Centre for Medieval Studies
Dr Jinming Yi
Jinming Yi received his PhD in History from the University of York in January 2023, having previously obtained his bachelor’s degree from Wuhan University and master’s degree from Renmin University of China. In December 2022, he began working as a postdoctoral research fellow at Fudan University, Shanghai (with full funding for three years), where he continues to deepen his study of urban archives and civic administration in thirteenth- and fourteenth- century England.
Jinming’s doctoral dissertation focused on the urban archives of York in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. During his postdoctoral period, he is both publishing research articles based on his doctoral work and new archival findings, and preparing his first academic monograph, provisionally titled Urban Autonomy and Crisis Response in England (1272–1500). This project has also received funding from the National Social Science Fund of China.
In recent years, Jinming has maintained close connections with the British academic community. In the summers of 2024 and 2025, he participated in the International Medieval Congress (Leeds) and the Harlaxton Medieval Symposium, respectively. At Harlaxton, he was sponsored by the Yorkist History Trust to take part in the ECR/PCR presentation competition.
Publications
J. Yi, ‘From Writing to Record-keeping: A Study of York’s Civic Administrative Literacy, 1272‒1307’, Urban History, 52.2 (2025), 232–245. DOI: 10.1017/S0963926823000767
J. Yi, ‘The Origins of Civic Financial Offices in Medieval England: The Cases of York and Norwich, c. 1290‒7’, Historical Research. DOI: 10.1093/hisres/htaf026
J. Yi, ‘From Clericus Civitatis to Clericus Communis: A Study of Civic Clerks in Medieval York’, Journal of Medieval History. (accepted)
J. Yi, “The Life of Walsingham, the ‘Tudor Spymaster’”, Beijing Daily, August 22, 2025. (Book review of the Chinese edition of John Cooper’s The Queen’s Agent: Francis Walsingham at the Court of Elizabeth I)
J. Yi, X. Yu, ‘A Review of the 2024 Annual Conference of the China British History Association’, World History Studies, 11.2 (2024), 99–105.
Select Presentations and Talks
‘Sources and Studies of Medieval English Urban Law’, Lecture Series on World Legal Civilizations and Comparative Law, East China University of Political Science and Law, Shanghai, China, 2025.
‘Administrative Changes in Provincial Towns of England, 1250–1350’, Harlaxton Medieval Symposium, 2025.
‘Interpreting and Using Medieval English Archives’, Lecture Series on Historical Archives: Organization and Research, Minzu University of China, Beijing, China, 2025.
‘Administrative Documents and Political Society in England, 1250–1350’, International Medieval Congress, Leeds, 2024.
‘The Historical Value of Local Archives: A Case Study of Medieval York’, World Civilizations History Research Center Lecture Series, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, 2023.
‘The Use of Royal Documents at the Local Level: A Case Study of York, 1275–1354’, Annual Conference of the Medieval World History Committee of China, Wuhan, China, 2023. (Keynote address.)
Select Awards
2025, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Fellowship (certificate no. 2025T180539).
2024, Postdoctoral Fellowship Program for Overseas PhDs, Ministry of Education of China
2023, National Social Science Fund of China, ECR project (grant no. 23CSS008)
2023, Shanghai Post-doctoral Excellence Programme (certificate no. 2023215)
