James Edward McHale

Profile

I graduated with a First-class degree in History from the University of Huddersfield in 2020 and a Master’s degree in Medieval Studies with Distinction from the Institute for Medieval Studies (IMS) at the University of Leeds in 2022. I was awarded the Excellence scholarship from Huddersfield University for academic excellence in college and throughout my undergraduate studies. In 2019, I wrote an undergraduate paper about the execution of 2,700 Muslim prisoners by King Richard I (r. 1189-99) at the siege of Acre in the summer of 1191 during the Third Crusade for which I won the inaugural international Merriman prize 2018-19 by the University of Lancaster. I was then awarded the Keith Laybourn Prize for best overall performance in my undergraduate studies as a result of achieving high First-class marks in all assignments and examinations. My undergraduate dissertation, supervised by Professor Katherine J. Lewis, explores the clerical hegemonic masculinity in the eyewitness testimony of the 1170 Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket for which I was awarded the Tim Greenhalgh Memorial Prize for the best medieval undergraduate dissertation. 

I pursued my Master’s studies at the University of Leeds in 2020, supported by a scholarship from the School of History and Institute for Medieval Studies. My MA dissertation, supervised by Dr William Flynn, discusses the intersections among the emotions of sorrow and hope and masculinities in the early vitae of the crusader saint king Louis IX of France, for which I was awarded the Mr Robert L Thomson Prize – Best Supervised Research Element in MA Medieval Studies prize (MA) for achieving the highest supervised grade. I was also awarded the Mr Robert L Thomson Prize (MA) for best overall academic performance on the MA in Medieval Studies. 

Building upon my previous research, I progressed to further postgraduate research at the IMS as a doctoral candidate in 2022 researching the intersections among masculinities and what I define as the ‘emotional mentalities’ in the Latin and Old French hagiographical lives of Saint Louis. Moreover, I have presented my research in a variety of formats, including the publication of a book review of an edited collection of essays about Malory’s Arthuriana in the Leeds Medieval Journal and the delivery of two research papers at the International Medieval Congress (IMC) in 2023 and 2024. My first paper discussed my undergraduate dissertation research and my second was an interdisciplinary study (namely, literature, architecture, and material culture) about the creation and promotion of Saint Swithun’s (d. 863) cult by bishop Æthelwold (d. 984) as a representation of spiritual cleansing to assuage tenth-century political and religious tensions in the bishopric of Winchester. 

More widely in Higher Education, I am passionate about inclusion, student engagement, and widening equal opportunities. Formerly, the chair of the Leeds University Disability Services Student Panel, a member of the Library Student Advisory Panel, the Postgraduate Representative for the School of History (2020-21), a member of the Huddersfield University Equal Opportunities Committee (2017-19), and a member of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education’s Student Strategic Advisory Committee (2021-22).

Research interests

My research interests chiefly relate to later medieval gender history concerning the intersections between saints’ cults, masculinities and chivalry in crusading activity and the Latin East.

Qualifications

• MA Medieval Studies (Distinction)
• BA (Hons) History (First Class)