Jonathan McGovern

FRHistS 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 ...

(born 1993) is an English historian and author. He specializes in the study of

Tudor England Tudor most commonly refers to: * House of Tudor, Welsh and English royal house of Welsh origins ** Tudor period, a historical era in England and Wales coinciding with the rule of the Tudor dynasty Tudor may also refer to: Architecture * Tudor a ...

and is one of the founders of the New Administrative History.

Education and career

McGovern was born in

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

and studied at

Landau Forte College Landau Forte College Derby is an academy in Derby, England. As a secondary school and sixth form, it serves students aged 11–19 from the City of Derby and surrounding areas. Ofsted In May 2012, Landau Forte College Derby received an 'Outst ...

, then a

City Technology College In England, a City Technology College (CTC) is an urban all-ability specialist schoolWalter (2007), p. 6 for students aged 11 to 18 specialising in science, technology and mathematics. They charge no fees and are independent of local authority ...

. He read History and English at St Peter's College, University of Oxford, where he won the Smith Prize. He holds a PhD in English from the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

and has taught at

Nanjing University Nanjing University (NJU) is a public university in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. It is affiliated and sponsored by the Ministry of Education. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction. The univers ...

, China. He is currently Professor of English at the College of Foreign Languages and Cultures,

Xiamen University Xiamen University (XMU; ) is a public university in Siming, Xiamen, Siming, Xiamen, Fujian, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Pro ...

Academic research

Historical perspective

He has defended traditionalist historical methods, arguing for the importance of

empiricism In philosophy, empiricism is an epistemological view which holds that true knowledge or justification comes only or primarily from sensory experience and empirical evidence. It is one of several competing views within epistemology, along ...

in history "as a practical benchmark, not a philosophical position".

Thomas Becket

In 2021, he published his discovery of the eighteenth-century origin of the phrase "

Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" (; also expressed as "troublesome priest" or "meddlesome priest") is a quote attributed to Henry II of England preceding the death of Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1170. While the q ...

", which was formerly misattributed to

King Henry II of England Henry II () was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189. During his reign he controlled England, substantial parts of Wales and Ireland, and much of France (including Normandy, Anjou, and Aquitaine), an area that altogether was l ...

. The phrase actually originated with

Robert Dodsley Robert Dodsley (13 February 1703 – 23 September 1764) was an English bookseller, publisher, poet, playwright, and miscellaneous writer. Life Dodsley was born near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where his father was master of the free school. H ...

Awards and honours

He is winner of the Sir John Neale Prize (2018), the Gordon Forster Essay Prize (2018) and the

Parliamentary History ''Parliamentary History'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is ...

Essay Prize (2019). He was appointed a Fellow of the

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 ...

in 2022 and is a member of the

Selden Society The Selden Society is a learned society and registered charity concerned with the study of English legal history. It functions primarily as a text publication society, but also undertakes other activities to promote scholarship within its sphere ...

, a learned society dedicated to the study of English

legal history Legal history or the history of law is the study of how law has evolved and why it has changed. Legal history is closely connected to the development of civilizations and operates in the wider context of social history. Certain jurists and his ...

Publications

Books

* ''The Little History of England''. The History Press (2024). * ''The Tudor Sheriff: A Study in Early Modern Administration''. Oxford University Press (2022).

Selected articles

* "Was Elizabethan England Really a Monarchical Republic?", ''Historical Research'', vol. 92, no. 257 (2019), 515–28. doi.org/10.1111/1468-2281.12275. * "The Development of the Privy Council Oath in Tudor England", ''Historical Research'', vol. 93, no. 260 (2020), 273–85. doi.org/10.1093/hisres/htaa003. * "Royal Counsel in Tudor England, 1485–1603", ''The Historical Journal'', vol. 65, no. 5 (2022), 1442–69. doi.org/10.1017/S0018246X21000820. * "The Practical Historical Approach: A Review of the Principles and Methods of Fact-First History", ''World History Studies'', vol. 9, no. 2 (2022), 1‒14.

References

1993 births Living people {{Improve categories, date=July 2024 English historians