Richard Hugh Britnell (21 April 1944 – 17 December 2013) was Professor (later Professor Emeritus) of the Department of History,

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...

. An economic historian, his work demonstrated that "commerce played an essential part in medieval life". His obituary in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' stated that "Not many academics can be said to have moved the boundaries of their subject, yet no one meeting Richard encountered any pretension or flamboyance". He was a prolific author.

Career

Britnell was born on 21 April 1944, the son of Ronald Britnell and Edith (née Mason), both of whom were teachers. He was educated at Bedford Modern School''School of the Black and Red'', by A.G. Underwood (1981); updated 2010. P.284 and

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

. After

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, Britnell was appointed a lecturer at Durham University, initially in the economic history department. He later moved to the history department where he was made a professor in 1997 although forced to take early retirement in 2003 due to ill health. However, he continued to work as emeritus professor and continued to publish work and be involved in the life of the university and the city. Britnell's academic work dealt with medieval economic history, a field in which he was regarded as a pioneer. He was a prolific author and in 2005 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 ...

. His obituary in ''

'' stated that "Not many academics can be said to have moved the boundaries of their subject, yet no one meeting Richard encountered any pretension or flamboyance".

Family life

In 1973, Britnell married Jenny, a lecturer in French at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

; they had two sons. Britnell died on 17 December 2013.

Selected publications

* "Bureaucracy and literacy" in Lansing, C. and English, E.D. (eds.), ''A companion to the medieval world''. Chichester:

Wiley-Blackwell Wiley-Blackwell is an international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons. It was formed by the merger of John Wiley & Sons Global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business with Blackwell Publish ...

, pp. 413–434; . * "The Commercialisation of English Society, 1000-1500". Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. . * (ed., with A. J. Pollard) ''The McFarlane Legacy: Studies in Late-Medieval Politics and Society''. Stroud: Sutton (1995) . * "Markets, Trade and Economic Development in England and Europe, 1050-1550". Ashgate, 2009..

References

External links

Richard Britnell's personal webpage
Academics of Durham University People educated at Bedford Modern School Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge British historians British economic historians 1944 births 2013 deaths Fellows of the British Academy People from Wrexham Place of death missing Surtees Society Fellows of the Royal Historical Society {{UK-historian-stub