Henry Maria Robert Egmont Mayr-Harting (born 6 April 1936) is a British

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 a ...

ecclesiastical historian __NOTOC__ Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritua ...

. From 1997 to 2003, he was

Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History The Regius Chair of Ecclesiastical History at the University of Oxford was founded by Queen Victoria in 1842. Previous Holders of the chair include John McManners, Peter Hinchliff and Henry Mayr-Harting. The current Regius Professor of Ecclesia ...

at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and a lay canon of

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniq ...

Early life and education

Mayr-Harting was born on 6 April 1936 in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. He is the son of Herbert Mayr-Harting, a lawyer who was the Czechoslovak representative at the United Nations War Crimes Commission, and of Anna Mayr-Harting, ''née'' Münzer, who had a distinguished career as a

bacteriologist A bacteriologist is a microbiologist, or similarly trained professional, in bacteriology -- a subdivision of microbiology that studies bacteria, typically pathogenic ones. Bacteriologists are interested in studying and learning about bacteria, ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

, England. His brother,

Thomas Mayr-Harting Thomas Mayr-Harting (born 22 May 1954 in Epsom, Surrey) is an Austrian diplomat. He is the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the Transdniestrian Settlement Process. From November 2015 to August 2019 he was managing direc ...

, is an Austrian and EU diplomat. He was educated at

Douai School Douai School was a public (independent) school run by the Douai Abbey Benedictine community at Woolhampton, England, until it closed in 1999. History 1615–1818 The monastic community was founded in Paris in 1615 and moved to Douai af ...

and

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ...

(BA 1957, MA 1961, DPhil 1961, DD 2004).

Career

Mayr-Harting was lecturer in medieval history at the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

1960–68. He then returned to

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 ...

to become

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

and

Tutor TUTOR, also known as PLATO Author Language, is a programming language developed for use on the PLATO system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in roughly 1965. TUTOR was initially designed by Paul Tenczar for use in ...

in Medieval History at St Peter's College from 1968 until 1997, when he was appointed Fellow Emeritus. From 1976 until 1997 he was also lecturer in medieval history at

Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ...

. He was

Slade Professor of Fine Art The Slade Professorship of Fine Art is the oldest professorship of art and art history at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and University College, London. History The chairs were founded concurrently in 1869 by a bequest from the art collect ...

for the

academic year An academic year or school year is a period of time which schools, colleges and universities use to measure a quantity of study. School holiday School holidays (also referred to as vacations, breaks, and recess) are the periods during which sch ...

1987–88 and in 1993 he was named university reader in medieval history. In 1997 he became the first Roman Catholic and the first layperson to be appointed

in the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and consequently he became the first lay canon of Christ Church Cathedral. He retired from these positions in 2003. He was elected

Visiting Fellow In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...

, in 1983 and Brown Foundation Fellow at Sewanee: The University of the South in 1992. 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 the same year and he is a corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. He was the president of the Ecclesiastical History Society (2001–02).Past Presidents - Ecclesiastical History Society
/ref> In 2003 he took part in the Spring Lecture Series, ''Barbarian Europe: The Creation of a Civilization'', at the Institute for Medieval Studies,

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

. Hon. D.Litt., University of East Anglia, 2009.

Personal life

In 1968 Mayr-Harting married Caroline Mary Humphries. Together they have a son, Felix (born 1969), and a daughter, Ursula (born 1972). Mayr-Harting's daughter, now called Ursula Weekes, is an art historian and has written several books, including ''Techniques of Drawing'' (exh. cat.,

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University o ...

, 1996), ''Early Netherlandish Engraving circa 1440–1540'' (

, 1997), ''Techniques of Drawing: from the 15th to the 19th Centuries'' (

, 1999), and ''Early Engravers and their Public: the Master of the Berlin Passion and Manuscripts from Convents in the Rhine-Maas Region'' (London: Harvey Miller, 2004).

Selected publications

*Henry Mayr-Harting, ''The Bishops of Chichester and the Administration of Their Diocese, 1075–1207: with a Collection of Acta'' (

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

DPhil thesis, 1961) *

Widukind of Corvey Widukind of Corvey (c. 925after 973) was a medieval Saxon chronicler. His three-volume '' Res gestae Saxonicae sive annalium libri tres'' is an important chronicle of 10th-century Germany during the rule of the Ottonian dynasty. Life In view of ...

, ''Res gestae Saxonicae'', tr. Henry Mayr-Harting (typescript 1962, privately bound 1995) *Henry Mayr-Harting, ''The Bishops of Chichester, 1075–1207: Biographical Notes and Problems'' (

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ...

: Chichester City Council, 1963) *Henry Mayr-Harting, ed. and introduction, ''Diocesis Cicestrensis: The Acta of the Bishops of Chichester, 1075–1207'' (

Canterbury and York Society The Canterbury and York Society is a British text publication society founded in 1904. It publishes scholarly editions of English medieval (pre-Reformation) ecclesiastical records, notably episcopal registers. History and activities The Society ...

, vol. 56,

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paig ...

: Devonshire Press, 1964) *Henry Mayr-Harting,
The Coming of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England
' (London: B. T. Batsford, 1972; London: Book Club Associates, 1977; 3rd edn, London:

Batsford Batsford is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. The village is about 1½ miles north-west of Moreton-in-Marsh. There is a falconry centre close to the village and Batsford Arboretum is nearb ...

; University Park:

Pennsylvania State University Press The Penn State University Press, also known as The Pennsylvania State University Press, was established in 1956 and is a non-profit publisher of scholarly books and journals. It is the independent publishing branch of the Pennsylvania State Un ...

, 1991) *Henry Mayr-Harting, 'Functions of a Twelfth-Century Recluse', ''History'' 60 (1975), 337–52 *Henry Mayr-Harting, ''The Venerable Bede, the Rule of St Benedict, and Social Class'' (Jarrow Lecture 1976,

Jarrow Jarrow ( or ) is a town in South Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. It is east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is situated on the south bank of the River Tyne, about from the east coast. It is home to the southern portal of the Ty ...

: Rector of Jarrow, 1976) *Henry Mayr-Harting and R. I. Moore, eds, ''Studies in Medieval History Presented to R. H. C. Davis'' (London: Hambledon Press, 1985) *Henry Mayr-Harting, ''Saint Wilfrid'' (London:

Catholic Truth Society Catholic Truth Society (CTS) is a body that prints and publishes Catholic literature, including apologetics, prayerbooks, spiritual reading, and lives of saints. It is based in London, the United Kingdom. The CTS had been founded in 1868 by ...

, 1986) *Henry Mayr-Harting, ed., ''St Hugh of Lincoln: Lectures Delivered at Oxford and Lincoln to Celebrate the Eighth Centenary of St Hugh's Consecration as Bishop of Lincoln'' (

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 ...

, 1987) *Henry Mayr-Harting, 'The Foundation of Peterhouse, Cambridge (1284) and the Rule of Saint Benedict', ''

English Historical Review ''The English Historical Review'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that was established in 1886 and published by Oxford University Press (formerly Longman). It publishes articles on all aspects of history – British, European, and ...

'' 103 (1988), 318 *Henry Mayr-Harting, ''Ottonian Book Illumination: an Historical Study'' (2 vols, London: Harvey Miller, 1991; 2nd edn, London: Harvey Miller, 1999) *Henry Mayr-Harting, ''Two conversions to Christianity: the Bulgarians and the Anglo-Saxons'' (Stenton Lecture 1993,

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

, 1994) *Henry Mayr-Harting, 'Charlemagne, the Saxons, and the Imperial Coronation of 800', ''English Historical Review'' 111:444 (November 1996), 1113–33 *Henry Mayr-Harting, ''Perceptions of Angels in History: an Inaugural Lecture Delivered in the University of Oxford on 14 November 1997'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998) *Henry Mayr-Harting, 'Liudprand of Cremona's Account of his Legation to Constantinople (968) and Ottonian Imperial Strategy', ''English Historical Review'' 116 (2001) 539 *

Richard Harries Richard Douglas Harries, Baron Harries of Pentregarth, (born 2 June 1936) is a retired bishop of the Church of England and former British Army officer. He was the Bishop of Oxford from 1987 to 2006. From 2008 until 2012 he was the Gresham Prof ...

and Henry Mayr-Harting, eds, ''Christianity: Two Thousand Years'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001) *Henry Mayr-Harting, 'The Uta Codex: Art, Philosophy, and Reform in Eleventh-Century Germany', ''Catholic Historical Review'' 88:4 (October 2002), 759–61 *Henry Mayr-Harting, ''Melbourne Church in its Earliest Historical Surroundings: the Friends First Public Lecture'' (

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

: Friends of Melbourne Parish Church, 2004) *Henry Mayr-Harting, ''Church and Cosmos in Early Ottonian Germany: The View from Cologne'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007) *Henry Mayr-Harting, ''Religion, Politics and Society in Britain 1066–1272'' (London: Longman, 2011)

References

Sources and further reading

*Henry Mayr-Harting,
The Relevance of Medieval History
, ''History Faculty Alumni Newsletter'' 2 (June 2004) *Henry Mayr-Harting,
Much more than "ornament"
, ''Cherwell'' (16 May 2003)
Austrian Academy of SciencesLawrence University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayr-Harting, Henry 1936 births Living people Christian writers People educated at Douai School Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Academics of the University of Liverpool Fellows of St Peter's College, Oxford Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of Christ Church, Oxford Fellows of Peterhouse, Cambridge Historians of Europe Historians of the British Isles Historians of Christianity Anglo-Saxon studies scholars Regius Professors of Ecclesiastical History British art historians British medievalists Slade Professors of Fine Art (University of Oxford) Czech emigrants to England Czechoslovak emigrants to the United Kingdom British historians of religion Presidents of the Ecclesiastical History Society