Sir Frank Merry Stenton FBA (17 May 1880 – 15 September 1967) was an English historian of

Anglo-Saxon England Anglo-Saxon England or early medieval England covers the period from the end of Roman Empire, Roman imperial rule in Roman Britain, Britain in the 5th century until the Norman Conquest in 1066. Compared to modern England, the territory of the ...

, a professor of history at the University of Reading (1926–1946), president 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 ...

(1937–1945), Reading University's vice-chancellor (1946–1950).

Life

The son of Henry Stenton of

Southwell, Nottinghamshire Southwell ( , ) is a minster (church), minster and market town, and a civil parish, in the district of Newark and Sherwood in Nottinghamshire, England. It is home to the Listed building, grade-I listed Southwell Minster, the cathedral of the An ...

, he was educated at

Keble College, Oxford Keble College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, University Museum a ...

, and was elected an Honorary Fellow in 1947. With

Allen Mawer Sir Allen Mawer, (8 May 1879 − 22 July 1942) was an English philologist. A notable researcher of Viking activity in the British Isles, Mawer is best known as the founder of the English Place-Name Society, and as Provost of University Col ...

, Stenton wrote the second English Place-Name Society volume, ''The Place-Names of Buckinghamshire'', published in 1925. He delivered the Ford Lectures at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a 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 second-oldest continuously operating u ...

in 1929. He went on to write ''Anglo-Saxon England'', a volume of the Oxford History of England, first published in 1943 and described by

Simon Keynes Simon Douglas Keynes ( ; born 23 September 1952) is a British historian who is Elrington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon emeritus in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic at the University of Cambridge, and a fellow of Trini ...

as "magisterial and massively authoritative". In the view of Nicholas Higham writing in 1992 it "remains the most complete study of Anglo-Saxon history that has ever appeared. He was himself a historian of the first rank, an eminent place-name scholar and in addition well versed in archaeological literature." Stenton was a professor of history at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

(1926 – 1946), and subsequently the university's vice-chancellor (1946–1950). During his period as vice-chancellor at Reading, he presided over the university's purchase of Whiteknights Park, creating the new campus that allowed for the expansion of the university in later decades. In November 2008, it was announced that a new hall of residence to be constructed on that campus would be named Stenton Hall, in his honour. The annual Stenton Lecture, given by an eminent historian, was inaugurated at Reading University in 1967. He was knighted in the 1948 New Year Honours, and received the

accolade The accolade (also known as dubbing, adoubement, or knighting) () was the central act in the rite of passage Ceremony, ceremonies conferring knighthood in the Middle Ages. Etymology The term ''accolade'' entered English by 1591, when Thomas ...

from King George VI at Buckingham Palace on 10 February 1948. His wife, Doris Mary Stenton, wrote a preface to the third edition of ''Anglo-Saxon England'', published after his death, and edited ''Preparatory to Anglo-Saxon England: Being the Collected Papers of Frank Merry Stenton'', published in 1970. She was a historian in her own right, producing ''English Society in the Early Middle Ages'' for the

Pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...

History of England, and ''The English Woman in History'' (1957). Stenton's papers, together with those of his wife Doris, Lady Stenton, their library and his coin collection are part of the Special Collections in the

Publications

Stenton's major publications were ''The First Century of English Feudalism, 1066–1166'' (1932) and ''Anglo-Saxon England'' (1943). Other publications include:
"The Danes in England". ''History'', 5 (1920): 173–177. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-229X.1920.tb01326.x

Types of Manorial Structure in the Northern Danelaw

Documents illustrative of the social and economic history of the Danelaw, from various collections (1920)

References

External links

*
Stenton Papers

Stenton Library

Stenton Coin Collection

Audio recording
of Stenton's 1958 lecture "The Anglo-Saxon Coinage and Historians" to the British Numismatic Society {{DEFAULTSORT:Stenton, Frank 1880 births 1967 deaths 20th-century English historians Academics of the University of Reading Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Anglo-Saxon studies scholars English medievalists Knights Bachelor Presidents of the Royal Historical Society Toponymists Vice-chancellors of the University of Reading Contributors to the Victoria County History Corresponding Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America