Richard Sharpe, , Hon. (17 February 1954 – 22 March 2020) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

historian and academic, who was

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of Diplomatic at the

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and a fellow of

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

. His broad interests were the history of medieval

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and

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. He had a special concern with first-hand work on the primary sources of medieval history, including the practices of

palaeography Palaeography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, UK) or paleography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, US) (ultimately from , , 'old', and , , 'to write') is the study and academic disciplin ...

, diplomatic and the editorial process, as well as the historical and legal contexts of medieval documents. He was the general editor of the ''Corpus of British Medieval Library Catalogues,'' and editor of a forthcoming edition of the

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

s of King

Henry I of England Henry I ( – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in 1087, Henr ...

. (Staff profile on former website with links to some publications.)

Biography

Sharpe studied at St Peter's School, York and then took his BA at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, studying Classics for Part I of the degree and then Anglo Saxon, Norse and Celtic for Part II, where he studied with, amongst others,

Simon Keynes Simon Douglas Keynes ( ; born 23 September 1952) is a British historian who is Elrington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon emeritus in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic at the University of Cambridge, and a fellow of Trini ...

, Kathleen Hughes and

Michael Lapidge Michael Lapidge, FBA (born 8 February 1942) is a scholar in the field of Medieval Latin literature, particularly that composed in Anglo-Saxon England during the period 600–1100 AD; he is an emeritus Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, a Fellow ...

. He graduated with a first in 1977, and published his first book, a history of Raasay the same year. Sharpe stayed in the ASNaC department for his PhD, on Latin-language Irish

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian ...

, which was the basis for his 1991 ''Medieval Irish Saints' Lives: an introduction to 'Vitae sanctorum Hiberniae'''. From 1981 to 1990, Sharpe was an assistant editor of the '' Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources''. As the

's 2018–2019 Lyell Reader in Bibliography, Sharpe delivered that year's Lyell Lectures on the topic of "Libraries and Books in Medieval England: The Role of Libraries in a Changing Book Economy". He was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

(FBA) in 2003, and an Honorary Member of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

in 2018. In 2020, he was elected a Corresponding Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America.

Publications

Books as author * * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharpe, Richard 1954 births 2020 deaths Fellows of Wadham College, Oxford British medievalists English palaeographers People educated at St Peter's School, York Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Members of the Royal Irish Academy Surtees Society Historians of libraries Corresponding Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America 20th-century British historians 21st-century British historians Historians of the University of Oxford