Steven John Gunn

FRHistS The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

is an English historian and fellow of

Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor ...

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 ...

. He teaches and researches the history of late medieval and early modern Britain and Europe, and is the author of a number of academic texts.

Biography

Gunn was an undergraduate and doctoral student at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

, matriculating in 1979. Prior to this he attended the

Whitgift School Whitgift School is an independent day school with limited boarding in South Croydon, London. Along with Trinity School of John Whitgift and Old Palace School it is owned by the Whitgift Foundation, a charitable trust. The school was prev ...

South Croydon South Croydon in south London is the area surrounding the valley south of central Croydon and running as far south as the former Red Deer public house on the Brighton Road. It is bounded by Waddon to the West and Selsdon and Sanderstead to the E ...

. Gunn's doctoral thesis, a study of the life and career of

Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk ( – 22 August 1545) was an English military leader and courtier. Through his third wife, Mary Tudor, he was the brother-in-law of King Henry VIII. Biography Born in 1484, Charles Brandon was the secon ...

, was supervised by C. S. L. Davies and completed in 1986. Prior to being elected a Tutorial Fellow at his alma mater, Gunn held a research fellowship at

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

. Gunn's research interests lie in the political, social, cultural and military history of England and its European neighbours, spanning the mid-fifteenth to the late sixteenth century.Steven Gunn at Merton College website
Retrieved 5 August 2020 Gunn was awarded the

Title of Distinction The University of Oxford introduced Titles of Distinction for senior academics in the 1990s. These are not established chairs, which are posts funded by endowment for academics with a distinguished career in British and European universities. Howeve ...

of Professor of Early Modern History by the University of Oxford in October 2015. Gunn delivered the 2015 James Ford Lectures in British History at the University of Oxford, taking as his subject 'The English people at war in the age of Henry VIII'. A book of the same title based on the lectures was published in 2018. Between 2018 and 2019 Gunn served as Acting

Warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically ident ...

of Merton College in the period between the retirement of Martin J. Taylor and the arrival of his successor, Irene Tracey. He had previously served as Sub-Warden from 2010 to 2012. In 2021 Gunn was appointed to the board of trustees of the

Royal Armouries The Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom's national collection of arms and armour. Once an important part of England's military organization, it became the United Kingdom's oldest museum, and one of the oldest museums in the world. It is als ...

Oliver Dowden Sir Oliver James Dowden, (born 1 August 1978) is a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2023 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he previously held various ministerial positions under Prime ...

, the

Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport The secretary of state for culture, media and sport, also referred to as the culture secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for strategy and policy across the Department for Cultu ...

, serving a four-year term.

Media work

Gunn has appeared as a panelist on two editions of the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

programme ''

In Our Time In Our Time may refer to: * ''In Our Time'' (1944 film), a film starring Ida Lupino and Paul Henreid * ''In Our Time'' (1982 film), a Taiwanese anthology film featuring director Edward Yang; considered the beginning of the "New Taiwan Cinema" * ''In ...

'', discussing the

Field of the Cloth of Gold The Field of the Cloth of Gold (, ) was a summit meeting between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France from 7 to 24 June 1520. Held at Balinghem, between Ardres in France and Guînes in the English Pale of Calais, it was a ...

in 2005 and the

Battle of Bosworth Field The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field ( ) was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of House of Lancaster, Lancaster and House of York, York that extended across England in the latter half ...

in 2012. In 2008 he appeared on ''

Great Lives ''Great Lives'' is a BBC Radio 4 biography series, produced in 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 re ...

'' discussing Henry VII with

George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born 23 May 1971) is a British retired politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the Cameron government. A ...

. In 2009 he appeared on an episode of the Radio 4 series ''The Hidden Henry'' discussing

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

's intellectual development and scholarly ambitions with Andrea Clarke. In June 2025 Gunn appeared in an episode of

Suzannah Lipscomb Suzannah Rebecca Gabriella Lipscomb (born 7 December 1978)
, Library of Congress Name Authority File is a Britis ...

's podcast ''Not Just the Tudors'' discussing his book ''An Accidental History of Tudor England'' alongside his co-author Tomasz Gromelski. He has also contributed articles to the magazine ''

History Today ''History Today'' is a history magazine. Published monthly in London since January 1951, it presents authoritative history to as wide a public as possible. The magazine covers all periods and geographical regions and publishes articles of tradit ...

''.

Personal life

Gunn is married to Jacquie, and together they have two daughters.

Selected publications

* ''Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales: Life, Death and Commemoration'', Edited with Linda Monckton (Woodbridge, 2009) * ''War and the Emergence of the State: Western Europe 1350-1600'', in ''European Warfare 1350-1750'', edited by Frank Tallett and David Trim (Cambridge, 2010), 50-73 * ''Henry VII’s New Men and the Making of Tudor England'', Oxford University Press, August 2016 * ''The English People at War in the Age of Henry VIII'', Oxford University Press, January 2018Steven Gunn at Oxford Faculty of History
Retrieved 5 August 2020 * ''An Accidental History of Tudor England: From Daily Life to Sudden Death'', co-authored with Tomasz Gromelski, John Murray, June 2025

References

External links