Colin F. Richmond (born 1937) is a British historian of

late medieval England The history of England during the Late Middle Ages covers from the thirteenth century, the end of the Angevins, and the accession of Henry III – considered by many to mark the start of the Plantagenet dynasty – until the accession to the th ...

. After degrees from the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_la ...

and the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a 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 world's second-oldest university in contin ...

, he spent his entire career teaching at

Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Kee ...

, rising to become Professor of Medieval History.

Early life and education

Richmond studied at

Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School is a mixed-sex grammar school with academy status located in Hurst Road ( A222), Sidcup in the London Borough of Bexley, England. It is located adjacent to Lamorbey Park, the Rose Bruford College drama sc ...

before receiving his undergraduate degree from the

in 1959. He then began graduate study at the

under the supervision of

K.B. McFarlane Kenneth Bruce McFarlane, FBA (18 October 1903 – 16 July 1966) was one of the 20th century's most influential historians of late medieval England. Life McFarlane was born on 18 October 1903, the only child of A. McFarlane, OBE. His father was ...

. In 1963, he was awarded a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

(DPhil) degree for a thesis entitled "Royal Administration and the Keeping of the Seas, 1422-1485".

Academic career

After completing his doctorate, Richmond took up a teaching post at

, where he spent the remainder of his career. He was appointed Professor of Medieval History in 1993. He retired from full-time academia in 1997, and was appointed

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

. He has published a number of monographs, scholarly articles and book chapters on medieval history and the Holocaust, notable for their maverick style.Michael Rines, "A Medieval Historian and Holocaust Authority", ''The Woodbridge Society Newsletter'', Spring 2011, 9-10
/ref> He has also published a range of spoof articles in legitimate academic journals, collected in ''The Penket Papers and Other Stories'' (1986) and ''Fabrications: The Adventures of Anthony Woodville'', 2 vols. (self-published, 2016). In 2005, he was the recipient of a

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the ...

edited by Margaret Aston and Rosemary Horrox, entitled ''Much Heaving and Shoving: Late-Medieval Gentry and their Concerns: Essays for Colin Richmond''.

Notable Quotations

* "The analytical spirit obstructs enjoyment" (''The Paston Family in the Fifteenth Century: The First Phase'', p. ix)

Selected works

* '' John Hopton: A Fifteenth Century Suffolk Gentleman'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981). * ''The Penket Papers and Other Stories'' (Gloucester: Sutton, 1986). * ''The Paston Family in the Fifteenth Century: The First Phase'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990). * ''The Paston Family in the Fifteenth Century: Fastolf's Will'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996). * ''The Paston Family in the Fifteenth Century: Endings'' (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2001).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richmond, Colin Date of birth missing (living people) British historians British medievalists People educated at Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School Alumni of the University of Leicester Alumni of the University of Oxford Academics of Keele University 1937 births Living people