Nicholas Peter Brooks, FBA (14 January 1941 – 2 February 2014) was an English medieval historian.

Biography

Nicholas Brooks was educated at

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 graduated from

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

, in 1961 with a degree in history. His doctoral studies on the

Anglo-Saxon charters Anglo-Saxon charters are documents from the early medieval period in England which typically made a grant of land or recorded a privilege. The earliest surviving charters were drawn up in the 670s: the oldest surviving charters granted land to ...

in the archive of

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...

, also undertaken at Oxford, were supervised by

Dorothy Whitelock Dorothy Whitelock, (11 November 1901 – 14 August 1982) was an English historian. From 1957 to 1969, she was the Elrington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Cambridge. Her best-known work is ''English Historica ...

, and provided the basis for his

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

''The Early History of the Church of Canterbury'', published in 1984. Brooks was lecturer and then senior lecturer in medieval 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 ...

from 1964 until 1985, when he was appointed to the chair of medieval history at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

; in 1989 he was elected as 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 ...

of the

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 ...

. From 1991 to 2013 he was chairman of the British Academy's Anglo-Saxon charters project, co-editing the two volumes on the Canterbury archive, published in 2013, with Susan Kelly; he also chaired the British Academy's Stenton Fund Committee, and was a member of the Fabric Advisory Committees for the cathedrals at Canterbury and

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

. After retiring as professor of medieval history at the University of Birmingham in 2004, Brooks was an

emeritus professor ''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 c ...

, in which role he continued to supervise research students. A

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

, ''Myth, Rulership, Church and Charters: Essays in Honour of Nicholas Brooks'', was published in 2008. Until his death, Brooks was also a member of the Research Project Advisory Panel for the study of the 7th- or 8th-century

Staffordshire Hoard The Staffordshire Hoard is the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork . It consists of almost 4,600 items and metal fragments, amounting to a total of of gold, of silver and some 3,500 pieces of garnet cloisonné je ...

, which he described as "bling for warrior companions of the king".

Publications

As well as "several substantial papers", Brooks's published works include the following: * ''Anglo-Saxon Myths: State and Church 400–1066'' (Hambledon, 2000) * ''Bede and the English'' (Jarrow, 1999) * ''Charters of Christ Church Canterbury'' (with Susan Kelly, 2 volumes, Oxford University, 2013) * ''Church, State and Access to Resources in Early Anglo-Saxon England'' (Brixworth, 2003) * ''Communities and Warfare 700–1400'' (Hambledon, 2000) * ''The Early History of the Church of Canterbury: Christ Church from 597 to 1066'' (Leicester University, 1984) * ''Latin and the Vernacular Languages in Early Medieval Britain'' (Leicester University, 1982) * ''St Oswald of Worcester: Life and Influence'' (with Catherine Cubitt, Leicester University, 1996) * ''St Wulfstan and his World'' (with Julia Barrow, Ashgate, 2005)

Notes

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Nicholas Academics of the University of Birmingham Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Anglo-Saxon studies scholars English medievalists English historians People educated at Winchester College 1941 births 2014 deaths Fellows of the British Academy Academics of the University of St Andrews People from Virginia Water 20th-century English historians 20th-century English archaeologists Historians of Christianity 20th-century English male writers