Denys Hay (29 August 1915 – 14 June 1994) was a British

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 ...

specialising in medieval and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

Europe, and notable for demonstrating the influence of Italy on events in the rest of the continent.

Life

He was born in

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

on 29 August 1915 the son of Rev W. K. Hay and his wife, Janet Waugh. He was educated at the Newcastle Royal Grammar School then won a place at

Oxford University 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 ...

. During the

Second World War 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, he served from 1940 in the RASC, and was then seconded to the Cabinet Office as one of the team of war historians set up at the instigation of Winston Churchill. With MM POstan and JD Scott, he contributed to the volume on The Design and Development of Weapons (HMSO 1964). He lectured in Modern History at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...

from 1946 until 1954, then becoming Professor of Medieval and Renaissance HistoryCollins, Roger and Goodman, Anthony. ''Medieval Spain: culture, conflict, and coexistence'' Palgrave Macmillan, 2002
at Google Books until he retired in 1980. He was also Vice-Principal of the university from 1971 - 75. He is remembered with the "Denys Hay Seminar" there. On retirement, he was visiting professor at the University of Virginia, and then Professor of History at the European University Institute in Florence. He was Editor of the English Historical Review from 1959 - 1967, President of the Historical Association from 1967 - 70, President of the Ecclesiastical History Society (1979–80). He was the general editor for the ''Longman History of Italy'', as well as the distinguished series ''A General History of Europe'' also published by

Longman Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in London, England, in 1724 and is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is also ...

. He died in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

on 14 June 1994.

Family

In 1937, he married Sarah Gwyneth Morley. They had one son and two daughters.

Books

* ''The Anglica historia of Polydore Vergil, AD 1485-1537'', editor (1950) * ''Polydore Vergil: Renaissance Historian and Man of Letters'' (

Clarendon 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 books ...

, 1952) * ''From Roman Empire to Renaissance Europe'' (1953), revised as ''The Medieval Centuries'' (1964) * ''Europe: The Emergence of an Idea'' (

Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh University Press is a scholarly publisher of academic books and journals, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. History Edinburgh University Press was founded in the 1940s and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Edinburgh ...

, 1957) * ''

New Cambridge Modern History ''The New Cambridge Modern History'' replaced the original ''The Cambridge Modern History, Cambridge Modern History'' in an entirely new project with all new editors and contributors. It was published by Cambridge University Press in fourteen volum ...

'', volume 1 (1957), ed. * ''The Italian Renaissance in its Historical Background'' (1961, 1977) * ''Europe in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries'' (A General History of Europe, Longman, 1966, 2nd ed 1989) * ''Italian Clergy and Italian Culture in the Fifteenth Century'' (1973) * ''Annalists and Historians: Western Historiography from the Eighth to the Eighteenth Centuries'' (1977) * ''Renaissance Essays'' (1988) * ''Italy in the Age of the Renaissance, 1380-1530'' (Longman History of Italy, Longman, 1989)

References

External links

Memoir (PDF)
1915 births 1994 deaths 20th-century British historians Alumni of the University of Oxford Academics of the University of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Presidents of the Ecclesiastical History Society {{UK-historian-stub