Richard Southern
Encyclopedia
Sir Richard William Southern (1912–2001), who published under the name R. W. Southern, was a noted English medieval historian
, based at the University of Oxford
.
, and at Balliol College, Oxford
, where he graduated with a first-class honours degree in history. At Oxford, Southern's mentors were Sir Maurice Powicke and Vivian Hunter Galbraith
. He was a Fellow of Balliol from 1937 to 1961 (where he lectured alongside Christopher Hill), Chichele Professor of Modern History
at Oxford from 1961 to 1969, and President of St John's College, Oxford
, from 1969 to 1981. He was president of the Royal Historical Society
from 1969 to 1973.
He was awarded the Balzan Prize
for Medieval History in 1987. He was knighted in 1974. He died in Oxford in 2001.
He is one of twenty Medæval scholars profiled in Norman Cantor's
Inventing the Middle Ages : The Lives, Works and Ideas of the Great Medievalists of the Twentieth Century. Cantor describes Southern in Arthurian terms
, with a group of devotees who surrounded their master following the publication of The Making of the Middle Ages. Like Arthurian legend, however, Cantor's story does not have an entirely happy ending, and Cantor describes his sense of disappointment when Southern fails to live up to expectations.
In addition to the influence exerted by his works, Southern had several prominent students who carried his influence into the next generation. Robert Bartlett
and R.I. Moore, for example, share Southern's interest in the development of Europe in the High Middle Ages
, and Valerie Flint
had some of Southern's tendencies towards iconoclasm.
. This pioneering work, sketching the main personalities and cultural influences that shaped the character of Western Europe from the late tenth to the early thirteenth century and describing the development of social, political, and religious institutions, opened up new vistas in medieval history, and has been translated into many languages.
Southern made major contributions to the areas he studied, and was not afraid to attack long-held views. Southern's monographic studies of St Anselm
and Robert Grosseteste
, for example, have had significant influences on their historiography. Never afraid of controversy, Southern's interpretation of Grosseteste made a dramatic attempt to revise the chronology of Grosseteste's life. Further, Southern saw him as a particularly English figure (in contrast to earlier scholarship which had seen Grosseteste's connections to French schools as being of particular importance). Similarly, Southern also took a revisionist line in his re-interpretation of the School of Chartres, an argument stated first in his Medieval Humanism and then refined in his Scholastic Humanism and the Unification of Europe. Southern argued that scholars in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries had built the "School of Chartres" into a romanticized edifice out of all proportion with the documentary record. The figures in the School of Chartres were actually much more active in Paris than in Chartres itself, according to Southern; Chartres did indeed have a school, but it did not surpass the usual level of cathedral schools
of the time. Southern's revisionist or iconoclastic approach was continued by some of his students. Valerie Flint
, for example, attempted to make significant revisions to the interpretation of Anselm of Laon
.
Southern's final major work, Scholastic Humanism and the Unification of Europe, was unfortunately destined to remain unfinished at his death. Southern never managed to finish the third volume of the work. The first two volumes of the work do represent a major contribution to medieval scholarship, however. In the work, Southern argues that, from the twelfth century on, medieval scholars aspired to systematize all human knowledge in a comprehensive system. Furthermore, this scholarly vision (the "scholastic humanism" of the title) was to have a major influence on Western culture beyond the schools, as scholars and school-educated men moved out of the schools and took important roles in the government and the church.
In addition to these major works, Southern also wrote several works that have not had quite as much influence on medieval scholarship. His brief Western Views of Islam in the Middle Ages represents a relatively early effort to describe medieval attitudes towards Islam, identifying three stages in their development. His Medieval Humanism and Other Studies states first several themes that would be later developed in Scholastic Humanism. His Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages is a textbook survey like The Making of the Middle Ages, but has not received quite as much attention as his earlier work.
Sir Richard William Southern (1912–2001), who published under the name R. W. Southern, was a noted English medieval historian
, based at the University of Oxford
.
, and at Balliol College, Oxford
, where he graduated with a first-class honours degree in history. At Oxford, Southern's mentors were Sir Maurice Powicke and Vivian Hunter Galbraith
. He was a Fellow of Balliol from 1937 to 1961 (where he lectured alongside Christopher Hill), Chichele Professor of Modern History
at Oxford from 1961 to 1969, and President of St John's College, Oxford
, from 1969 to 1981. He was president of the Royal Historical Society
from 1969 to 1973.
He was awarded the Balzan Prize
for Medieval History in 1987. He was knighted in 1974. He died in Oxford in 2001.
He is one of twenty Medæval scholars profiled in Norman Cantor's
Inventing the Middle Ages : The Lives, Works and Ideas of the Great Medievalists of the Twentieth Century. Cantor describes Southern in Arthurian terms
, with a group of devotees who surrounded their master following the publication of The Making of the Middle Ages. Like Arthurian legend, however, Cantor's story does not have an entirely happy ending, and Cantor describes his sense of disappointment when Southern fails to live up to expectations.
In addition to the influence exerted by his works, Southern had several prominent students who carried his influence into the next generation. Robert Bartlett
and R.I. Moore, for example, share Southern's interest in the development of Europe in the High Middle Ages
, and Valerie Flint
had some of Southern's tendencies towards iconoclasm.
. This pioneering work, sketching the main personalities and cultural influences that shaped the character of Western Europe from the late tenth to the early thirteenth century and describing the development of social, political, and religious institutions, opened up new vistas in medieval history, and has been translated into many languages.
Southern made major contributions to the areas he studied, and was not afraid to attack long-held views. Southern's monographic studies of St Anselm
and Robert Grosseteste
, for example, have had significant influences on their historiography. Never afraid of controversy, Southern's interpretation of Grosseteste made a dramatic attempt to revise the chronology of Grosseteste's life. Further, Southern saw him as a particularly English figure (in contrast to earlier scholarship which had seen Grosseteste's connections to French schools as being of particular importance). Similarly, Southern also took a revisionist line in his re-interpretation of the School of Chartres, an argument stated first in his Medieval Humanism and then refined in his Scholastic Humanism and the Unification of Europe. Southern argued that scholars in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries had built the "School of Chartres" into a romanticized edifice out of all proportion with the documentary record. The figures in the School of Chartres were actually much more active in Paris than in Chartres itself, according to Southern; Chartres did indeed have a school, but it did not surpass the usual level of cathedral schools
of the time. Southern's revisionist or iconoclastic approach was continued by some of his students. Valerie Flint
, for example, attempted to make significant revisions to the interpretation of Anselm of Laon
.
Southern's final major work, Scholastic Humanism and the Unification of Europe, was unfortunately destined to remain unfinished at his death. Southern never managed to finish the third volume of the work. The first two volumes of the work do represent a major contribution to medieval scholarship, however. In the work, Southern argues that, from the twelfth century on, medieval scholars aspired to systematize all human knowledge in a comprehensive system. Furthermore, this scholarly vision (the "scholastic humanism" of the title) was to have a major influence on Western culture beyond the schools, as scholars and school-educated men moved out of the schools and took important roles in the government and the church.
In addition to these major works, Southern also wrote several works that have not had quite as much influence on medieval scholarship. His brief Western Views of Islam in the Middle Ages represents a relatively early effort to describe medieval attitudes towards Islam, identifying three stages in their development. His Medieval Humanism and Other Studies states first several themes that would be later developed in Scholastic Humanism. His Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages is a textbook survey like The Making of the Middle Ages, but has not received quite as much attention as his earlier work.
Sir Richard William Southern (1912–2001), who published under the name R. W. Southern, was a noted English medieval historian
, based at the University of Oxford
.
, and at Balliol College, Oxford
, where he graduated with a first-class honours degree in history. At Oxford, Southern's mentors were Sir Maurice Powicke and Vivian Hunter Galbraith
. He was a Fellow of Balliol from 1937 to 1961 (where he lectured alongside Christopher Hill), Chichele Professor of Modern History
at Oxford from 1961 to 1969, and President of St John's College, Oxford
, from 1969 to 1981. He was president of the Royal Historical Society
from 1969 to 1973.
He was awarded the Balzan Prize
for Medieval History in 1987. He was knighted in 1974. He died in Oxford in 2001.
He is one of twenty Medæval scholars profiled in Norman Cantor's
Inventing the Middle Ages : The Lives, Works and Ideas of the Great Medievalists of the Twentieth Century. Cantor describes Southern in Arthurian terms
, with a group of devotees who surrounded their master following the publication of The Making of the Middle Ages. Like Arthurian legend, however, Cantor's story does not have an entirely happy ending, and Cantor describes his sense of disappointment when Southern fails to live up to expectations.
In addition to the influence exerted by his works, Southern had several prominent students who carried his influence into the next generation. Robert Bartlett
and R.I. Moore, for example, share Southern's interest in the development of Europe in the High Middle Ages
, and Valerie Flint
had some of Southern's tendencies towards iconoclasm.
. This pioneering work, sketching the main personalities and cultural influences that shaped the character of Western Europe from the late tenth to the early thirteenth century and describing the development of social, political, and religious institutions, opened up new vistas in medieval history, and has been translated into many languages.
Southern made major contributions to the areas he studied, and was not afraid to attack long-held views. Southern's monographic studies of St Anselm
and Robert Grosseteste
, for example, have had significant influences on their historiography. Never afraid of controversy, Southern's interpretation of Grosseteste made a dramatic attempt to revise the chronology of Grosseteste's life. Further, Southern saw him as a particularly English figure (in contrast to earlier scholarship which had seen Grosseteste's connections to French schools as being of particular importance). Similarly, Southern also took a revisionist line in his re-interpretation of the School of Chartres, an argument stated first in his Medieval Humanism and then refined in his Scholastic Humanism and the Unification of Europe. Southern argued that scholars in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries had built the "School of Chartres" into a romanticized edifice out of all proportion with the documentary record. The figures in the School of Chartres were actually much more active in Paris than in Chartres itself, according to Southern; Chartres did indeed have a school, but it did not surpass the usual level of cathedral schools
of the time. Southern's revisionist or iconoclastic approach was continued by some of his students. Valerie Flint
, for example, attempted to make significant revisions to the interpretation of Anselm of Laon
.
Southern's final major work, Scholastic Humanism and the Unification of Europe, was unfortunately destined to remain unfinished at his death. Southern never managed to finish the third volume of the work. The first two volumes of the work do represent a major contribution to medieval scholarship, however. In the work, Southern argues that, from the twelfth century on, medieval scholars aspired to systematize all human knowledge in a comprehensive system. Furthermore, this scholarly vision (the "scholastic humanism" of the title) was to have a major influence on Western culture beyond the schools, as scholars and school-educated men moved out of the schools and took important roles in the government and the church.
In addition to these major works, Southern also wrote several works that have not had quite as much influence on medieval scholarship. His brief Western Views of Islam in the Middle Ages represents a relatively early effort to describe medieval attitudes towards Islam, identifying three stages in their development. His Medieval Humanism and Other Studies states first several themes that would be later developed in Scholastic Humanism. His Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages is a textbook survey like The Making of the Middle Ages, but has not received quite as much attention as his earlier work.
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, based at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
.
Biography
Southern was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and educated at the Royal Grammar School, NewcastleRoyal Grammar School, Newcastle
Royal Grammar School Newcastle upon Tyne, known locally and often abbreviated as RGS, is a long-established co-educational, independent school in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It gained its Royal Charter under Queen Elizabeth I...
, and at Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
, where he graduated with a first-class honours degree in history. At Oxford, Southern's mentors were Sir Maurice Powicke and Vivian Hunter Galbraith
Vivian Hunter Galbraith
Vivian Hunter H. Galbraith, FBA was an English historian, Fellow of the British Academy and Oxford Regius Professor of Modern History.- Early career:...
. He was a Fellow of Balliol from 1937 to 1961 (where he lectured alongside Christopher Hill), Chichele Professor of Modern History
Chichele Professor of Modern History
The Chichele Professorship of Modern History is one of the several Chichele Professorships established from the mid-19th century onwards at All Souls College, Oxford University. The position of Chichele Professor of Modern History was established in 1862...
at Oxford from 1961 to 1969, and President of St John's College, Oxford
St John's College, Oxford
__FORCETOC__St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, one of the larger Oxford colleges with approximately 390 undergraduates, 200 postgraduates and over 100 academic staff. It was founded by Sir Thomas White, a merchant, in 1555, whose heart is buried in the chapel of...
, from 1969 to 1981. He was president of the Royal Historical Society
Royal Historical Society
The Royal Historical Society was founded in 1868. The premier society in the United Kingdom which promotes and defends the scholarly study of the past, it is based at University College London...
from 1969 to 1973.
He was awarded the Balzan Prize
Balzan Prize
The International Balzan Prize Foundation awards four annual monetary prizes to people or organisations who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of humanities, natural sciences, culture, as well as for endeavours for peace and the brotherhood of man.-Rewards and assets:Each year the...
for Medieval History in 1987. He was knighted in 1974. He died in Oxford in 2001.
He is one of twenty Medæval scholars profiled in Norman Cantor's
Norman Cantor
Norman Frank Cantor was a historian who specialized in the medieval period. Known for his accessible writing and engaging narrative style, Cantor's books were among the most widely-read treatments of medieval history in English...
Inventing the Middle Ages : The Lives, Works and Ideas of the Great Medievalists of the Twentieth Century. Cantor describes Southern in Arthurian terms
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
, with a group of devotees who surrounded their master following the publication of The Making of the Middle Ages. Like Arthurian legend, however, Cantor's story does not have an entirely happy ending, and Cantor describes his sense of disappointment when Southern fails to live up to expectations.
In addition to the influence exerted by his works, Southern had several prominent students who carried his influence into the next generation. Robert Bartlett
Robert Bartlett
Captain Robert Abram Bartlett was a Newfoundland navigator and Arctic explorer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-Biography:...
and R.I. Moore, for example, share Southern's interest in the development of Europe in the High Middle Ages
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
, and Valerie Flint
Valerie Flint
Valerie Irene Jane Flint was a British scholar and historian, specialising in mediæval intellectual and cultural history.- Early life :...
had some of Southern's tendencies towards iconoclasm.
Publications
Southern's Making of the Middle Ages (1953) was a seminal work, and established Southern's reputation as a medievalistMedieval studies
-Development:The term 'medieval studies' began to be adopted by academics in the opening decades of the twentieth century, initially in the titles of books like G. G. Coulton's Ten Medieval Studies , to emphasize a greater interdisciplinary approach to a historical subject...
. This pioneering work, sketching the main personalities and cultural influences that shaped the character of Western Europe from the late tenth to the early thirteenth century and describing the development of social, political, and religious institutions, opened up new vistas in medieval history, and has been translated into many languages.
Southern made major contributions to the areas he studied, and was not afraid to attack long-held views. Southern's monographic studies of St Anselm
Anselm of Canterbury
Anselm of Canterbury , also called of Aosta for his birthplace, and of Bec for his home monastery, was a Benedictine monk, a philosopher, and a prelate of the church who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109...
and Robert Grosseteste
Robert Grosseteste
Robert Grosseteste or Grossetete was an English statesman, scholastic philosopher, theologian and Bishop of Lincoln. He was born of humble parents at Stradbroke in Suffolk. A.C...
, for example, have had significant influences on their historiography. Never afraid of controversy, Southern's interpretation of Grosseteste made a dramatic attempt to revise the chronology of Grosseteste's life. Further, Southern saw him as a particularly English figure (in contrast to earlier scholarship which had seen Grosseteste's connections to French schools as being of particular importance). Similarly, Southern also took a revisionist line in his re-interpretation of the School of Chartres, an argument stated first in his Medieval Humanism and then refined in his Scholastic Humanism and the Unification of Europe. Southern argued that scholars in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries had built the "School of Chartres" into a romanticized edifice out of all proportion with the documentary record. The figures in the School of Chartres were actually much more active in Paris than in Chartres itself, according to Southern; Chartres did indeed have a school, but it did not surpass the usual level of cathedral schools
Cathedral school
Cathedral schools began in the Early Middle Ages as centers of advanced education, some of them ultimately evolving into medieval universities. Throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, they were complemented by the monastic schools...
of the time. Southern's revisionist or iconoclastic approach was continued by some of his students. Valerie Flint
Valerie Flint
Valerie Irene Jane Flint was a British scholar and historian, specialising in mediæval intellectual and cultural history.- Early life :...
, for example, attempted to make significant revisions to the interpretation of Anselm of Laon
Anselm of Laon
Anselm of Laon was a French theologian and founder of a school of scholars who helped to pioneer biblical hermeneutics.Remembered in the century after his death as "Anselmus" or "Anselm", his name was more properly "Ansellus" or, in Modern French, "Anseau."Born of very humble parents at Laon...
.
Southern's final major work, Scholastic Humanism and the Unification of Europe, was unfortunately destined to remain unfinished at his death. Southern never managed to finish the third volume of the work. The first two volumes of the work do represent a major contribution to medieval scholarship, however. In the work, Southern argues that, from the twelfth century on, medieval scholars aspired to systematize all human knowledge in a comprehensive system. Furthermore, this scholarly vision (the "scholastic humanism" of the title) was to have a major influence on Western culture beyond the schools, as scholars and school-educated men moved out of the schools and took important roles in the government and the church.
In addition to these major works, Southern also wrote several works that have not had quite as much influence on medieval scholarship. His brief Western Views of Islam in the Middle Ages represents a relatively early effort to describe medieval attitudes towards Islam, identifying three stages in their development. His Medieval Humanism and Other Studies states first several themes that would be later developed in Scholastic Humanism. His Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages is a textbook survey like The Making of the Middle Ages, but has not received quite as much attention as his earlier work.
External links
- Gifford Lecture biography - By Dr Michael W DeLashmutt
- Palmer, William. "Sir Richard Southern Looks Back: A Portrait of the Medievalist as a Young Man", Virginia Quarterly Review, Winter 1998.
Sir Richard William Southern (1912–2001), who published under the name R. W. Southern, was a noted English medieval historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, based at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
.
Biography
Southern was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and educated at the Royal Grammar School, NewcastleRoyal Grammar School, Newcastle
Royal Grammar School Newcastle upon Tyne, known locally and often abbreviated as RGS, is a long-established co-educational, independent school in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It gained its Royal Charter under Queen Elizabeth I...
, and at Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
, where he graduated with a first-class honours degree in history. At Oxford, Southern's mentors were Sir Maurice Powicke and Vivian Hunter Galbraith
Vivian Hunter Galbraith
Vivian Hunter H. Galbraith, FBA was an English historian, Fellow of the British Academy and Oxford Regius Professor of Modern History.- Early career:...
. He was a Fellow of Balliol from 1937 to 1961 (where he lectured alongside Christopher Hill), Chichele Professor of Modern History
Chichele Professor of Modern History
The Chichele Professorship of Modern History is one of the several Chichele Professorships established from the mid-19th century onwards at All Souls College, Oxford University. The position of Chichele Professor of Modern History was established in 1862...
at Oxford from 1961 to 1969, and President of St John's College, Oxford
St John's College, Oxford
__FORCETOC__St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, one of the larger Oxford colleges with approximately 390 undergraduates, 200 postgraduates and over 100 academic staff. It was founded by Sir Thomas White, a merchant, in 1555, whose heart is buried in the chapel of...
, from 1969 to 1981. He was president of the Royal Historical Society
Royal Historical Society
The Royal Historical Society was founded in 1868. The premier society in the United Kingdom which promotes and defends the scholarly study of the past, it is based at University College London...
from 1969 to 1973.
He was awarded the Balzan Prize
Balzan Prize
The International Balzan Prize Foundation awards four annual monetary prizes to people or organisations who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of humanities, natural sciences, culture, as well as for endeavours for peace and the brotherhood of man.-Rewards and assets:Each year the...
for Medieval History in 1987. He was knighted in 1974. He died in Oxford in 2001.
He is one of twenty Medæval scholars profiled in Norman Cantor's
Norman Cantor
Norman Frank Cantor was a historian who specialized in the medieval period. Known for his accessible writing and engaging narrative style, Cantor's books were among the most widely-read treatments of medieval history in English...
Inventing the Middle Ages : The Lives, Works and Ideas of the Great Medievalists of the Twentieth Century. Cantor describes Southern in Arthurian terms
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
, with a group of devotees who surrounded their master following the publication of The Making of the Middle Ages. Like Arthurian legend, however, Cantor's story does not have an entirely happy ending, and Cantor describes his sense of disappointment when Southern fails to live up to expectations.
In addition to the influence exerted by his works, Southern had several prominent students who carried his influence into the next generation. Robert Bartlett
Robert Bartlett
Captain Robert Abram Bartlett was a Newfoundland navigator and Arctic explorer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-Biography:...
and R.I. Moore, for example, share Southern's interest in the development of Europe in the High Middle Ages
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
, and Valerie Flint
Valerie Flint
Valerie Irene Jane Flint was a British scholar and historian, specialising in mediæval intellectual and cultural history.- Early life :...
had some of Southern's tendencies towards iconoclasm.
Publications
Southern's Making of the Middle Ages (1953) was a seminal work, and established Southern's reputation as a medievalistMedieval studies
-Development:The term 'medieval studies' began to be adopted by academics in the opening decades of the twentieth century, initially in the titles of books like G. G. Coulton's Ten Medieval Studies , to emphasize a greater interdisciplinary approach to a historical subject...
. This pioneering work, sketching the main personalities and cultural influences that shaped the character of Western Europe from the late tenth to the early thirteenth century and describing the development of social, political, and religious institutions, opened up new vistas in medieval history, and has been translated into many languages.
Southern made major contributions to the areas he studied, and was not afraid to attack long-held views. Southern's monographic studies of St Anselm
Anselm of Canterbury
Anselm of Canterbury , also called of Aosta for his birthplace, and of Bec for his home monastery, was a Benedictine monk, a philosopher, and a prelate of the church who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109...
and Robert Grosseteste
Robert Grosseteste
Robert Grosseteste or Grossetete was an English statesman, scholastic philosopher, theologian and Bishop of Lincoln. He was born of humble parents at Stradbroke in Suffolk. A.C...
, for example, have had significant influences on their historiography. Never afraid of controversy, Southern's interpretation of Grosseteste made a dramatic attempt to revise the chronology of Grosseteste's life. Further, Southern saw him as a particularly English figure (in contrast to earlier scholarship which had seen Grosseteste's connections to French schools as being of particular importance). Similarly, Southern also took a revisionist line in his re-interpretation of the School of Chartres, an argument stated first in his Medieval Humanism and then refined in his Scholastic Humanism and the Unification of Europe. Southern argued that scholars in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries had built the "School of Chartres" into a romanticized edifice out of all proportion with the documentary record. The figures in the School of Chartres were actually much more active in Paris than in Chartres itself, according to Southern; Chartres did indeed have a school, but it did not surpass the usual level of cathedral schools
Cathedral school
Cathedral schools began in the Early Middle Ages as centers of advanced education, some of them ultimately evolving into medieval universities. Throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, they were complemented by the monastic schools...
of the time. Southern's revisionist or iconoclastic approach was continued by some of his students. Valerie Flint
Valerie Flint
Valerie Irene Jane Flint was a British scholar and historian, specialising in mediæval intellectual and cultural history.- Early life :...
, for example, attempted to make significant revisions to the interpretation of Anselm of Laon
Anselm of Laon
Anselm of Laon was a French theologian and founder of a school of scholars who helped to pioneer biblical hermeneutics.Remembered in the century after his death as "Anselmus" or "Anselm", his name was more properly "Ansellus" or, in Modern French, "Anseau."Born of very humble parents at Laon...
.
Southern's final major work, Scholastic Humanism and the Unification of Europe, was unfortunately destined to remain unfinished at his death. Southern never managed to finish the third volume of the work. The first two volumes of the work do represent a major contribution to medieval scholarship, however. In the work, Southern argues that, from the twelfth century on, medieval scholars aspired to systematize all human knowledge in a comprehensive system. Furthermore, this scholarly vision (the "scholastic humanism" of the title) was to have a major influence on Western culture beyond the schools, as scholars and school-educated men moved out of the schools and took important roles in the government and the church.
In addition to these major works, Southern also wrote several works that have not had quite as much influence on medieval scholarship. His brief Western Views of Islam in the Middle Ages represents a relatively early effort to describe medieval attitudes towards Islam, identifying three stages in their development. His Medieval Humanism and Other Studies states first several themes that would be later developed in Scholastic Humanism. His Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages is a textbook survey like The Making of the Middle Ages, but has not received quite as much attention as his earlier work.
External links
- Gifford Lecture biography - By Dr Michael W DeLashmutt
- Palmer, William. "Sir Richard Southern Looks Back: A Portrait of the Medievalist as a Young Man", Virginia Quarterly Review, Winter 1998.
Sir Richard William Southern (1912–2001), who published under the name R. W. Southern, was a noted English medieval historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, based at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
.
Biography
Southern was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and educated at the Royal Grammar School, NewcastleRoyal Grammar School, Newcastle
Royal Grammar School Newcastle upon Tyne, known locally and often abbreviated as RGS, is a long-established co-educational, independent school in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It gained its Royal Charter under Queen Elizabeth I...
, and at Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
, where he graduated with a first-class honours degree in history. At Oxford, Southern's mentors were Sir Maurice Powicke and Vivian Hunter Galbraith
Vivian Hunter Galbraith
Vivian Hunter H. Galbraith, FBA was an English historian, Fellow of the British Academy and Oxford Regius Professor of Modern History.- Early career:...
. He was a Fellow of Balliol from 1937 to 1961 (where he lectured alongside Christopher Hill), Chichele Professor of Modern History
Chichele Professor of Modern History
The Chichele Professorship of Modern History is one of the several Chichele Professorships established from the mid-19th century onwards at All Souls College, Oxford University. The position of Chichele Professor of Modern History was established in 1862...
at Oxford from 1961 to 1969, and President of St John's College, Oxford
St John's College, Oxford
__FORCETOC__St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, one of the larger Oxford colleges with approximately 390 undergraduates, 200 postgraduates and over 100 academic staff. It was founded by Sir Thomas White, a merchant, in 1555, whose heart is buried in the chapel of...
, from 1969 to 1981. He was president of the Royal Historical Society
Royal Historical Society
The Royal Historical Society was founded in 1868. The premier society in the United Kingdom which promotes and defends the scholarly study of the past, it is based at University College London...
from 1969 to 1973.
He was awarded the Balzan Prize
Balzan Prize
The International Balzan Prize Foundation awards four annual monetary prizes to people or organisations who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of humanities, natural sciences, culture, as well as for endeavours for peace and the brotherhood of man.-Rewards and assets:Each year the...
for Medieval History in 1987. He was knighted in 1974. He died in Oxford in 2001.
He is one of twenty Medæval scholars profiled in Norman Cantor's
Norman Cantor
Norman Frank Cantor was a historian who specialized in the medieval period. Known for his accessible writing and engaging narrative style, Cantor's books were among the most widely-read treatments of medieval history in English...
Inventing the Middle Ages : The Lives, Works and Ideas of the Great Medievalists of the Twentieth Century. Cantor describes Southern in Arthurian terms
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
, with a group of devotees who surrounded their master following the publication of The Making of the Middle Ages. Like Arthurian legend, however, Cantor's story does not have an entirely happy ending, and Cantor describes his sense of disappointment when Southern fails to live up to expectations.
In addition to the influence exerted by his works, Southern had several prominent students who carried his influence into the next generation. Robert Bartlett
Robert Bartlett
Captain Robert Abram Bartlett was a Newfoundland navigator and Arctic explorer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-Biography:...
and R.I. Moore, for example, share Southern's interest in the development of Europe in the High Middle Ages
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
, and Valerie Flint
Valerie Flint
Valerie Irene Jane Flint was a British scholar and historian, specialising in mediæval intellectual and cultural history.- Early life :...
had some of Southern's tendencies towards iconoclasm.
Publications
Southern's Making of the Middle Ages (1953) was a seminal work, and established Southern's reputation as a medievalistMedieval studies
-Development:The term 'medieval studies' began to be adopted by academics in the opening decades of the twentieth century, initially in the titles of books like G. G. Coulton's Ten Medieval Studies , to emphasize a greater interdisciplinary approach to a historical subject...
. This pioneering work, sketching the main personalities and cultural influences that shaped the character of Western Europe from the late tenth to the early thirteenth century and describing the development of social, political, and religious institutions, opened up new vistas in medieval history, and has been translated into many languages.
Southern made major contributions to the areas he studied, and was not afraid to attack long-held views. Southern's monographic studies of St Anselm
Anselm of Canterbury
Anselm of Canterbury , also called of Aosta for his birthplace, and of Bec for his home monastery, was a Benedictine monk, a philosopher, and a prelate of the church who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109...
and Robert Grosseteste
Robert Grosseteste
Robert Grosseteste or Grossetete was an English statesman, scholastic philosopher, theologian and Bishop of Lincoln. He was born of humble parents at Stradbroke in Suffolk. A.C...
, for example, have had significant influences on their historiography. Never afraid of controversy, Southern's interpretation of Grosseteste made a dramatic attempt to revise the chronology of Grosseteste's life. Further, Southern saw him as a particularly English figure (in contrast to earlier scholarship which had seen Grosseteste's connections to French schools as being of particular importance). Similarly, Southern also took a revisionist line in his re-interpretation of the School of Chartres, an argument stated first in his Medieval Humanism and then refined in his Scholastic Humanism and the Unification of Europe. Southern argued that scholars in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries had built the "School of Chartres" into a romanticized edifice out of all proportion with the documentary record. The figures in the School of Chartres were actually much more active in Paris than in Chartres itself, according to Southern; Chartres did indeed have a school, but it did not surpass the usual level of cathedral schools
Cathedral school
Cathedral schools began in the Early Middle Ages as centers of advanced education, some of them ultimately evolving into medieval universities. Throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, they were complemented by the monastic schools...
of the time. Southern's revisionist or iconoclastic approach was continued by some of his students. Valerie Flint
Valerie Flint
Valerie Irene Jane Flint was a British scholar and historian, specialising in mediæval intellectual and cultural history.- Early life :...
, for example, attempted to make significant revisions to the interpretation of Anselm of Laon
Anselm of Laon
Anselm of Laon was a French theologian and founder of a school of scholars who helped to pioneer biblical hermeneutics.Remembered in the century after his death as "Anselmus" or "Anselm", his name was more properly "Ansellus" or, in Modern French, "Anseau."Born of very humble parents at Laon...
.
Southern's final major work, Scholastic Humanism and the Unification of Europe, was unfortunately destined to remain unfinished at his death. Southern never managed to finish the third volume of the work. The first two volumes of the work do represent a major contribution to medieval scholarship, however. In the work, Southern argues that, from the twelfth century on, medieval scholars aspired to systematize all human knowledge in a comprehensive system. Furthermore, this scholarly vision (the "scholastic humanism" of the title) was to have a major influence on Western culture beyond the schools, as scholars and school-educated men moved out of the schools and took important roles in the government and the church.
In addition to these major works, Southern also wrote several works that have not had quite as much influence on medieval scholarship. His brief Western Views of Islam in the Middle Ages represents a relatively early effort to describe medieval attitudes towards Islam, identifying three stages in their development. His Medieval Humanism and Other Studies states first several themes that would be later developed in Scholastic Humanism. His Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages is a textbook survey like The Making of the Middle Ages, but has not received quite as much attention as his earlier work.
External links
- Gifford Lecture biography - By Dr Michael W DeLashmutt
- Palmer, William. "Sir Richard Southern Looks Back: A Portrait of the Medievalist as a Young Man", Virginia Quarterly Review, Winter 1998.