Nigel Saul (born 1952) is a British

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...

who was formerly the Head of the Department of

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, ...

(RHUL). He retired in 2015 and is now Emeritus Professor. He is recognised as one of the leading experts in the history of

medieval England England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the medieval period, from the end of the 5th century through to the start of the Early Modern period in 1485. When England emerged from the collapse of the Roman Empire, the econ ...

. Nigel Saul has written numerous books including ''Knights and Esquires, The Gloucestershire Gentry in the Fourteenth Century'' (Oxford, 1981), and ''The Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval England'' (Oxford, 1997). His major biography ''Richard II'' (Yale, 1997) was the product of ten years' work and was acclaimed by

P. D. James Phyllis Dorothy James, Baroness James of Holland Park, (3 August 1920 – 27 November 2014), known professionally as P. D. James, was an English novelist and life peer. Her rise to fame came with her series of detective novels featuring th ...

as "unlikely to be surpassed in scholarship, comprehensiveness, or in the biographer's insight into his subject's character". In 2011 he published a comprehensive survey of English chivalry, ''For Honour and Fame. Chivalry in England, 1066-1500'' (Bodley Head, 2011). More recently he has written on the history of church monuments. His ''English Church Monuments in the Middle Ages: History and Representation'' (Oxford 2009) earned wide praise as a successful attempt to tackle the subject from a historical perspective. He is a Fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...

and served as President of the Monumental Brass Society between 1995 and 2002. Prof. Saul has served as Honorary President of the college's

Conservative Future Conservative Future (CF) was the youth movement of the Conservative Party in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The organisation was made up of all members of the Conservative Party who were 30 years old or younger. Conservative Future was fo ...

Society.

Selected publications

*''Knights and Esquires. The Gloucestershire Gentry in the Fourteenth Century'' (Oxford, 1981) *''Scenes From Provincial Life. Knightly Families in Sussex 1280–1400'' (Oxford, 1986) *"Richard II and the Vocabulary of Kingship", ''English Historical Review'', 110 (1995) *''Richard II'' (New Haven and London, 1997);
pbk.
1999) *''Death, Art and Memory in Medieval England. The Cobham Family and their Monuments 1300-1500'' (Oxford, 2001)
''The Three Richards''
(Hambledon and London, 2005) *''English Church Monuments in the Middle Ages. History and Representation'' (Oxford, 2009) *''For Honour and Fame: Chivalry in England 1066–1500'' (London, 2011) *'' Lordship and Faith: the English Gentry and the Parish Church in the Middle Ages'' (Oxford, 2017) *''Decorated in Glory. Church Building in Herefordshire in the Fourteenth Century'' (Logaston, 2020)

References

External links

Article by Nigel Saul on ''Richard II and the Crisis of Authority'' at the BBC British History website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saul, Nigel 1952 births Living people Academics of Royal Holloway, University of London Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London