J. L. Laynesmith

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J. L. Laynesmith is an English medieval historian who studies queenship and gender in medieval England.

Early life
- Born December 1970 to Judith and David Chamberlayne.

Education and training
- Studied English and History at the University of York.
- Completed an MA on women in the late medieval world and a PhD on English queenship (1445–1503) at York’s Centre for Medieval Studies, funded by the British Academy.
- Doctoral supervisors were Felicity Riddy and Mark Ormrod.

Academic career
- Taught two years at Pembroke College, Oxford after her doctorate, then brief teaching stints at the University of York and the University of Huddersfield.
- Became a full-time parent after the birth of her first son but continued her research.
- Currently a visiting research fellow at the University of Reading’s Graduate Centre for Medieval Studies.

Research and publications
- Her first book, The Last Medieval Queens: English Queenship 1445–1503 (Oxford University Press, 2004), was based on her thesis and well received by scholars.
- Wrote Cecily Duchess of York (Bloomsbury, 2017), a biography arguing that Cecily was pragmatically influential in politics.
- Co-edited several volumes in Palgrave Macmillan’s Queenship and Power series (2022–2023), including works on Tudor, Stuart, Norman, and Plantagenet consorts.
- Current research focuses on the politics of royal adultery in Britain from 500–1140.
- Media appearances include the BBC Two documentary The Real White Queen and Her Rivals (2013), a BBC Radio 4 In Our Time episode on Margaret of Anjou (2018), and a Time Team special (Channel 4, 2013).

Honours and awards
- The Last Medieval Queens won the Longman History Today Book of the Year Prize (2005) and the Women’s History Network Book Prize (2004).
- Cecily Duchess of York won the Royal Studies Network Book Prize (2018).
- Elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 2018.
- Won the Richard III Society’s inaugural Jeremy Potter Award (2022) with Iain Farrell.

Personal life
- Married to the Reverend Mark Laynesmith (born Smith). They have two sons, James and Matthew.

Publications (selected)
- Books: The Last Medieval Queens: English Queenship 1445–1503 (Oxford University Press, 2004); Cecily Duchess of York (Bloomsbury, 2017).
- Edited volumes in the Queenship and Power series (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022–2023).
- Articles include pieces such as “The Piety of Cecily, Duchess of York” and “The order, rules, and constructions of the house of Cecily, duchess of York.”