Overview
Shaun's research is concerned with medieval Wales, and in particular the medieval bishops of Bangor and St Asaph and their acta.
In 2012 he was awarded a MA (taught, with Medieval Latin) - his MA dissertation combined medieval Welsh law and history, and was entitled ‘Arbitration and Dispute Resolution in Wales during the Age of the Princes.’ Shortly afterwards Shaun was employed by the National Trust as a researcher for the EU/Welsh Government-funded ‘Princes of Gwynedd’ project.
Shaun's PhD thesis (2021) includes a first edition of Bangor Episcopal Acta, 1092-1306, with Latin transcriptions in full, along with English summaries, in the format of the 'English Episcopal Acta' series. His thesis also contains biographies of the ten bishops of Bangor between 1092 and 1306, as well as an examination of the medieval diocese. To further his research, he has received two Ranulf Higden palaeographical scholarships, a Royal Historical Society grant, and in 2017 attended the Department of ASNC, University of Cambridge.
The supervisors for his PhD were Professor Huw Pryce and Dr Euryn Rhys Roberts.
Shaun has taught on the 'Princes to Tudors' and 'Europe in the High Middle Ages' undergraduate modules, and in 2019 was nominated for 'Best Postgraduate Teacher' in the student-led Teaching Awards.
He was appointed Honorary Research Associate in 2021, and is now compiling an edition of episcopal acta for the twelfth- and thirteenth-century bishops of St Asaph.
His first book Bangor Episcopal Acta, 1092-1306 is to be published in May 2025.
Additional Contact Information
Email: hip402@bangor.ac.uk
Room 229, Main Arts, College Road, Bangor.
Qualifications
- PhD: The Bishops of Bangor and their Acta, 1092-1306
2021 - MA: MA Welsh History
2012 - Solicitors' Final Examination, The Law Society
1990 - BA: LLB (Hons) , School of Law
Leeds University, 1989
Research Interests
Book:
Bangor Episcopal Acta, 1092-1306 (Woodbridge, 2025)
Book Chapter:
'The Medieval Bishops of Bangor and the Writing of Welsh History', in Memory and Nation: Writing the History of Wales, ed. R. Thomas, S. Jarrett, and K. Olson (University of Wales Press, forthcoming)
Book Chapter:
'The Medieval Bishops of Bangor, 1092-1283: Intrusion, Exile and Diplomacy', in Episcopal Power and Patronage in Medieval Europe, 988-1503, ed. E. A. Gatti and A. M. Silvestri (Brepols, forthcoming)
Journal Article:
'Betrayal in the Belfry - The Bishop of Bangor and the demise of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales', Journal of the Mortimer History Society 6 (2023) 67-86
Book Review:
'The Register of Simon Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1375-1381', History: the Journal of the Historical Association. Published online 23 May 2022
Book Review:
'Medieval Women and Urban Justice, Commerce, Crime and Community in England, 1300-1500', Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 2021, Volume 170, pp. 191-2
Book Review:
'The Economy of Medieval Wales, 1067-1536', Journal of the Mortimer History Society 4 (2020) 106-9
Book Review:
’Maritime Wales in the Middle Ages’, Archaeologia Cambrensis, 2017, Volume 166, pp. 350-1
Publications
2025
- PublishedBangor Episcopal Acta, 1092-1306
McGuinness, S., 27 May 2025, Woodbridge: The Boydell Press. 392 p. (The Canterbury and York Society; vol. CXIV)
Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review - PublishedThe Medieval Bishops of Bangor and the Writing of Welsh History
McGuinness, S., Jul 2025, Memory and Nation. Writing the History of Wales.. Thomas, R., Jarrett, S. & Olson, K. (eds.). University of Wales Press, Cardiff, p. 203-231 29 p.
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
2023
- PublishedBetrayal in the Belfry - The Bishop of Bangor and the demise of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales
McGuinness, S., 2023, In: Journal of the Mortimer History Society. 6, p. 67-86 20 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2022
- Published'The Register of Simon Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1375–1381', Book Review.
McGuinness, S., Jun 2022, In: History. 107, 376, p. 577-578
Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review › peer-review
2021
- Published'Medieval Women and Urban Justice, Commerce, Crime and Community in England, 1300-1500', Book Review.
McGuinness, S., 2021, In: Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire. 170, p. 191-2 2 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
2020
- Published‘The Economy of Medieval Wales, 1067-1536’, Book Review.
McGuinness, S., 2020, In: Journal of the Mortimer History Society. 4, p. 106-109 4 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
2017
- Published‘Maritime Wales in the Middle Ages’: Book Review
McGuinness, S., 2017, In: Archaeologia Cambrensis. 166, p. 350-351 2 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
Other Information
Papers given:
’The Bishops of Bangor, and their Acta, 1092-1306’
Eighth Bangor Colloquium on Medieval Wales, 22-23 October 2016
‘The Medieval Bishops of Bangor (1092-1306) as Instruments of Diplomacy’
Power of the Bishop Conference, Cardiff University, 8-9 June 2017
’Cadwgan, Monk of Strata Florida, Abbot of Whitland, Bishop of Bangor, and Monk of Dore’
Hereford Cathedral, 21 March 2018
’The Bishops of Bangor, 1092-1306. Tested Loyalties. The Politics of Intrusion and Exile’
University of Cambridge, 27 April 2018
'The Medieval Bishops of Bangor. Tested Loyalties - Identity and Ethnicity'
Leeds International Medieval Congress, 3 July 2019
''By the Grace of God, Bishop of Bangor'. The Bishops of Bangor, and their Acta, 1092-1306.''
Ecclesiastical History Society, 6 November 2019.
'Medieval Welsh Bishops and their Political Networks'
Leeds International Medieval Congress, 4 July 2023
'Betrayal in the Belfry -
The Bishop of Bangor
and the death of Llywelyn, Prince of Wales'
Canterbury and York Society AGM, University of York, 8 November 2023