Charles Reginald Dodwell (1922–1994) was a British art historian who specialized in the period covering the years 800–1200.
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Early life

Dodwell was born in

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

on 3 February 1922.The British Academ
"1999 Lectures and Memorials"
pp. 389-394 He was admitted to

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...

, where he specialized in history. His academic studies were interrupted by the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

from 1941 to 1945, although he suffered from sea-sickness. Initially serving as a mine-sweeper in the British home waters, he later took part in both the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It b ...

and the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

Academic career

After the end of the war, Dodwell returned to Cambridge to complete his studies under

Philip Grierson Philip Grierson, FBA (15 November 1910 – 15 January 2006) was a British historian and numismatist, emeritus professor of numismatics at Cambridge University and a fellow of Gonville and Caius College for over seventy years. During his long an ...

. He specialized in medieval art history, particularly in illuminated manuscripts. In 1949, he was made a senior research fellow of the

Warburg Institute The Warburg Institute is a research institution associated with the University of London in central London, England. A member of the School of Advanced Study, its focus is the study of cultural history and the role of images in culture – cro ...

, which had been relocated a few years earlier from

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

to London. In 1953, he was chosen by

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

Geoffrey Fisher for the prestigious position of librarian-archivist of

Lambeth Palace Library Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament, on the oppos ...

, despite having no formal qualifications as a librarian. In this position, Dodwell assisted with the careful transfer of the contents of the library (heavily damaged during the war) to proper repositories. In 1958, he became a lecturer and librarian at

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. ...

, and in 1966 he obtained a professorship at

Manchester University , 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 Univer ...

. He held this position for 23 years. He was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # ...

in 1973. During his long career, Dodwell published several notable works. In 1954 he published ''The Canterbury School of Illumination 1066–1200'', considered to be the first significant post-war publication on English medieval art. In another publication, he advanced the view (not widely accepted by other scholars) that the Reichenau manuscripts were actually created at

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

and

Lorsch Lorsch is a town in the Bergstraße district in Hessen, Germany, 60 km south of Frankfurt. Lorsch is well known for the Lorsch Abbey, which has been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Geography Location Lorsch lies about 5 km wes ...

.Garrison, Eliz
"Ottonian Imperial Art and Portraiture"
pg. 15

Later life

In 1988, Dodwell suffered a stroke that left him partially blind. Despite his declining health, he continued in active research and publication. He resigned his position as professor in 1989, and with his wife moved to

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

, where he remained until his death in 1994. His final work, ''Anglo-Saxon Gestures and the Roman Stage'', was published posthumously. His friends and colleagues published ''Medieval Art: Recent Perspectives'' as a memorial to Dodwell, including recognition of his work in the restoration of the Lambeth Palace Library during his tenure there.Owen-Crocker, Gale R., and Graham, Timoth
"Medieval Art: Recent Perspectives"
''back cover''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodwell, Charles Reginald English historians 1922 births 1994 deaths People from Cheltenham Fellows of the British Academy Royal Navy personnel of World War II