Christopher Robert Cheney (20 December 1906 – 19 June 1987) was a

medieval 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 ...

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 race; as well as the st ...

, noted for his work on the medieval English church and the relations of the

papacy The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

with England, particularly in the age of

Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 ...

Life

Cheney was born on 20 December 1906 in Banbury, Oxfordshire, to parents George Gardner Cheney and Christina Stapleton Bateman. He was educated at Banbury County School and

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...

, where he graduated with first-class honours in 1928. He lectured at the

University of Cairo Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

(1931–1933), and the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...

(1933–1937) before returning to the

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1937 as

reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

in diplomatic and fellow of

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 s ...

in 1937. He married Mary Hall on 24 August 1940. After war service with

MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...

, he took the professorship, chair in Medieval History at Manchester in 1945 until his election as the Professor of Medieval History (Cambridge), Professor of Medieval History at the University of Cambridge in 1955. He remained at Cambridge as a fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Corpus Christi College until his retirement in 1972. Cheney was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1951 and appointed CBE in 1984. He died in Cambridge on 19 June 1987.

Publications

* [revised edition 1983] * * [and many later editions] * *with W. H. Semple (eds) * * *with F. M. Powicke (eds) * * * * * *with B. E. A. Jones (eds) *with Eric John (eds)

References

Works cited

* * 1906 births 1987 deaths People from Banbury British medievalists Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Professors of Medieval History (Cambridge) Fellows of the British Academy Academics of University College London 20th-century British historians English palaeographers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Corresponding Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America Chetham Society Lancashire Parish Register Society {{England-historian-stub