His article, entitled The barratry of the shipmaster in early modern law won the prize, which is assigned every three years in memory of Professor Robert Feenstra, longtime and eminent member of the editorial committee of the journal.

Dr Rossi studied law at Pavia (Italy), where he also read his first PhD in political economy and law.

His biography adds: “Desiring to improve his poor English, he enrolled in a language school but got the address wrong, and ended up instead in Cambridge for another PhD, this time in legal history.

“Trying to find his way back home he got lost and spent some time at stipendiary lecturer at St Catharine’s College, Oxford. When he realised the mistake he bought a map of Britain but turned it upside-down, and ended up at Edinburgh in 2013.

“He applied for a part-time position at a pineapple import-export business but did not get the job, so he fell back on higher education. At times he still struggles to see the difference.

“Guido Rossi is particularly interested in the medieval and early modern history of civil, canon and commercial law, and welcomes enquires from prospective PhD students on any of those fields.”