John Antony Bossy FBA (30 April 1933 – 23 October 2015) was a British historian who was a professor of history at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for post-nominals) is a collegiate research university, located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, co ...

Career

Bossy was educated at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

, where he was inspired by

Walter Ullmann Walter Ullmann (29 November 1910 – 18 January 1983) was an Austrian-Jewish scholar who left Austria in the 1930s and settled in the United Kingdom, where he became a naturalised citizen. He was a recognised authority on medieval political tho ...

. He lived and lectured in London (1962–66) and Belfast (1966–78) and was a member of the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nin ...

. Bossy specialised in the history of religion, particularly in that of Christianity during the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

period and beyond. According to some commentators, his approach fused together elements of disciplines such as sociology and theology. His Ph.D. thesis was written on the relations between French and English Catholics during the period of the

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 ...

which contained within it the seeds of later work regarding Michel de Castelnau. He frequently wrote for the ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review o ...

'' and published series of articles in the journals '' Recusant History'' and '' Past & Present''. In 1991 ''The Embassy Affair'' won the British Crime Writers' Association

CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction The CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction is a British literary award established in 1978 by the Crime Writers' Association, who have awarded the Gold Dagger fiction award since 1955. In 1978 and 1979 only there was also a silver award. From 1995 to 200 ...

and (jointly) the

Wolfson History Prize The Wolfson History Prizes are literary awards given annually in the United Kingdom to promote and encourage standards of excellence in the writing of history for the general public. Prizes are given annually for two or three exceptional works ...

. He moved to the University of York in 1979, where he was professor of History until his retirement in 2000. In 1993 he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy.

Works

* ''The English Catholic Community, 1570-1850'' (1979) * 'The Mass as a Social Institution, 1200-1700' ''Past & Present'', Vol. 100, Issue 1, 1 August (1983) * ''Christianity in the West, 1400-1700'' (1985) * ''Peace in the Post-Reformation'' (1998) * ''Giordano Bruno and the Embassy Affair'' (1991; second edition 2002) * ''Under the Molehill: An Elizabethan Spy Story'' (2001) * ''Disputes and Settlements: Law and Human Relations in the West'' (2003) – edited by Bossy *

References

External links

Open-access articles and book reviews by John Bossy
from '' Past & Present''. Accessed 12 Nov. 2015.
Open-access articles by John Bossy
from '' British Catholic History''. Accessed 12 Nov. 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bossy, John Academics of the University of York Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge British historians Fellows of the British Academy Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars 1933 births 2015 deaths