Richard Bruce Wernham, (11 October 1906 – 17 April 1999) was an English historian of

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

England. After his death ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' called him "the leading historian of English foreign policy in the 16th century".'Professor Bruce Wernham', ''The Times'' (16 June 1999), p. 23.

Early life

Wernham, the son of a tenant farmer, was born in Ashmansworth in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. He was educated at St Bartholomew's Grammar School before going to Exeter College, Oxford, in 1925, where he achieved a first in modern history in 1927.

Academic career

In 1930 he was appointed a temporary assistant at the

Public Record Office The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...

as part of a scheme designed to help young scholars achieve archival knowledge and editorial experience in preparation for a career in academia. He was appointed editor of the State Papers foreign series and edited its successor, the Lists and Analyses of State Papers. In October 1933 Wernham was appointed lecturer in history at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. In April 1934 he was elected lecturer and then Fellow of Trinity College, which he would hold until 1951. In 1939 he married Isobel MacMillan, with whom he had a daughter Joan in 1943. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

at the photographic interpretation unit at

Medmenham Medmenham () is a village and civil parish in south-west Buckinghamshire, England. It is on the River Thames, about southwest of Marlow, Buckinghamshire, Marlow and east of Henley-on-Thames. The parish also includes Danesfield, a housing estate ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, where his main duty was identifying appropriate landing sites for

Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...

agents. Wernham was Professor of Modern History and Fellow at

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was ad ...

, from 1951 until 1972. He was also a visiting professor at South Carolina University (1958) and California University (1965–6). In 1956 Wernham criticised Geoffrey Elton's ''Tudor Revolution in Government'' for failing to demonstrate that there was any significant reform of the workings of the king's council under

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; – 28 July 1540) was an English statesman and lawyer who served as List of English chief ministers, chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false cha ...

, and he pointed out that many of Cromwell's administrative changes were reversed after his fall from power. Wernham also argued that

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

was the dominating influence on policy, not Cromwell. Wernham also criticised Charles Wilson's 1969 Ford Lectures. Wilson had attacked

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

for refusing to intervene in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

during the late 1570s. Wernham responded by claiming that intervention at that time would have provoked Philip II into a trade war, if not actual war.Bernard, 'Richard Bruce Wernham, 1906–1999', p. 391. Wernham delivered the Una Lectures at Berkeley, California in 1975 and these were published as ''The Making of Elizabethan Foreign Policy'' (1980). In his 1984 work, ''After the Armada'', Wernham argued that the strain of an expensive Continental war was a factor that helped pave the way for 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 ...

. In 1997 he was elected Fellow 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 ...

Hugh Trevor-Roper Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton, (15 January 1914 – 26 January 2003) was an English historian. He was Regius Professor of Modern History (Oxford), Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford. Trevor-Rope ...

considered Wernham "an archivist and not an historian".Bernard, 'Richard Bruce Wernham, 1906–1999', p. 387.

Works

* "The Disgrace of William Davison", ''The English Historical Review'', Vol. 46, No. 184 (Oct., 1931), pp. 632–636. * "Queen Elizabeth and the Siege of Rouen, 1591", ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'', Vol. 15 (1932), pp. 163–179. * (editor), ''Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series, of the Reign of Elizabeth. Vol. XXII: July–December 1588'' (London: Stationery Office, 1936). * "Queen Elizabeth and the Portugal Expedition of 1589", ''The English Historical Review'', Vol. 66, No. 258 (Jan., 1951), pp. 1–26. * "Queen Elizabeth and the Portugal Expedition of 1589 (Continued)", ''The English Historical Review'', Vol. 66, No. 259 (Apr., 1951), pp. 194–218. * ''Before the Armada: The Emergence of the English Nation, 1485-1588'' (London: Jonathan Cape, 1966). * (editor), ''The New Cambridge Modern History. III. The Counter-Reformation and the Price Revolution'' (London: Cambridge University Press, 1968). * "Christopher Marlowe at Flushing in 1592", ''The English Historical Review'', Vol. 91, No. 359 (Apr., 1976), pp. 344–345. * ''The Making of Elizabethan Foreign Policy, 1558-1603'' (University of California Press, 1980). * ''After the Armada: Elizabethan England and the Struggle for Western Europe, 1588-1595'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984). * ''The Expedition of Sir John Norris and Sir Francis Drake to Spain and Portugal, 1589'' (Aldershot: Temple Smith, 1989). * ''The Return of the Armadas. The Last Years of the Elizabethan War against Spain, 1595-1603'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wernham, Richard Bruce 1906 births 1999 deaths Fellows of Trinity College, Oxford Fellows of the British Academy 20th-century English historians People educated at St. Bartholomew's School Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford People from Ashmansworth Fellows of Worcester College, Oxford Historians of the University of Oxford Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Academics of University College London