Geoffrey Christopher Morris (24 January 1906 – 16 February 1993) was a British historian and fellow of King's College, University of Cambridge, whose book on Tudor political thought was described by

Geoffrey Elton Sir Geoffrey Rudolph Elton (born Gottfried Rudolf Otto Ehrenberg; 17 August 1921 – 4 December 1994) was a German-born British political and constitutional historian, specialising in the Tudor period. He taught at Clare College, Cambridge, and ...

as a "brilliant summary".

Early life

Geoffrey Christopher Morris was born on 24 January 1906 in

Great Bookham Great Bookham is a village in the Mole Valley district, in Surrey, England, one of six semi-urban spring line settlements between the towns of Leatherhead and Guildford. With the narrow strip parish of Little Bookham, it forms part of the Sax ...

, Surrey. He went up to

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

in 1924.

Career

Morris became a fellow of King's by dissertation. He stayed with the college until his retirement in 1971. His first specialism was in Tudor and Stuart constitutional history and he later taught the standard course on

political thought Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and legitimacy of political institutions, such as states. This field investigates different forms of government, ranging from ...

from Plato to Rousseau. He was known for his range and his ability to produce a paper on a given subject with ease. He was also noted for his interest in his students. He edited ''The Journeys of Celia Fiennes'' (1947). His survey, ''Political Thought in England: Tyndale to Hooker'' (1953), argued that political thought in the Tudor age was still largely medieval and that actors subordinated the state to society.

, who agreed, described the book in ''England under the Tudors'' (1955) as a "brilliant summary". Morris began a history of western political thought but only completed volume 1 (Plato to Augustine, 1967), being overtaken, according to ''The Independent'', by new thinking that left his liberal approach looking outdated.

Personal life

Morris married Helen Soutar in 1933. The couple had a daughter and a son. Their son pre-deceased them.

Death

Morris died in Cambridge on 16 February 1993.

Selected publications

*''The Journeys of Celia Fiennes. Edited and with an introduction by Christopher Morris, etc.'',

Cresset Press The Cresset Press was a publishing company in London, England, active as an independent press from 1927 for 40 years, and initially specializing in "expensively illustrated limited editions of classical works, like John Milton, Milton's ''Paradise ...

, London, 1947. (Editor) (Revised edition 1949) *''Political Thought in England: Tyndale to Hooker'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1953. (

Home University Library of Modern Knowledge The ''Home University Library of Modern Knowledge'' was a series of popular non-fiction books from the first half of the twentieth century that ran to over 200 volumes. The authors were eminent scholars in their fields and included Isaiah Berlin, ...

) *''The Tudors'', B.T. Batsford, London, 1955. *''Western Political Thought Volume 1: Plato to Augustine'',

Longmans Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in 1724 in London, England, which is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is ...

, London, 1967.

References

External links

''Obedience and Resistance in England, 1536-1558''
David Andrew Santschi. {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Christopher 1906 births 1993 deaths Fellows of King's College, Cambridge Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Writers from Surrey 20th-century English historians 20th-century English male writers Members of the University of Cambridge faculty of history Tudor historians Historians of political thought