Christopher Tinmouth

I completed my PhD in Mediaeval History at the University of Lancaster in December 2023, funded partially by the Kirby Trust and the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society (CWAAS). Prior to this, I received an MA in Mediaeval History at York University in 2014, which included a First in Mediaeval Latin and Palaeography, and a BA (Hons) in Mediaeval & Renaissance Studies.

My doctoral thesis investigates in detail how far the Furness Abbey Coucher Book, or cartulary, produced at the richest and most powerful Cistercian monastery in the North-West of England in c.1412, created an institutional memory and identity for the monastic community and its benefactors. My argument centred upon the notion that cartularies were not created simply as records of property and privilege, but were active instruments for constructing a memory of past events and people which were deemed important to preserve by the institutions that created them. In this context, therefore, the Cistercian Abbey of Furness could be defined as an “institution”, and its “memory” being that of the benefactors who granted them land and privilege, as well as references to historical events that impact upon the development of the Abbey within Furness, such as the foundation of the Abbey by Count Stephen of Boulogne & Mortain in 1127, or the Great Raid of Robert the Bruce in 1322. I discovered that the institutional identity of Furness Abbey was directly connected to the creation of its institutional memory in the Coucher Book, by selecting and ordering memories of past people and events in its cartulary. This identity powerfully connected the Abbey with its Furness homeland, emphasised abbatial political authority over the entire Furness peninsula, and was underpinned with consistent reference to royal patronage of the Abbey since its foundation in 1127. The Coucher Book can therefore be viewed as a means for constructing monastic interpretations of their own history, as well as being a repository for documentary witnesses to that history.

I am now pioneering this interpretation of cartularies as instruments of memory by extending my scope of investigation into ecclesiastical cartularies, with a view to comparing how they constructed their institutional memories with those of monastic institutions. I am focusing upon the mid-14^th century Cartulary of Ripon Cathedral, preserved in fragmentary form in a mid-15^th century Book of Acts for the Cathedral Chapter. I will publish the results of my findings in the Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, which will form the basis for further scholarly investigation both of this particular cartulary and of comparable cartularies further afield.

I have published three peer-reviewed articles prior to joining the Brotherton Fellowship, in Northern History (2024), Pons Aelius (2022) and the Midlands Historical Review (2018) and am presently working with Boydell & Brewer to publish my doctoral thesis as a monograph. I have published three full-length articles in the Ricardian Bulletin, the house magazine of the King Richard III Society, and I serve on the Society Board of Directors, the Society Research Committee and the Editorial Committee of The Ricardian.

I have contributed several academic papers at conferences across the North of England, including at Lancaster HistFest (Lancaster University, 2019) on ‘Exploring Historical Transitions: Space, Place and Identity’, a Roundtable Conference (Lancaster & Lincoln University, 2022) on ‘Reimagining Contested Heritage’, and the International Medieval Congress (Leeds University, 2021), with a paper entitled ‘Forgetting the Frontier: The Construction of Institutional Memory and “Nationalisation” of Monastic Identity in the Furness Abbey Coucher Book’. I was a co-organiser and a chair of the panel on ‘Fiscal Histories’, at Lancaster HistFest (Lancaster University, 2022), and was a co-organiser of the Annual General Meeting of the Richard III Society in the Merchant Adventurer’s Hall in York (2021). I regularly contribute public lectures outside of academic settings, most especially for a study day organised by the Regional Heritage Centre (Lancaster University) at Whalley Abbey in 2023), which included a lecture by myself, ‘The Cistercians Abbeys of North West England’, followed by a guided tour of the abbey ruins which I conducted.

Outside of academic settings, I am employed as a Tour Guide at Lancaster Castle and have extensive museum experience across Lancashire County Council Museum Service (LCCMS). I have over a decade’s experience of amateur archaeological practice, especially Ancient Roman excavations at Vindolanda and Lancaster, and I have contributed my in-depth knowledge of Lancashire archaeology to understanding more about the archaeological collections held by LCCMS. I have investigated the entire archaeological archive which LCCMS holds and have made some remarkable discoveries about the collection which I submitted to the LCCMS blog post. These included Neolithic wooden sleepers uncovered at Pilling (Lancashire) and Ancient Roman coins associated with the Ribchester excavations of the 1970s. I even discovered Egyptian and Mesopotamian artefacts, which are currently under more detailed investigation.

I maintain an active interest in the history of King Richard III (1483-1485) and, as well as my formal involvement in the administration of the Society, I am an active contributor to the ‘Search for the Missing Princes Project’ orchestrated by Philippa Langley MBE. I have been funded by the ‘Search for the Missing Princes Project’ in 2019 and 2024 to investigate key historical documents that could provide new evidence for what happened to the ‘Princes in the Tower’, Edward V and Richard of England. My historical investigative skills, my detailed knowledge of the history of Richard III and my specialist skills in transcribing Mediaeval Latin documents have been considered a great asset to the Richard III Society and to this particular project.

I have served as Chair of the Friends of Lancaster City Museum (FOLCM) since 2022 and, during my tenure, I have succeeded in maintaining the opening hours of the City Museum in the face of swinging City Council budget cuts and celebrated the centenary of the Museum on 5^th November 2023 with a grand civic celebration, at which the Mayor of Lancaster attended. I contributed public lectures on mediaeval Lancaster and John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (1361-1399) to the FOLCM monthly lecture series, and organised for eminent speakers to speak, most recently Professor Lindsay Allason-Jones on Ancient Roman sculpture in Lancashire. Most recently, I have funded the acquisition, using FOLCM funds, of a mediaeval gold ring that was donated to the City Museum, and will be contributing towards a civic festival, “Lancaster Day”, which celebrates the best of Lancaster history and produce, with a FOLCM stall and a public lecture on Lancaster’s 1193 Market Charter.