Sir John Huxtable Elliott (23 June 1930 – 10 March 2022) was a British historian and
Hispanist who was
Regius Professor
A Regius Professor
is a university professor who has, or originally had, royal patronage or appointment. They are a unique feature of academia in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The first Regius Professorship was in the field of medicine, and ...
Emeritus
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
and honorary fellow of
Oriel College, Oxford
Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, ...
, and
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
. He published under the name J. H. Elliott.
Biography
Born in
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...
,
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...
, on 23 June 1930,
Elliott was educated at
Eton College
Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...
and
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
. He was an assistant lecturer at
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
from 1957 to 1962 and Lecturer in History from 1962 until 1967, and was subsequently Professor of History at
King's College, London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King G ...
, between 1968 and 1973. In 1972 he was elected to the
Fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
ship of the
British Academy
The British Academy 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 same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars s ...
. He was elected to the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
in 1977 and the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
in 1982. Elliott was Professor in the School of Historical Studies at the
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...
,
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of w ...
, from 1973 to 1990, and was
Regius Professor of Modern History, Oxford, between 1990 and 1997.
He held honorary doctorates from the Autonomous University of Madrid (1983), the universities of Genoa (1992), Portsmouth (1993), Barcelona (1994), Warwick (1995), Brown University (1996), Valencia (1998), Lleida (1999), Complutense University of Madrid (2003), College of William & Mary (2005), London (2007), Charles III University of Madrid (2008), Seville (2011),
Alcalá (2012), and Cambridge (2013).
[ Elliott was a Fellow of the Rothermere American Institute, University of Oxford, of whose Founding Council he was also a member.
Elliott was knighted in the 1994 New Year Honours for services to history and was decorated with Commander of Isabella the Catholic in 1987, the Grand Cross of Alfonso the Wise in 1988, the Grand Cross of Isabella the Catholic in 1996, and the ]Creu de Sant Jordi
The Creu de Sant Jordi (, in English ' St George's Cross') is one of the highest civil distinctions awarded in Catalonia (Spain), surpassed only in protocol by the Gold Medal of the Generalitat de Catalunya. It was established by the Generalit ...
in 1999. An eminent Hispanist, he was given the Prince of Asturias Prize in 1996 for his contributions to the social sciences
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...
. For his outstanding contributions to the history of Spain and the Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
in the early modern period, Elliott was awarded the Balzan Prize
The International Balzan Prize Foundation awards four annual monetary prizes to people or organizations who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of humanities, natural sciences, culture, as well as for endeavours for peace and the br ...
for History, 1500–1800, in 1999.[ He was a corresponding member of the ]Real Academia de la Historia
The Real Academia de la Historia (RAH, 'Royal Academy of History') is a Spanish institution in Madrid that studies history " ancient and modern, political, civil, ecclesiastical, military, scientific, of letters and arts, that is to say, the dif ...
since 1965.
His studies of the Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...
and the Spanish Empire helped the understanding of the problems confronting 16th- and 17th-century Spain, and the attempts of its leaders to avert its decline. He is considered, together with Raymond Carr
Sir Albert Raymond Maillard Carr (11 April 1919 – 19 April 2015) was an English historian specialising in the history of Spain, Latin America, and Sweden. From 1968 to 1987, he was Warden of St Antony's College, Oxford.
Early life
Carr ...
and Angus Mackay, a major figure in developing Spanish historiography.[Delanty, Gerard ''Handbook of Contemporary European Social Theory''. Routledge, 2006](_blank)
at Google Books
Elliott's principal publications are ''The Revolt of the Catalans'' (1963); ''The Old World and the New, 1492–1650'' (1970); and ''The Count-Duke of Olivares'' (1986).[ His ''Richelieu and Olivares'' (1987) won the Leo Gershoy Award of the ]American Historical Association
The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...
and, in 1992, the Prize XVIIe. In 2006, his book ''Empires of the Atlantic World: Britain and Spain in America 1492–1830'' was published by Yale University Press, winning the Francis Parkman Prize the following year. In 2012, he published his reflections on the progress of historical scholarship in ''History in the Making''.[
Elliott was hospitalised due to pneumonia and kidney complications, at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, on 5 March 2022. He died on 10 March, at the age of 91.]
Works
* ''The Revolt of the Catalans: A Study in the Decline of Spain, 1598–1640'' (Cambridge University Press, 1963; pbk reprint, 1984).
* ''Imperial Spain: 1469–1716'' (London 1963, revised repr. Penguin Books, 2002).
* ''Europe Divided, 1559–1598'' (London 1963; 2nd ed. 2000).
* ''The Old World and The New 1492–1650'' (Cambridge University Press, 1970; pbk reprint, 2008).
* ''Memoriales y cartas del Conde-Duque de Olivares'', 2 vols. (with José F. de la Peña) (Madrid 1978–80).
* ''Richelieu and Olivares'' (Cambridge University Press, 1984; pbk reprint, 2003).
* ''The Count-Duke Olivares: The Statesman in an Age of Decline'' (Yale University Press 1986, revised repr. 1989).
* ''Spain and Its World, 1500–1700: Selected Essays'' (Yale University Press, 1989; pbk reprint, 1990).
* ''The World of the Favourite'' (edited, with L. W. B. Brockliss) (Yale University Press, 1999).
* ''The Sale of the Century: Artistic Relations between Spain and Great Britain, 1604–1655'' (with Jonathan Brown) (Yale University Press 2002).
* ''A Palace for a King'', with Jonathan Brown (Yale University Press, 2003).
* ''Empires of the Atlantic World: Britain and Spain, 1492–1830'' (Yale University Press, 2006).
* ''Spain, Europe and the Wider World, 1500–1800'' (Yale University Press, 2009).
* ''History in the Making'' (Yale University Press, 2012).
* ''Scots and Catalans: Union and Disunion'' (Yale University Press, 2018; pbk reprint, 2020).
References
External links
National Portrait Gallery painting "Historians of 'Past and Present'" by Stephen Frederick Godfrey Farthing
"The Passionate Historian – A Conversation with John H. Elliott"
''Ideas Roadshow'', 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, John (historian)
1930 births
2022 deaths
People from Reading, Berkshire
People educated at Eton College
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge
Fellows of King's College London
English historians
Fellows of Oriel College, Oxford
Fellows of the British Academy
Historians of Spain
Institute for Advanced Study faculty
British Hispanists
Historians of Latin America
Latin Americanists
Members of the University of Cambridge faculty of history
Knights Bachelor
Recipients of the Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic
Regius Professors of History (University of Oxford)
Corresponding members of the Real Academia de la Historia
Deaths from pneumonia in England
Members of the American Philosophical Society