The

Regius Professor A Regius Professor is a university Professor (highest academic rank), professor who has, or originally had, Monarchy of the United Kingdom, royal patronage or appointment. They are a unique feature of academia in the United Kingdom and Republic ...

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

(until 2011, Modern History) at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

is a long-established professorial position. Holders of the title have often been

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

historians. The first appointment was made in 1724. The term "Regius" reflects the origins of the post as a royal appointment, itself a recognition of the important influence of history. The Regius Professor of History is ''

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by r ...

'' a Fellow of

Oriel College Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, ...

. Professor

Lyndal Roper Lyndal Anne Roper (born 28 May 1956 in Melbourne) is an Australian historian and academic. She works on German history of the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, and has written a biography of Martin Luther. Her research centres on gender and th ...

has held the Regius Professorship since 2011, the first woman (and the first Australian) to have done so.

Past holders (complete)

*1724–1736 – David Gregory *1736–1742 –

William Holmes William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

*1742–1768 – Joseph Spence *1768–1771 – John Vivian *1771–1801 –

Thomas Nowell Thomas Nowell (1730? – 23 September 1801) was a Welsh-born clergyman, historian and religious controversialist. Life Nowell was the son of Cradock Nowell of Cardiff. He went up to Oriel College, Oxford, in 1746 and in 1747 he won the Duke ...

*1801–1813 –

Henry Beeke Henry Beeke (6 January 1751 – 9 March 1837) was an English historian, theologian, writer on taxation and finance, and botanist. He is credited with helping to introduce the world's first modern income tax. Career Beeke was elected a scholar o ...

*1813–1841 –

Edward Nares Edward Nares (26 March 1762 – 23 July 1841) was an English historian and theologian, and general writer. Life He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford. He was Fellow of Merton College, Oxford and in 1813, he became ...

*1841–1842 –

Thomas Arnold Thomas Arnold (13 June 1795 – 12 June 1842) was an English educator and historian. He was an early supporter of the Broad Church Anglican movement. As headmaster of Rugby School from 1828 to 1841, he introduced several reforms that were widel ...

*1842–1848 –

John Antony Cramer John Antony Cramer (1793 – 24 August 1848), English classical scholar and geographer, was born at Mitlödi in Switzerland. Life He was educated at Westminster and Christ Church, Oxford. He resided in Oxford until 1844, during which time he h ...

*1848–1858 – Henry Halford Vaughan *1858–1866 –

Goldwin Smith Goldwin Smith (13 August 1823 – 7 June 1910) was a British-born academic and historian who was active in both Great Britain and North America. From 1856 to 1866, he was a professor of modern history at the University of Oxford. Smith taught a ...

*1866–1884 –

William Stubbs William Stubbs (21 June 182522 April 1901) was an English historian and Anglican bishop. He was Regius Professor of History (Oxford), Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford between 1866 and 1884. He was Bishop of Ches ...

*1884–1892 –

Edward Augustus Freeman Edward Augustus Freeman (2 August 182316 March 1892) was an English historian, architectural artist, and Liberal politician, a one-time candidate for Parliament. He held the position of Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford, where he tut ...

*1892–1894 –

James Anthony Froude James Anthony Froude ( ; 23 April 1818 – 20 October 1894) was an English historian, novelist, biographer, and editor of ''Fraser's Magazine''. From his upbringing amidst the Anglo-Catholic Oxford Movement, Froude intended to become a clergym ...

*1894–1904 –

Frederick York Powell Frederick York Powell (4 January 1850 – 8 May 1904) was an English historian and scholar. Biography He was born on 4 January 1850 at 43 Woburn Place, Bloomsbury, London, the son of Frederick Powell, a commissariat merchant, and his wife Ma ...

*1904–1925 –

Charles Harding Firth Sir Charles Harding Firth (16 March 1857 – 19 February 1936) was a British historian. He was one of the founders of the Historical Association in 1906. Esmond de Beer wrote that Firth "knew the men and women of the seventeenth century much ...

*1925–1928 –

Henry William Carless Davis Henry William Carless Davis (13 January 1874 – 28 June 1928) was a British historian, editor of the ''Dictionary of National Biography'', and Oxford Regius Professor of Modern History. Early career Davis was born in Ebley, near Stroud, Glou ...

*1928–1947 –

Maurice Powicke Sir Frederick Maurice Powicke (16 June 1879 – 19 May 1963) was an English medieval historian. He was a fellow of Merton College, Oxford, a professor at Queen's University, Belfast, and the Victoria University of Manchester, and from 1928 un ...

*1947–1957 –

Vivian Hunter Galbraith Vivian Hunter Galbraith (15 December 1889 – 25 November 1976) was an English historian, fellow of the British Academy and Oxford Regius Professor of Modern History. Early career Galbraith was born in Sheffield, son of David Galbraith, ...

*1957–1980 –

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 ...

*1980–1989 –

Michael Eliot Howard Sir Michael Eliot Howard (29 November 1922 – 30 November 2019) was an English military historian, formerly Chichele Professor of the History of War, Honorary Fellow of All Souls College, Regius Professor of Modern History at the University ...

*1990–1997 –

John Huxtable Elliott Sir John Huxtable Elliott (23 June 1930 – 10 March 2022) was a British historian and Hispanist who was Regius Professor at the University of Oxford and honorary fellow of Oriel College, Oxford, and Trinity College, Cambridge. He published ...

*1997–2011 –

Robert John Weston Evans Robert John Weston Evans (born 7 October 1943) is a British historian, whose speciality is the post-medieval history of Central and Eastern Europe. He was educated at Dean Close School, Cheltenham, and later at Jesus College, Cambridge.''Who's ...

*2011– –

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Professor of History, Regius, Oxford History, Regius History, Oxford History, Regius, Oxford Oriel College, Oxford 1724 establishments in England Lists of people associated with the University of Oxford

Past holders (complete)

See also

References