John Stephen Morrill (born 12 June 1946) is a British

Roman Catholic Priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' re ...

, historian and academic who specialises in the political, religious, social, and cultural history of early-modern Britain from 1500 to 1750, especially the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

. He is best known for his scholarship on early modern politics and his unique county studies approach which he developed at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. Morrill was educated at

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

, and became a fellow of

Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Selwyn (bishop of Lichfield), Georg ...

, in 1975.

Early life and education

Morrill was born on 12 June 1946 to William Henry Morrill and Marjorie (née Ashton). He was educated at Altrincham County Grammar, an all-boys

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 ...

in Cheshire. In 1964, he matriculated into

, to study history. He graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA) degree in 1967, and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(DPhil) degree in 1971.

Academic career

Morrill began his academic career with a number of short term appointments. For the 1970/71 academic year, he was Keasbey Lecturer in history at

. He held a junior research fellowship at Trinity from 1971 to 1974. He was also a college

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

in history at

St Catherine's College, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. In 1974, it was also one of the first men's colleges to admit women. It has 528 un ...

, for the 1973/74 academic year. Then, from 1974 to 1975, he was a lecturer in modern history at the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals; ) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by a royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built within the walled Airth ...

. Although his Stirling post had been a permanent appointment, Morrill moved to the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 1975, having been appointed an assistant lecturer (later lecturer) in its Faculty of History. He was promoted to reader in early modern history in 1992, and professor of British and Irish history in 1998. He was deputy director of the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) from 2001 to 2004. He has also been 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 ...

, since 1975 and active in the college's administration: he was director of studies in history from 1975 to 1992, a tutor from 1979 to 1992, admissions tutor from 1982 to 1987, the senior tutor from 1987 to 1992, and served as vice-master from 1992 to 2001. Having retired in 2015 from full-time academia, he was appointed

professor emeritus ''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". ...

by the University of Cambridge and emeritus fellow of Selwyn College. He 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) in 1995, and served as Vice-President in 2001–09. He is also an honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy (HonMRIA) and the Academy of Finland. He holds honorary degrees from several universities, and is an Honorary Fellow of

, and

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

. He was Chair of the Research Committee of the AHRB (2002–05), and also served as a Vice-President of

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 ...

. Morrill was President for 10 years of the Cromwell Association, "a body that seeks to promote public knowledge about and interest in Cromwell and his age". According to the online ''Bibliography of British and Irish History'', he has published (up to July 2016) 116 books, essays and articles but some of his major contributions have been in developing online datasets – as General Editor of the ''Royal Historical Society Bibliography of British and Irish History'' and of the British Overseas (1992–99) — now the online Bibliography of British and Irish History, as Chair of the Management Committee of the project that put 8,000 survivor statements from the 1641 'massacres' in Ireland, and as General Editor of an imminent (5 volume and online) edition of all the recorded words of Oliver Cromwell. On 6 July 2009, Morrill delivered his lecture 'The British Revolution in the English Provinces, 1640-9' as part of The Marc Fitch Lectures.

Church Career

In 1996, Morrill was ordained as a permanent deacon in the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He has held several senior positions in the Diocese of East Anglia (e.g. Lourdes Pilgrimage Diocean Director, Chair of the Commission for Evangelisation and Assistant Director for Diaconal Formation), and previously taught Church History and Pastoral Theology one weekend a month at St John's Seminary, Wonersh. He was ordained as a

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

on 21 September 2024 at the Cathedral of St John the Baptist by Peter Collins, Bishop of East Anglia.

Personal life

In 1968, Morrill married Frances Mead. Together they had four daughters. His wife predeceased him, dying in 2007.

Works

* ''Revolt of the Provinces: Conservatives and Radicals in the English Civil War, 1630–1650'' (

Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It became one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and established an Australian ...

, 1976);
(review)
*''The Civil War and Interregnum: Sources for Local Historians'' (with G.E. Aylmer) (Bedford Square Press, 1979
(read online)
* ''Seventeenth Century Britain, 1603–1714'' (Dawson, 1980
(read online)
* ''Reactions to the English Civil War, 1642–1649'' (

Palgrave Macmillan Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains offi ...

, 1982);
(read online)
* ''Charles I'' (with Christopher W. Daniels) (

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 1988);
(read online)
* ''Oliver Cromwell and the English Revolution'' (

Longman Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publisher, 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 ...

, 1990);
(read online)
* ''The Impact of the English Civil War'' ( Collins & Brown, 1991);
(read online)
* ''The Nature of the English Revolution'' (

, 1993);
(review)
* ''The British Problem, ca. 1534–1707: State Formation in the Atlantic Archipelago'' (with Brendan Bradshaw (

, 1996); * ''The Oxford Illustrated History of Tudor and Stuart Britain'' (Clarendon Press, 1996);
(review by Anthony Fletcher)
* ''The Civil Wars: A Military History of England, Scotland, and Ireland 1638–1660'' (ed. John Morrill, John Kenyon, and Jane Ohlmeyer) (Oxford University Press. 1988
(read online)
* ''Revolt in the Provinces: The English People and the Tragedies of War, 1634–1648'' (

, 1999
(read online)
* ''Stuart Britain: A Very Short Introduction'' (

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 ...

Paperbacks, 2000);
(read online)
* ''Uneasy Lies the Head That Wears a Crown: Dynastic Crises in Tudor and Stewart Britain, 1504–1746'' (

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

, 2005
read online
* ''Oliver Cromwell'' (

, VIP series, 2007
read online
* ''Firmly I Believe and Truly: The Spiritual Tradition of Catholic England, 1483–1999'' (with John Saward and Michael Tomko) (

, 2011
read online
* ''The Nature of the English Revolution Revisited: Essays in Honour of John Morrill'' (eds. Stephen Taylor and Grant Tapsell) (Boydell, 2013)

References

External links

Lecture on "Why the King James Bible was Necessary"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrill, John (historian) 1946 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century English historians 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English historians 21st-century English male writers English Roman Catholics English Roman Catholic priests Fellows of Selwyn College, Cambridge Fellows of the British Academy People educated at Altrincham Grammar School for Boys Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Fellows of Trinity College, Oxford People associated with St Catherine's College, Oxford Academics of the University of Stirling Members of the University of Cambridge faculty of history Historians of the early modern period Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Historians of the University of Oxford