About the Chaplain

John Munns came to Fitzwilliam in September 2011 from a teaching post at the University of Bristol. Prior to that he spent time in Cambridge both as a graduate student and as assistant chaplain at Emmanuel College. He also trained for ordination in the city, at Westcott House theological college.

John’s academic interests lie in the field of medieval cultural history, especially the complex relationships between images, ideas and devotional practices in eleventh- and twelfth-century England. He undertook some of his pre-doctoral research as a visiting student at Princeton University in the United States and, more recently, held short-term fellowships at the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art in London and St Chad’s College in the University of Durham. He remains a Visiting Fellow and member of the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Bristol, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In Cambridge, in addition to his duties as Chaplain of Fitz, he is an Affiliated Lecturer in the History of Art Department and supervises students in the Divinity Faculty.

John was born in London and grew up, for the most part, in Somerset. He was ordained in Wells Cathedral in 2003, after which he worked both in parish ministry and as an NHS mental health care chaplain before returning to the world of higher education. John would like to claim that his spare time was filled with a host of impressive and fascinating activities but, in reality, he mostly acts as unpaid servant to Anselm, his adorable but demanding Labrador dog.