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Email

jws43@cam.ac.uk

University Assistant Professor in Legal History

Interests

My research focuses on the history of private law in England and Europe, with a focus on medieval England and medieval and early modern Europe. I am particularly interested in the ways in which legal doctrine has been influenced by other intellectual forces, with recent research focusing on the extent to which early modern delict (tort) was shaped by theological debates. I also have interests in ancient legal systems. 

CV / Biography

I read Law (BA) and Medieval History (MPhil) at Trinity College, Cambridge, and stayed on for a PhD supervised by Prof. David Ibbetson. This was published as The Historical Foundations of Grotius's Analysis of Delict (Brill, 2017), and the PhD version was awarded a Yorke Prize. I moved to Selwyn College to take up the David Li Fellowship in Law (2015-2018), before going to Oxford as an Associate Professor in Law and Tutorial Fellow at Magdalen College, Oxford (2018-2022). I returned to Cambridge and Trinity in October 2022.