Roger J. H. Collins (born 2 September 1949National Library of Australia
/ref>) is an English

medievalist The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, currently an honorary fellow in history at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. Collins studied 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 ...

( Queen's and Saint Cross Colleges) under Peter Brown and John Michael Wallace-Hadrill. He then taught ancient and medieval history at the universities of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. He arrived at the University of Edinburgh in 1994 and joined the Institute of Advanced Studies in the Humanities before becoming an honorary fellow in the Department of History (now the School of History, Classics and Archaeology) in 1998. His research has primarily concerned the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

, with an emphasis on

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, but also the

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

. His studies on the

Basques The Basques ( or ; ; ; ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a Basque culture, common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous peoples, ...

and the

Papacy The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

(ongoing) have extended beyond this medieval period into the modern. His most recent publication is a book on the seventh- and eighth-century versions of the ''

Chronicle of Fredegar The ''Chronicle of Fredegar'' is the conventional title used for a 7th-century Frankish chronicle that was probably written in Burgundy. The author is unknown and the attribution to Fredegar dates only from the 16th century. The chronicle begi ...

'' for the ''

Monumenta Germaniae Historica The (Latin for "Historical Monuments of Germany"), frequently abbreviated MGH, is a comprehensive series of carefully edited and published primary sources, both chronicle and archival, for the study of parts of Northwestern, Central and Souther ...

''.

Select bibliography

The following select list of writing. Only first printings and English versions are noted, as well as the latest revisions. *''Early Medieval Spain: Unity in Diversity, 400–1000'' (London: Macmillans, 1983, 2nd ed. 1995) *''The Basques'' (Oxford: Blackwell, 1986, 2nd ed. 1990) *''The Arab Conquest of Spain, 710–797'' (Oxford: Blackwell, 1989, 2nd ed. 1994) *''Early Medieval Europe, 300–1000'' (London: Macmillans, 1991, 2nd ed. 1999, 3rd ed. 2010) *''Law, Culture and Regionalism in Early Medieval Spain'' (Aldershot: Variorum, 1992) *(with Judith McClure) ''Bede's Ecclesiastical History: Introduction and notes, together with translations of Bede's Letter to Egbert and his Greater Chronicle'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press World's Classics, 1994, 2nd ed. 1996) *''Fredegar'' (Aldershot: Variorum, 1996) *''Oxford Archaeological Guide to Spain'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998) *''Charlemagne'' (London: Macmillans, 1998) *''Visigothic Spain, 409–711'' (Oxford: Blackwell, 2004) *(edited with Patrick Wormald and Donald Bullough) ''Ideal and Reality in Frankish and Anglo-Saxon Society: Studies presented to Professor J.M. Wallace-Hadrill'' (Oxford: Blackwell, 1983) *(edited with Peter Goldman) ''Charlemagne's Heir: New Approaches to the Reign of Louis the Pious'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990) *(edited with Anthony Goodman) ''Medieval Spain: Culture, Conflict and Coexistence'' (Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2002) *''Keepers of the Keys of Heaven: A History of the Papacy'' (New York:

Basic Books Basic Books is a book publisher founded in 1950 and located in New York City, now an imprint of Hachette Book Group. It publishes books in the fields of psychology, philosophy, economics, science, politics, sociology, current affairs, and his ...

2009) *''Caliphs and Kings: Spain, 796-1031 (A History of Spain)'' (UK:

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 ...

, 2012)

Notes

References

Profile at the University of Edinburgh website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Roger Academics of the University of Edinburgh People associated with the University of Edinburgh School of History, Classics and Archaeology Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford Alumni of St Cross College, Oxford English medievalists English historians Living people 1949 births