David Edward Luscombe (22 July 1938 – 30 August 2021) was a British medievalist. He was

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

medieval history In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

at the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

. He was elected a fellow of the

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 ...

in 1986. He was also a fellow of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

and the

Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

. He was the joint editor of volume four of ''

The New Cambridge Medieval History ''The New Cambridge Medieval History'' is a history of Europe from 500 to 1500 AD published by Cambridge University Press in seven volumes between 1995 and 2005. It replaced '' The Cambridge Medieval History'' in eight volumes published between 19 ...

''. He was from 1997 to 2002 the President of the Société Internationale pour l'Étude de la Philosophie Médiévale ( S.I.E.P.M.). He died on 30 August 2021, at the age of 83.

Honours

In 2014, Luscombe was awarded the

British Academy Medal The British Academy Medal is awarded annually by the British Academy to up to three individuals or groups. It is awarded for "outstanding achievement that has transformed understanding of a particular subject or field of study in ... any branch of ...

for his book ''

The Letter Collection of Peter Abelard and Heloise ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...

''.

Selected publications

*''Medieval Thought''.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, Oxford, 1997. *''The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume 4, c. 1024–c. 1198''.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, Cambridge, 2004. (Editor with

Jonathan Riley-Smith Jonathan Simon Christopher Riley-Smith (27 June 1938 – 13 September 2016) was a historian of the Crusades, and, between 1994 and 2005, Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Cambridge. He was a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Ea ...

) *''The School of Peter Abelard''. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2008. *''A Monastic Community in Local Society: The Beauchief Abbey Cartulary''. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2012. (Editor with David Hey & Lisa Liddy)

References

1938 births 2021 deaths British medievalists Academics of the University of Sheffield Fellows of King's College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Cambridge Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Recipients of the British Academy Medal Fellows of Churchill College, Cambridge {{UK-historian-stub