[2][3] An economic historian, his work demonstrated that "commerce played an essential part in medieval life".

[4] His obituary in The Guardian stated that "Not many academics can be said to have moved the boundaries of their subject, yet no one meeting Richard encountered any pretension or flamboyance".

[4] After Cambridge, Britnell was appointed a lecturer at Durham University, initially in the economic history department.

[4] He later moved to the history department where he was made a professor in 1997 although forced to take early retirement in 2003 due to ill health.

[1] His obituary in The Guardian stated that "Not many academics can be said to have moved the boundaries of their subject, yet no one meeting Richard encountered any pretension or flamboyance".