Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman, (12 January 1860 – 23 June 1946) was a British

military historian Military history is the study of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to local and international relationships. Professional historians ...

. His reconstructions of medieval battles from the fragmentary and distorted accounts left by chroniclers were pioneering.

Early life

Oman was born in

Muzaffarpur district The Muzaffarpur district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar States and territories of India, state, India. Muzaffarpur district is part of and also the headquarters of Tirhut division. Muzaffarpur district is the financial and un-off ...

, India, the son of a British planter, and was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, where he studied under

William Stubbs William Stubbs (21 June 182522 April 1901) was an English historian and Anglican bishop. He was Regius Professor of History (Oxford), Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford between 1866 and 1884. He was Bishop of Ches ...

. Here, he was invited to become a founding member of the Stubbs Society, which was under Stubbs's patronage.

Career

In 1881 he was elected to a Prize Fellowship at

All Souls College All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...

, where he remained for the rest of his academic career. He was elected the Chichele Professor of Modern History at Oxford in 1905, in succession to Montagu Burrows. He was also elected to the FBA that year, and served as president of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

(1917–1921), the Numismatic Society and the Royal Archaeological Institute. Among his teaching activities at Oxford, he taught the special subject in military history with C. T. Atkinson of Exeter College that focused on the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

. Oman's academic career was interrupted by the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, during which he was employed by the government's Press Bureau and the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

. Oman was the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Member of

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

for the University of Oxford constituency from 1919 to 1935, and was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

ed KBE in the 1920 civilian war honours list. The parody history book '' 1066 and All That'', published in 1930, includes the dedication "''Absit Oman''", a distortion of the

Latin phrase This is a list of Wikipedia articles of Latin phrases and their translation into English. To view all phrases on a single, lengthy document, see: List of Latin phrases (full). Lists of pages * List of Latin phrases (A) * List of Latin phrases ( ...

"Absit omen". It can be translated as "may Oman be absent", reflecting the prominence of Oman among English historians at the time.

Honours

He became an honorary fellow of New College in 1936, and received the

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

s of DCL (Oxford, 1926) and LL.D (

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, 1911 and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, 1927). He was awarded the

Medal of the Royal Numismatic Society The Medal of the Royal Numismatic Society was first awarded in 1883. It is awarded by the Royal Numismatic Society and is one of the highest markers of recognition given to numismatists. The president and Council award the medal annually to an "in ...

in 1928. He died at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

aged 86.

Children

Two of Oman's children became authors. His daughter Carola Oman CBE was a writer of history, biography, and fiction for adults and children, including a retelling of the Robin Hood legend and biographies of Admiral Lord Nelson and Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore. His son Charles C. Oman wrote several volumes on British silverware and similar houseware, worked as a Keeper of the Department of Metalwork in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, and was active in the Folklore Society (and was in turn father to Julia Trevelyan Oman).

Works

1880s

* ''The Art of War in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

'' (1885) * "The Anglo-Norman and Angevin Administrative System (1100–1265)", in ''Essays Introductory to the Study of English Constitutional History'' (1887) * ''A History of Greece From the Earliest Times to the Death of Alexander the Great'' (1888; 7th ed., 1900
8th ed., rev., 1905

1890s

''Warwick the Kingmaker''
(1891)
''The Byzantine Empire''
(1892) * ''The Dark Ages 476–918'', Period I of ''Periods of European History'' (1893; 5th ed. 1905)
''A History of England''
(1895; 2nd ed. 1919) * ''A History of the Art of War in the

, Vol. I: A.D. 378–1278'' (1898; 2nd ed. 1924) * ''A History of the Art of War in the

, Vol. II: A.D. 1278–1485'' (1898; 2nd ed. 1924) * ''England and the Hundred Years War, 1327–1485 A.D.'' (1898), No. III of ''The Oxford Manuals of English History'', Charles Oman, ed. * "Alfred as a Warrior", in ''Alfred The Great'', Alfred Bowker, ed. (1899) * ''Reign of George VI, 1900-1925. A Forecast Written in the Year 1763'' (preface and notes) (1763; republished 1899)

1900s

''England in the Nineteenth Century''
(1900) * ''

A History of the Peninsular War ''A History of the Peninsular War'' is a seven-volume non-fiction scholarly historical work written by Sir Charles Oman, covering the Peninsular War (1807-1814) in the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. Clarendon Press published the fi ...

, Vol. I: 1807–1809'' (1902)
''Seven Roman Statesmen of the Later Roman Republic''
(1902) * ''A History of the

, Vol. II: Jan. 1809-Sep. 1809'' (1903) * "The

, 1808–14", in '' The Cambridge Modern History'', Vol. IX, ''Napoleon'' (1906) * "The

Hundred Days The Hundred Days ( ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition (), marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII o ...

, 1815", in ''The Cambridge Modern History'', Vol. IX, ''Napoleon'' (1906)
"Inaugural lecture on the study of history"
(1906), in ''Oxford Lectures on University Studies, 1906–1921'' (1924)
''The Great Revolt of 1381''
(1906) (See The Great Revolt of 1381.) * ''The History of England from the Accession of Richard II. to the Death of Richard III. (1377–1485)'', Vol. IV of ''The Political History of England'' (1906), William Hunt & Reginald Poole, ed. * ''A History of the

, Vol. III: Sep. 1809 – Dec. 1810'' (1908)

1910s

* ''A History of England Before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

'' (1910; 8th ed. 1937), Vol. I of ''A History of England in Seven Volumes'' (1904–), Charles Oman, ed. * ''

, Vol. IV: Dec. 1810 – Dec. 1811'' (1911) * ''

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

's Army, 1809–1814'' (1912) * ''A History of the

, Vol. V: Oct. 1811 – Aug. 1812'' (1914) * ''The Outbreak of the War of 1914–18: A Narrative Based Mainly on British Official Documents'' (1919)

1920s

* ''

, Vol. VI: Sep. 1812 – Aug. 1813'' (1922)
''The Unfortunate Colonel Despard & Other Studies''
(1922) * ''Castles'' (1926) * "The

Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

", in ''Political Principles of Some Notable Prime Ministers of the Nineteenth Century'', Fossey John Cobb Hearnshaw, ed. (1926) * ''Studies in the Napoleonic Wars'' (1929)

1930s

* ''

, Vol. VII: Aug. 1813 – Apr. 1814'' (1930) * ''The Coinage of England'' (1931) * ''Things I Have Seen'' (1933) * "The Necessity for the Reformation" (1933) (public lecture) * ''A History of the Art of War in the Sixteenth Century'' (1937) * ''The Sixteenth century'' (1937) * ''On the Writing of History'' (1939)

1940s

* ''Memories of Victorian Oxford and of Some Early Years'' (1941) * ''The Lyons Mail'' (1945)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oman, Charles William Chadwick 1860 births 1946 deaths People educated at Winchester College Alumni of the University of Oxford British military historians Historians of the Napoleonic Wars Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Fellows of New College, Oxford Fellows of the British Academy Presidents of the Royal Numismatic Society Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the University of Oxford Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 Presidents of the Royal Historical Society Chichele Professors of Modern History People from Muzaffarpur district Presidents of the Royal Archaeological Institute British people in colonial India