Description

William Stubbs (1825-1901), one of the leading historians of his generation, pursued his academic research alongside his work as a clergyman. He was elected Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford in 1866 and appointed a bishop in 1884; he also received many honorary degrees and decorations. Stubbs devoted much of his intellectual energy to medieval English history, focusing especially on the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The three-volume study reissued here, originally published between 1874 and 1878, was one of his most influential works. Nine editions appeared during his lifetime. Well-organised and easy to use, it was prescribed reading for generations of students, and provided the foundation for many later analyses. It traces the evolution of English political institutions from the early Anglo-Saxon invasions of Britain to 1485, relying mainly on primary sources, and argues that modern English constitutional liberties owed much to those of the early Germanic tribes.