John Roger Loxdale Highfield (14 February 1922 – 13 April 2017) was an English historian of

medieval Europe In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

and fellow of

Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ...

, University of Oxford.Dr Roger Highfield 1922-2017.
Merton College Oxford, April 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2020.Obituary: Roger Highfield.
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'', 22 May 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2017. His contribution to the study of medieval Spain was recognised by his appointment to the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

in 1989.Merton College obituary

Biography

Roger Highfield enjoyed a long career at Merton College Oxford which began in 1948 when he joined the college as a Harmsworth Senior Scholar. Prior to that he read history at

Magdalen College Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the ...

, Oxford, where he was tutored by the influential historians A. J. P. Taylor and

K. B. McFarlane Kenneth Bruce McFarlane, FBA (18 October 1903 – 16 July 1966) was one of the 20th century's most influential historians of late medieval England. Life McFarlane was born on 18 October 1903, the only child of A. McFarlane, OBE. His father was ...

. He also did military service in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

. In 1951 he became Tutor in History at Merton, a post he kept until he retired in 1989, teaching alongside historians

Robert Gildea Robert Nigel Gildea (born 12 September 1952) is professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford and is the author of several influential books on 20th century French history. Biography Robert Gildea was born on 12 September 1952. He ...

and

Philip Waller Philip John Waller (born 1946) is an English historian and emeritus fellow of Merton College, University of Oxford. He is the author of a number of academic texts. Biography Philip Waller was born in 1946, and studied history at Magdalen College ...

. He was also a colleague of J. R. R. Tolkien, for whom he had little respect, describing the author as “very lazy" and “the worst sub-warden ever”, adding that Tolkien-mania left him “baffled”. When champagne was ordered to mark Tolkien's donation to the College of his original manuscript of ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ''N ...

'', Highfield remarked acidly: "waste of good champagne". Highfield served as Merton's archivist for almost 40 years, as well as other College offices. In 1953 Highfield began a series of annual history reading weeks in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

, open to all undergraduate historians, a tradition which continues today. In 1997 he published the History of Merton College, which was jointly authored with the historian and archivist Geoffrey Martin, drawing heavily on documents from the College archives. Highfield's scholarship focused on late medieval Spain, in recognition of which he was awarded the

in 1989.

Selected publications

*''The Early Rolls of Merton College, Oxford; with an appendix of thirteenth-century Oxford charters''. Oxford:

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, 1964 *''Europe in the Late Middle Ages''. London: Faber, 1970. (Edited with J. R. Hale & B. Smalley) *''Spain in the Fifteenth Century, 1369-1516: essays and extracts by historians of Spain''. London: Macmillan, 1972. (Editor) *''The Crown and Local Communities in England and France in the Fifteenth Century''. London: Sutton, 1981. (Edited with Robin Jeffs) *''Oxford and Cambridge''. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pr ...

, 1988. (With Christopher Brooke) *''A History of Merton College, Oxford''. Oxford:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

, 1997. (with G. H. Martin) *''Registrum annalium Collegii Mertonensis, 1603-1660''. Woodbridge:

Boydell Press Boydell & Brewer is an academic press based in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, that specializes in publishing historical and critical works. In addition to British and general history, the company publishes three series devoted to studies, editio ...

Oxford Historical Society The Oxford Historical Society (OHS) is a text publication society concerned with the history of the city of Oxford and the surrounding area in the historic county of Oxfordshire in southern England. History The Oxford Historical Society was ...

, 2006.

Biography

Selected publications

See also

References

Further reading