Susan Reynolds FBA (27 January 1929 – 29 July 2021) was a British

medieval 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 ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

whose book ''Fiefs and Vassals: the Medieval Evidence Reinterpreted'' (1994) was part of the academic critique on the concept of

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

as classically portrayed by previous historians such as François-Louis Ganshof and Marc Bloch. Reynolds rejected typical ideas of feudalism and presented a medieval society structured through ‘horizontal’ groups. According to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', "Few books have been more intensely discussed by professional medieval historians. Largely as a consequence of this work, the word "feudalism", or the "F-word", as it came to be called by historians, began to lose currency among British medievalists." Reynolds did not only write books that have changed the way we think about the past, but was also someone who was constantly examining her own ideas and whose interests were extraordinarily wide-ranging.

Life

Reynolds was born in London, the daughter of a solicitor, and after Howell’s School,

Denbigh Denbigh ( ; ) is a market town and a community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. It was the original county town of the Denbighshire (historic), historic county of Denbighshire created in 1536. Denbigh's Welsh name () translates to ...

took a first degree at Lady Margaret Hall ("LMH"), 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 ...

. Her first job was as an archivist at the Middlesex County Record Office. A year later she joined the Victoria County History as an editor, remaining there for seven years and taking a diploma in archival administration. In an interview for the Institute of Historical Research, Reynolds pointed out that the archival diploma was her only higher qualification; she never gained either an MA or a PhD in history, but had only a bachelor's degree. She taught at girls' schools from before 1960 to 1964, when she was unexpectedly offered a fellowship over lunch at her old college, Lady Margaret Hall. After she took early retirement from LMH in 1986, the Institute of Historical Research, British Library and other libraries became the places where she worked regularly. After a year teaching at

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, she lived in London, with summers mostly spent in France. She continued to research and was involved with the

Institute of Historical Research The Institute of Historical Research (IHR) is a British educational organisation providing resources and training for historical researchers. It is part of the School of Advanced Study in the University of London and is located at Senate Hou ...

. Reynolds believed that the technical terms used in documents prior to around 1100 did not necessarily hold the meanings ascribed to them by historians who had preceded her; and that clerks of later periods tended to read into earlier documents meanings and relationships current in their own day. In her view, direct ownership of land was more prevalent in the early Middle Ages than had been thought, and the decline of central authority had been exaggerated. She was elected to 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 1993. She was an Emeritus Fellow of LMH.

Books

* ''Introduction to the History of English Medieval Towns'', 1977. * ''Kingdoms and Communities in Western Europe 900-1300'', Oxford, 1984. * ''Fiefs and Vassals. The Medieval Evidence Reinterpreted'', 1994. * ''Ideas and Solidarities of the Medieval Laity : England and Western Europe'', 1995. * ''Before Eminent Domain: Toward a History of Expropriation of Land for the Common Good'', 2014.

Notes

External links

University of London School of Advanced Studies Faculty page for Susan ReynoldsPauline Stafford on the social media response to Susan Reynolds’ death
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, Susan 1929 births 2021 deaths British historians British medievalists British women medievalists Contributors to the Victoria County History Corresponding Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Fellows of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Fellows of the British Academy Feudalism in Europe