Felicity Margaret Heal, (born 24 September 1945) is a British historian and academic, specialising in

early modern Britain Early modern Britain is the history of the island of Great Britain roughly corresponding to the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Major historical events in early modern British history include numerous wars, especially with France, along with the ...

. From 1980 to 2011, she was a lecturer 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 ...

and a

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 ...

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...

. She had previously taught or researched at

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

, the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

, and the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

Early life and education

Heal was born on 24 September 1945 in

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England. It is located north-west of London; nearby towns and cities include Watford, St Albans and Berkhamsted. The population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 cens ...

, Hertfordshire, England, to John and Winifred Chandler.'HEAL, Dr Felicity Margaret', '' Who's Who 2017'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 21 July 2017
/ref> She was educated at Lewes Girls' Grammar School, an all-girls

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

, Sussex. She studied history at

, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1967 and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1970. Her

doctoral thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

was titled "The Bishops of Ely and their diocese during the reformation period: ca. 1515–1600". Heal's supervisor was the eminent Tudor historian Geoffrey Elton.

Academic career

Heal's main research concerns the late fifteenth to the mid-seventeenth centuries of

. She specialises in the religious history, such as the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, and the

social history Social history, often called history from below, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. Historians who write social history are called social historians. Social history came to prominence in the 1960s, spreading f ...

of that era. She also has an interest in gift giving. From 1970 to 1973, Heal was a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

. For the 1975/1976 academic year, she was visiting fellow of

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

and

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. From 1976 to 1978, she was a staff tutor at the

. From 1977 to 1979, she was a lecturer in history at the

. In 1980, Heal was elected a

and

Tutor Tutoring is private academic help, usually provided by an expert teacher; someone with deep knowledge or defined expertise in a particular subject or set of subjects. A tutor, formally also called an academic tutor, is a person who provides assis ...

in modern history of

, and appointed a lecturer of the Faculty of History, University of Oxford. She served as Chair of the Faculty of History from 1999 to 2001, and as Deputy Head of the Humanities Division of Oxford University from 2009 to 2011. In 2011, she retired from full-time academia and was appointed

Emeritus Fellow ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who 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". In some ca ...

of Jesus College, Oxford. She was succeeded in her fellowship by Alexandra Gajda. Heal led the editorial team responsible for the most recent history of Jesus College, which included R. J. B. Bosworth, Robin Darwall-Smith and Colin Haydon. The history was published in January 2021 in celebration of the 450th anniversary of the college's foundation.

Personal life

Heal has one daughter from her first marriage: Bridget Heal, who is a professor of early modern history at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

. In 1988, she married Clive Holmes, a fellow Oxford historian. She has two step sons from her second marriage.

Honours

Heal is an elected

Fellow of the Royal Historical Society 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 or professional societies, the term refers ...

(FRHistS). In 2015, she was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

(FBA), the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, and serves as a public policy advisors, research ...

for the humanities and social sciences. She is an honorary professor at the

Selected works

* * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heal, Felicity 1945 births Living people 20th-century British historians 21st-century British historians British women historians Historians of the British Isles British social historians Tudor historians Historians of the early modern period Fellows of Newnham College, Cambridge Academics of the Open University Academics of the University of Sussex Fellows of Jesus College, Oxford Historians of the University of Oxford Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Historical Society 21st-century British women writers 20th-century British women writers