Stephen Christopher Rowell (born 9 May 1964 in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

) is a British historian, translator and author of many publications and books about the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

. His book '' Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire within East-Central Europe, 1295–1345'' was published by

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

in 1994.

Biography

Stephen Rowell studied history, Latin, French, and Russian languages at

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

, graduating in 1985, before working at the college as a researcher in 1988–89. From 1990 to 1993, Rowell lectured at

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 ...

about the

History of Europe The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD 500), the Middle Ages (AD 500–1500), and the modern era (since AD 1500). The first early Euro ...

and

Ruthenia ''Ruthenia'' is an exonym, originally used in Medieval Latin, as one of several terms for Rus'. Originally, the term ''Rus' land'' referred to a triangular area, which mainly corresponds to the tribe of Polans in Dnieper Ukraine. ''Ruthenia' ...

in the

Middle Ages 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 global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. Rowell visited

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

for the first time in 1985. He subsequently wrote a dissertation on ''The Role of Christianity in the Last Pagan State in Europe: Lithuania, 1315-1342'', for which he obtained the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 1990. In 1992–94, Rowell lectured in history at

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher education institutions in Central and Ea ...

Vytautas Magnus University Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) (, VDU) is a public university in Kaunas, Lithuania. The university was founded in 1922 during the interwar period as an alternate national university. Initially it was known as the University of Lithuania, but ...

, and

Klaipėda University Klaipėda University ( or KU) is a university in the Lithuanian port city of Klaipėda. Overview Klaipėda University was formally founded on 1 January 1991, by a decree of the Seimas (the Lithuanian parliament). The new university incorpora ...

. From 1993 to 1999, he was a

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 ...

at the Klaipėda University. Since 2001, he has been the editor-in-chief of the periodical ''Lithuanian Historical Studies''.

Publications

Rowell has published more than 50 articles on

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 ...

Europe and the early history of the

, in both

n and foreign publications.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowell, Stephen Christopher 1964 births Living people Historians of Lithuania Academics of the University of Cambridge Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Academic staff of Vilnius University Academic staff of Vytautas Magnus University Academic staff of Klaipėda University Intellectual historians 20th-century English historians 21st-century English historians 20th-century English translators 21st-century translators Academics from Leicester 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers