Eamon Duffy (born 1947) is an Irish historian. He is a professor of the

history of Christianity The history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion, Christian countries, and the Christians with their various denominations, from the 1st century to the present. Christianity originated with the ministry of Jesus, a Jewish te ...

at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, and a Fellow and former president of

Magdalene College Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mar ...

Early life

Duffy was born on 9 February 1947, in

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

."Confessions of a Cradle Catholic"
/ref> He describes himself as a "cradle Catholic". He was educated at

St Philip's School St Philip's Grammar School, in Hagley Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, was a Roman Catholic state grammar school for boys. It was closed in 1976, but continued as a Sixth Form College until 1995. History St Philip's was founded when two priests of ...

and the

University of Hull , mottoeng = Bearing the Torch f learning, established = 1927 – University College Hull1954 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £18.8 million (2016) , budget = £190 million ...

. He undertook postgraduate research at the

, where his doctoral advisers were Owen Chadwick and

Gordon Rupp Ernest Gordon Rupp (1910–1986) was a Methodist preacher, historian and Luther scholar. Early life and education Rupp was born on 7 January 1910 in London and attended Owen's School in Islington. He studied history at King's College London, ...

Academic career

Duffy specialises in 15th- to 17th-century religious history of Britain. He is also a former member of the Pontifical Historical Commission. His work has done much to overturn the popular image of late-medieval Catholicism in England as moribund, and instead presents it as a vibrant cultural force. On weekdays from 22 October to 2 November 2007, he presented the BBC Radio 4 series ''10 Popes Who Shook the World'' – those popes featured were Peter,

Leo I The LEO I (Lyons Electronic Office I) was the first computer used for commercial business applications. The prototype LEO I was modelled closely on the Cambridge EDSAC. Its construction was overseen by Oliver Standingford, Raymond Thompson and ...

Gregory I Gregory I may refer to: * Gregory the Illuminator (250s–330s), Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church in 288–325 * Gregory of Nazianzus (329–390), Patriarch Gregory I of Constantinople, in office 379–381 * Pope Gregory I (540–604), ...

, Gregory VII,

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 ...

, Paul III,

Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

Pius XII Pius ( , ) Latin for "pious", is a masculine given name. Its feminine form is Pia. It may refer to: People Popes * Pope Pius (disambiguation) * Antipope Pius XIII (1918-2009), who led the breakaway True Catholic Church sect Given name * Pius ...

John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June ...

, and

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

Prizes and awards

* Longman–''History Today'' Award for book of the year (1994): ''The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England 1400–1580'' * Hawthornden Prize for Literature (2002): ''The Voices of Morebath: Reformation and Rebellion in an English Village'' * Honorary fellow,

St Mary's College, Twickenham , mottoeng = Show Thyself to be a Mother , established = 1850 (as St Mary's College)2014 (gained university status) , type = Public university , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic , endowment ...

(2003). (He later resigned from the position in protest of management decisions at the college made by its principal, Philip Esler) *President of the Ecclesiastical History Society (2004–2005) * Honorary doctorates from the universities of

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

, and

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, and from the

Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies The Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies (PIMS) is a research institute in the University of Toronto that is dedicated to advanced studies in the culture of the Middle Ages. Governance The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto, currently T ...

, Toronto * Honorary Member of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier learned society and one its leading cultural ...

(2012) * Honorary Canon,

Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is an Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The cathedral has its origins in AD 672 when St Etheldreda built an abbey church. The present ...

(2014)

Books

* ''Humanism, Reform and the Reformation: The Career of Bishop John Fisher'' (1989), with Brendan Bradshaw *'' The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England, c.1400 to c.1580'' (1992) * * ''The Voices of Morebath: Reformation and Rebellion in an English Village'' (2001) * "The Shock of Change: Continuity and Discontinuity in the Elizabethan Church of England", in ''Anglicanism and the Western Catholic Tradition'' (2003) * ''Faith of Our Fathers: Reflections on Catholic Tradition'' (2004) * ''Walking to Emmaus'' (2006) * ''Marking the Hours: English People and Their Prayers, 1240–1570'' (2006) * ''Faith of Our Fathers: Reflections on Catholic Tradition'' (2006) * ''Fires of Faith: Catholic England Under Mary Tudor'' (2009) * ''Ten Popes Who Shook the World'' (2011) * ''Saints, Sacrilege and Sedition: Religion and Conflict in the Tudor Reformations'' (2012) * ''Reformation Divided: Catholics, Protestants, and the Conversion of England'' (2017) * ''The Hope That Is Within You'' – Eamon Duffy in Conversation with Raymond Friel (2017) * ''John Henry Newman: A Very Brief History'' (2019) * ''A Peoples Tragedy - Studies in Reformation'' (2020)

References

External links