Jessica L. Minieri is a PhD Candidate in the Department of History at Binghamton University where she studies medieval Mediterranean history. She received her BA in History and Medieval/Early Modern Studies from the State University of New York at New Paltz and her MA in History from Binghamton University.

Her dissertation project, Stolen Bodies and Hollow Crowns: Imprisonment, Abduction, and the Expansion of the Crown of Aragon, 1300-1500, explores the role of imprisonment and abduction in Aragon’s transformation into a maritime empire during the reigns of Peter IV (r.1336-1387) and Alfonso V (r. 1416-1458). This project places the abductions of figures such as Maria of Sicily, Jaume IV of Mallorca, Blanca of Navarre, and others into the wider frame of Aragonese colonization and expansion in the Mediterranean world before the Spanish Empire.

During the 2025-2026 academic year, Jessica was a Predoctoral Research Residential Fellow at the Center for the Art and Architectural History of Port Cities (La Capraia) at the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte in Naples, Italy. At La Capraia, Jessica conducted research in archives, museums, and libraries across Campania and broader southern and central Italy for her doctoral dissertation. In collaboration with La Capraia and The Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History (UT Dallas), Jessica is also a Graduate Researcher with the Medieval Kingdom of Sicily Image Database (KOS) project where she is currently building a database on medieval Malta.

Jessica has also published public facing blog work and recorded podcasts with the Ecclesiastical History Society, the Multicultural Middle Ages Podcast with the Medieval Academy of America (coming in August 2026), the Medieval and Early Modern Orients Project (where she is also the News Editor), and Court Studies.