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

Twyford School Twyford School is a co-educational, private, preparatory boarding and day school, located in the village of Twyford, Hampshire, England. History Twyford states itself to be the oldest preparatory school in the United Kingdom. It moved to its ...

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 then for a period at

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

- broken by service in

World War I 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 ...

. He won a fellowship to

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 ...

, and taught there and at Christ Church where his pupils included

A. L. Rowse Alfred Leslie Rowse (4 December 1903 – 3 October 1997) was a British historian and writer, best known for his work on Elizabethan England and books relating to Cornwall. Born in Cornwall and raised in modest circumstances, he was encourag ...

Professor

He was then professor of

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

from 1929 to 1944 before returning to

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 ...

Chichele Professor of Modern History The Chichele Professorships are statutory professorships at the University of Oxford named in honour of Henry Chichele (also spelt Chicheley or Checheley, although the spelling of the academic position is consistently "Chichele"), an Archbishop of ...

at All Souls from 1950 until 1961. He was an able academic politician, and is said to have recruited Sir Lewis Namier to

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

by reading in his newspaper that Namier had no position, making a phone call to invite him to take a chair, and only then walking over to tell the vice-chancellor of the recruitment. Jacob was a Member of the

Chetham Society The Chetham Society "for the publication of remains historic and literary connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Chester" is a text publication society and registered charity (No. 700047) established on 23 March 1843. History The ...

, serving as a Member of Council from 1931 and as president from 1938 until 1971. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries,

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 ...

and

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

and also President of the

Ecclesiastical History Society The Ecclesiastical History Society (EHS) is a British learned historical society founded in 1961 to foster interest in, and to advance the study of, all areas of the history of the Christian Church through twice yearly conferences and publication ...

(1965–66).Past Presidents - Ecclesiastical History Society
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Legacy

Jacob is remembered as the link between the old school of 'structuralist' medievalists, including distinguished names such as

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 ...

, T. F. Tout and

F. W. Maitland Frederic William Maitland (28 May 1850 – ) was an English historian and jurist who is regarded as the modern father of English legal history. From 1884 until his death in 1906, he was reader in English law, then Downing Professor of the Laws ...

, and the subsequent school of more socio-political medieval historiography, to which J. S. Roskell, K.B. McFarlane and C. A. J. Armstrong belonged. His professorships at Manchester and Oxford did much to make the two schools England's academic centres for medieval studies. He also contributed the ''Fifteenth Century'' volume to the landmark

Oxford History of England The Oxford History of England (1934–1965) was a book series on the history of the United Kingdom. Published by Oxford University Press, it was originally intended to span from Roman Britain to the outbreak of the First World War in fourteen vol ...

series.

List of works

* ''The Legacy of the Middle Ages'' (Oxford University Press, 1926) co-authored with C. G. Crump * ''The Holy Roman Empire'' (Ernest Benn, 1928) no. 9 "Benn's Sixpenny Library" * ''Essays in the Conciliar Epoch'' (Manchester University Press, 1943) * ''Henry V and the Invasion of France'' (The English Universities Press, 1947) "Teach Yourself History" series * ''The Medieval Registers of Canterbury and York'' (St. Anthony's Hall, 1953) * ''Italian Renaissance Studies: A Tribute to the Late Cecilia M. Ady'' (Faber, 1960) editor * ''The Fifteenth Century 1399-1485'' (Oxford University Press, 1961) volume 6 in the "Oxford History of England" series * ''Archbishop Henry Chichele'' (Nelson, 1967) * ''Essays in Later Medieval History'' (Manchester University Press, 1968)

References

External links

Chetham Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacob, E. F. 1894 births 1971 deaths People educated at Winchester College Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester Alumni of New College, Oxford Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford British medievalists People educated at Twyford School Chichele Professors of Modern History 20th-century British historians Presidents of the Ecclesiastical History Society Chetham Society Lancashire Parish Register Society Historians of the University of Oxford Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Fellows of the British Academy