Elizabeth Atkinson Rash Brown (February 16, 1932 – August 8, 2024) was an American historian. She was

professor emerita ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

of history at

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

, of the

City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

, a scholar and published author, known for her writings on

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

Career

Brown received her B.A. from

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

and A.M. and PhD. from

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

and

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. In 2009 Elizabeth A. R. Brown was elected the Second Vice-President of the

Medieval Academy of America The Medieval Academy of America (MAA; spelled Mediaeval until ) is the largest organization in the United States promoting the field of medieval studies. It was founded in 1925 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The academy publishes the q ...

and in 2010–2011 served as its president. She taught at

in New York for decades and taught at

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

and Berkeley after retiring. Brown first began publishing academic works in 1958, and wrote more than 130 articles and books in total. Much of her research focused on the Capetian dynasty in 13th- and 14th-century France. In her groundbreaking 1974 article "The Tyranny of a Construct: Feudalism and Historians of Medieval Europe", Brown initiated an ongoing inconclusive discussion as to whether use of the term

is a useful construct for understanding medieval society. In her critique, Brown highlights the potential for constructs to influence research agendas and warns constructs that we use to analyze the past can be exclusive. In 1987, Brown was elected a Fellow of the

(MAA). She later served as the president of the MAA in 2010–2011. Brown died on August 8, 2024, at the age of 92. In 2024, she gave a bequest to the University of Pennsylvania Libraries (the Penn Libraries) to establish an archive to hold the papers of medieval historians – including her own collection – and to endow a curator to manage it.

Works

Monographs

*''Customary Aids And Royal Finance in Capetian France: The Marriage Aid of Philip the Fair''; (Hardcover, Medieval Academy of Amer) : (0-915651-00-9) *''"Franks, Burgundians, and Aquitanians" and the Royal Coronation Ceremony in France''; (Diane Pub Co.) : (0-87169-827-7) *Jean Du Tillet and the French Wars of Religion: Five Tracts, 1562–1569''; (Hardcover, Mrts) : (0-86698-155-1) *''The Monarchy of Capetian France and Royal Ceremonial''; (Hardcover, Variorum) : (0-86078-279-4) *''Oxford Collection of the Drawings of Roger De Gaigni'Eres and the Royal Tombs of Saint-Denis''; (Diane Pub. Co. : (0-87169-785-8) *''Politics & Institutions in Capetian France''; (Ashgate Pub. Co.) : (0-86078-298-0)

Articles

* *"Taxation and Morality in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries: Conscience and Political Power and the Kings of France," ''French Historical Studies'', Vol. 8, No. 1 (Spring, 1973), pp. 1-28. * *"The Ceremonial of Royal Succession in Capetian France: The Funeral of Philip V," ''Speculum'', Vol. 55, No. 2 (Apr. 1980), pp. 266-293. * * *"Authority, the Family, and the Dead in Late Medieval France," ''French Historical Studies'', Vol. 16, No. 4 (Autumn, 1990), pp. 803-832. *"Philip V, Charles IV, and the Jews of France: The Alleged Expulsion of 1322," ''Speculum'', Vol. 66, No. 2 (Apr. 1991), pp. 294–329.

References

1932 births 2024 deaths American women medievalists American medievalists Historians of monarchy and royalty Radcliffe College alumni 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers Swarthmore College alumni Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America American women historians Brooklyn College faculty 21st-century American women People from Louisville, Kentucky {{US-nonfiction-writer-stub