The Chichele Professorships are

statutory A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

professorship Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

s 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 ...

named in honour of

Henry Chichele Henry Chichele ( ; also Checheley; – 12 April 1443) was Archbishop of Canterbury (1414–1443) and founded All Souls College, Oxford. Early life Chichele was born at Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, in 1363 or 1364; Chichele told Pope Eu ...

(also spelt Chicheley or Checheley, although the spelling of the academic position is consistently "Chichele"), an

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

and founder of

All Souls College, Oxford 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 ...

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

ship of that college has accompanied the award of a Chichele

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

since 1870. Following the work of the 1850 Commission to examine the organization of the university, All Souls College suppressed ten of its fellowships to create the funds to establish the first two Chichele professorships: The Chichele Professor of International Law and Diplomacy, established in 1859 and first held by

Mountague Bernard Mountague Bernard (28 January 1820 – 1882) was an English international lawyer. Life He was the third son of Charles Bernard of Jamaica, the descendant of a Huguenot family, and was born at Tibberton Court, Gloucestershire. He was educated ...

, and the Chichele Professor of Modern History, first held by

Montagu Burrows Montagu Burrows (27 October 1819 – 10 July 1905) was a British historian. Following a career as an officer in the Royal Navy, he was the first Chichele Professor of Modern History at Oxford University, holding the Chair from 1862 until his de ...

. The military history chair was originally established in 1909 as the Chichele Professorship of Military History. In 1923, the History Faculty Board first recommended that the name of the chair be changed to the history of war, but this recommendation was not implemented until 1946.

Professorships

There are currently Chichele Professorships in five different subjects: * Chichele Professor of Economic History, established 1931 * Chichele Professor of the History of War, established 1909 * Chichele Professor of Public International Law, established 1859 * Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory, established 1944 * Chichele Professor of Medieval History, established 1862 as Modern History renamed in 1984

Holders

Economic history

George Norman Clark Sir George Norman Clark, (27 February 1890 – 6 February 1979) was an English historian, academic and British Army officer. He was the Chichele Professor of Economic History at the University of Oxford from 1931 to 1943 and the Regius Prof ...

, 1931 * W. K. Hancock, 1944 * John Habakkuk, 1950–1967 *

Peter Mathias Peter Mathias, (10 January 1928 – 1 March 2016) was a British economic historian and the former Chichele Professor of Economic History at the University of Oxford. His research focused on the history of industry, Business history, business, ...

, 1969–1987 *

Charles Feinstein Charles Hilliard Feinstein, FBA (18 March 1932 – 27 November 2004) was a noted South African and British economic historian. He was born in Johannesburg, received his early education at Parktown Boys' High School and studied at Witwatersrand ...

, 1989– * Avner Offer, 2000–2011 * Kevin O'Rourke, 2011–2019 *

Sheilagh Ogilvie Sheilagh Catheren Ogilvie FBA (born 7 October 1958) is a Canadian historian, economist, and academic, specialising in economic history. Since 2020, she has been Chichele Professor of Economic History at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of A ...

, 2020–

History of war

Spenser Wilkinson Henry Spenser Wilkinson (1 May 1853 – 31 January 1937) was the first Chichele Professor of Military History at Oxford University. While he was an English writer known primarily for his work on military subjects, he had wide interests. Earlier ...

, 1909–1923 # Sir Ernest Swinton, 1925–1939 The Chair was vacant from 1939 to 1943 and suspended between 1943 and 1946, when it was renamed from ''of Military History'' #

Cyril Falls Cyril Bentham Falls CBE (2 March 1888 – 23 April 1971) was a British military historian, journalist, and academic, noted for his works on the First World War. He was born in Ireland and spent most of his life in England. Early life Falls was ...

, 1946–1953 # N. H. Gibbs, 1953–1977 #

Michael Howard Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne (born Michael Hecht; 7 July 1941) is a British politician who was Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposi ...

, 1977–1980 # Robert O'Neill, 1987–2000 # Sir Hew Strachan, 2001–2015 #

Peter H. Wilson Peter Hamish Wilson (born 27 November 1963) is a British historian specialising in German history and European military history. Since 2015, he has held the Chichele Professor of the History of War chair at All Souls College, University of Oxfo ...

, 2015–present

Public international law

, 1859–1870 *

Thomas Erskine Holland Sir Thomas Erskine Holland KC, FBA (17 July 183524 May 1926) was a British jurist. Biography After school at Brighton College and studies at Oxford, he practiced law as a barrister from 1863 onwards. In 1874, he returned to Oxford, electe ...

, 1874– * Sir Henry Erle Richards, 1911– * James Leslie Brierly, 1922– * Sir Humphrey Waldock, 1947– * D. P. O'Connell, 1972–1979 *

Ian Brownlie Sir Ian Brownlie, (19 September 1932, Liverpool – 3 January 2010, Cairo) was an English barrister and academic, specialising in international law. He was Chichele Professor of Public International Law from 1980 to 1999. Early life and ...

, 1980–1999 *

Vaughan Lowe Alan Vaughan Lowe (born 1952) is a barrister and academic specialising in the field of international law. Chichele Professor of Public International Law in the University of Oxford, and a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, 1999–2012; Emeri ...

, 1999–2012 *

Catherine Redgwell Catherine Redgwell is Emeritus Chichele Professor of Public International Law and a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, as well as a Co-Director of the Oxford Geoengineering Programme of the Oxford Martin School. Professor Redgwell previously held ...

, 2012–2023 *

Dapo Akande Dapo Akande is a British-Nigerian academic and lawyer. Akande is the Chichele Professorship, Chichele Professor of Public International Law at the University of Oxford, a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford and co-director of the Oxford Institute ...

, 2023–

Social and political theory

* G. D. H. Cole, 1944–1957 *

Sir Isaiah Berlin Sir Isaiah Berlin (6 June 1909 – 5 November 1997) was a Russian-British social and political theorist, philosopher, and historian of ideas. Although he became increasingly averse to writing for publication, his improvised lectures and talks ...

, 1957–1967 * John Plamenatz, 1967–1975 * Charles Taylor, 1976–1981 * G. A. Cohen, 1985–2008 *

Jeremy Waldron Jeremy Waldron (; born 13 October 1953) is a New Zealand legal philosopher. He holds a University Professorship at the New York University School of Law, is affiliated with the New York University Department of Philosophy, and was formerly the ...

, 2010–2014 *

Amia Srinivasan Amia Srinivasan (born 20 December 1984) is a philosopher and author noted for her work in epistemology and feminist philosophy. Since January 2020, she has been Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory at the University of Oxford. Ear ...

, 2020–

Modern history

, 1862–1905 * Sir Charles Oman, 1905–1946 *

Keith Feiling Sir Keith Grahame Feiling (7 September 1884 – 16 September 1977) was a British historian, biographer and academic. He was Chichele Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford, 1946–1950. He was noted for his conservative interp ...

, 1946–1950 *

E. F. Jacob Ernest Fraser Jacob (12 September 1894 – 7 October 1971) was a British medievalist and scholar who was President of the Chetham Society, Lancashire Parish Register Society and Ecclesiastical History Society. Education He was educated at Tw ...

, 1950–1961 *

R. W. Southern Sir Richard William Southern (8 February 1912 – 6 February 2001), who published under the name R. W. Southern, was a noted English medieval historian based at the University of Oxford. Biography Southern was born in Newcastle upon Tyne ...

, 1961–1969 *

Geoffrey Barraclough Geoffrey Barraclough (10 May 1908 – 26 December 1984) was an English historian, known as a medievalist and historian of Germany. Biography He was educated at Bootham School (1921–1924) in York and at Bradford Grammar School (1924–1925 ...

, 1970–1973 *

J. M. Wallace-Hadrill John Michael Wallace-Hadrill (29 September 1916 – 3 November 1985) was a British academic and one of the foremost historians of the early Merovingian period. He held the Chichele Chair in Modern History at the University of Oxford between 1 ...

, 1974–1983

Medieval history

, 1970-1974 * Michael Wallace-Hadrill, 1974-1984 *

Karl Leyser Karl Joseph Leyser (24 October 1920 – 27 May 1992) was a German-born British historian who was Fellow and Tutor in History, Magdalen College, Oxford, from 1948 to 1984, and Chichele Professor of Medieval History at Oxford University, from 198 ...

, 1984–1988 *

George Arthur Holmes George Arthur Holmes, FBA (22 April 1927 – 29 January 2009) was Chichele Professor of Medieval History at the University of Oxford, and a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, 1989-94. Early life and education Holmes was born on 22 April 1927, ...

, 1989–1995 * Sir Rees Davies, 1995–2005 *

Christopher Wickham Christopher John Wickham (born 18 May 1950) is a British historian and academic. From 2005 to 2016, he was the Chichele Professor of Medieval History at the University of Oxford and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford; he is now emeritus prof ...

, 2005–2016 * Julia M. H. Smith, 2016–2025 *

Alice Rio Alice Rio is a French historian of early medieval Europe. She is currently Professor of Medieval History at King's College London, and in October 2025 will take up the Chichele Professorship of Medieval History at the University of Oxford. She ...

, 2025–

References

{{Reflist * Owen, Dorothy M. "The Chichele Professorship of Modern History, 1862," ''Historical Research'' (1961) 34#90 pp 217–220, DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2281.1961.tb02098.x * Soffer, Reba. "Nation, Duty, Character and Confidence: History at Oxford, 1850–1914," ''Historical Journal'' (1987) 30#1 pp. 77–10
in JSTOR
Professorships at the University of Oxford