my academic work as an Independent Scholar, exploring my many esoteric interests in history of medieval Anglo-Jewry. Since November 2023, this had been completed as a Visiting Fellow at the University of Lincoln's School of History and Heritage (and within the Lincoln Medieval Studies Group). This is the affiliation that I use for my scholarly work in it's various forms.

Since completing my doctorate, my research interests have moved on somewhat, and I am now much more interested in the construction of urban identity, with Jews and Christians as neighbours. This is a large project, and it's first output will be an invited submission to an edited collection on the memory of Jews in urban communities following the Expulsion (1290-1541). I am also under contract to write a monograph on the topic which is due in 2027 and will be entitled 'Jews and Christians as Neighbours in Medieval English Towns'. Additionally, I am in the process of finishing a large reconsideration of Simon de Montfort's relations with the Jews, and am in the process of preparing commentaries on Hebrew and Hebrew-Latin charters for a sources addition.

Although I am unable to supervise students, I work regularly to support the work of postgraduates. In the coming year, I will be convening the Medieval Lincoln Jewry Working Group, which will give aspiring PGRs an opportunity to explore the surviving sources (modern editions and manuscript). The impact of this will be that we will producing biographies of individual Jews for the public domain: https://msrg.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/medieval-lincoln-jews-group/

I speak regularly at National and International conferences, where I am often invited. Equally, I try to give 50% of my talks per year to general history groups (both locally and through organisations of such as the Historical Association). These can also be delivered through Podcasts (e.g. BBC History Extra) and TV (Bone Detectives). I am also a member of the advisory board of the Jewish Historical Society of England and a Board Member of the MedievalJewishStudiesNow! blog.
Research Interests Medieval History, Thirteenth Century England, Charters (diplomatic), medieval Lincoln, Medieval Jews (England and Europe), Moneylending, Tallages.