Anne Mary Hudson, (28 August 1938 – 8 December 2021) was a British

literary historian The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment or education to the reader, as well as the development of the literary techniques used in the communication of these pie ...

and academic. She was a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, located on a bank of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The ...

from 1963 to 2003, and

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of Medieval English at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

from 1989 to 2003.

Early life and education

Hudson was born on 28 August 1938. She was educated at Dartford Grammar School for Girls, an all-girls

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

grammar school in

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...

, Kent. From 1957 to 1960, she studied English at

St Hugh's College, Oxford St Hugh's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a ...

, graduating with a first class

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA) degree; as per tradition, her BA was promoted to a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

(MA Oxon) degree. She also undertook postgraduate research at Oxford in relation to Robert of Gloucester's English chronicle, and completed her

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(DPhil) degree in 1964.'HUDSON, Prof. Anne Mary', '' Who's Who 2017'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 22 Nov 2017
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Academic career

From 1961 to 1963 Hudson was a college lecturer in Medieval English at

. In 1963, she was elected a

of LMH and appointed a

Tutor Tutoring is private academic help, usually provided by an expert teacher; someone with deep knowledge or defined expertise in a particular subject or set of subjects. A tutor, formally also called an academic tutor, is a person who provides assis ...

in English. She also held positions in the Faculty of English Language and Literature of

: she was a CUF lecturer from 1963 to 1981, a special lecturer from 1981 to 1983, held a

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

Readership in the Humanities from 1983 to 1986, was a lecturer in Medieval English from 1986 to 1989, before being appointed

of Medieval English in 1989. She retired from full-time academia in 2003, and was made an honorary fellow of Lady Margaret Hall. In addition to her university posts she held a number of senior appointments at the

Early English Text Society The Early English Text Society (EETS) is a text publication society founded in 1864 which is dedicated to the editing and publication of early English texts, especially those only available in manuscript. Most of its volumes contain editions of ...

: she served as its executive secretary from 1969 to 1982 and as its director from 2006 to 2013, and she was a member of its council since 1982. Hudson's research interests included

John Wycliffe John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, Christianity, Christian reformer, Catholic priest, and a theology professor at the University of Oxfor ...

, Wycliffite writing and the

Lollards Lollardy was a proto-Protestantism, proto-Protestant Christianity, Christian religious movement that was active in England from the mid-14th century until the 16th-century English Reformation. It was initially led by John Wycliffe, a Catholic C ...

Honours

In 1976 Hudson was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Historical Society A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

(FRHistS). She has twice been awarded the Sir Israel Gollancz Prize by the

; in 1985 and in 1991. In 1988 she was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

(FBA), the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, and serves as a public policy advisors, research ...

for the humanities and the social sciences. A

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

was published in her honour in 2005: ''Text and Controversy from Wyclif to Bale: Essays in Honour of Anne Hudson'', edited by

Helen Barr Helen Barr (born 1961) is an academic specialising in English literature on the late medieval period. She has spent her entire career at the University of Oxford, and, in 2016, the university awarded her the title of Professor of English Literatur ...

and Ann M. Hutchison.

Later life

Hudson died on 8 December 2021, aged 83.

Selected works

* * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hudson, Anne 1938 births 2021 deaths British literary historians British medievalists British women medievalists Fellows of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Statutory Professors of the University of Oxford Historians of the University of Oxford Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Fellows of the British Academy People educated at Dartford Grammar School for Girls Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford Corresponding Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America British women literary historians 20th-century British historians 21st-century British historians