Peter Linehan
{{Short description|British historian (1943–2020)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
Peter Anthony Linehan, FBA (11 July 1943 – 9 July 2020) was a British historian of medieval Spain.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/peter-linehan-obituary-j8msw3k3n|title=Peter Linehan obituary|via=www.thetimes.co.uk}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2020/07/15/peter-linehan-learned-well-liked-historian-medieval-spain/|title=Peter Linehan, learned and well-liked historian of medieval Spain – obituary|date=July 15, 2020|work=The Telegraph}}{{Cite web|url=https://elpais.com/cultura/2020-07-12/peter-linehan-el-analisis-lucido-de-la-edad-media-en-espana-y-portugal.html|title=Peter Linehan, el análisis lúcido de la Edad Media en España y Portugal|first=Francisco J.|last=Hernández|date=July 12, 2020|website=EL PAÍS|language=es}}
He was a fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, where he was Dean of Discipline,{{Cite web|url=https://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/incisively-intelligent-fellow-st-johns-dies-aged-76|title='Incisively intelligent' Fellow of St John's dies aged 76 | StJohns|website=StJohns}} and a fellow of the British Academy.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/fellows/peter-linehan-FBA/|title=Dr Peter Linehan FBA|website=The British Academy}}
Life
Linehan was born in Mortlake, London, the son of a brokerage clerk and a teacher, and attended St Benedict's School, Ealing.{{cite journal |last1=Evangelista Marques |first1=André |last2=João Branco |first2=Maria |last3=Farelo |first3=Mário |last4=Vitória |first4=André |title=Peter Linehan, in memoriam: Quatro olhares sobre um historiador |journal=Medievalista |date=31 December 2020 |issue=29 |pages=13–48 |doi=10.4000/medievalista.4032 |url=https://journals.openedition.org/medievalista/4032 |access-date=6 September 2021 |trans-title=Peter Linehan, in memoriam: Four Portraits of an Historian |language=pt |issn=1646-740X |doi-access=free }} He first visited Spain in 1959.{{cite web |title=La Autónoma inviste doctores 'honoris causa' a Peter Linehan y a Anil K. Jain |url=https://www.lavanguardia.com/local/madrid/20180920/451934582568/la-autonoma-inviste-doctores-honoris-causa-a-peter-linehan-y-a-anil-k-jain.html |website=La Vanguardia Madrid |access-date=6 September 2021 |language=es |date=20 September 2018}} He joined St John's College in 1961 as an undergraduate to study History. He remained at St John's where he became a research fellow in 1966.{{cite web |title=St John's launches fund to support new generation of historians |url=https://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/st-johns-launches-fund-support-new-generation-historians |website=StJohns |access-date=6 September 2021 |date=2 July 2021}} He completed his PhD on "Reform and reaction: the Spanish kingdoms and the Papacy in the thirteenth century", under the supervision of Walter Ullmann. This won the Thirlwall Prize and Seeley medal for 1970-1, and formed the basis for his first book, "The Spanish Church and the Papacy in the Thirteenth Century" (1971).{{Cite web|url=https://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/news/peter-linehan-memoriam|title=Peter Linehan, in memoriam|website=Faculty of History University of Cambridge}}
At St John's, Linehan served as a Tutor, Tutor for Graduate Affairs, Director of Studies in History three times, and Dean of Discipline for 11 years.{{cite web |title=Dr Peter Linehan Fund |url=https://johnian.joh.cam.ac.uk/linehan-fund/ |website=StJohns |access-date=6 September 2021}}
Linehan was influenced by Walter Ullmann, Christopher Cheney, Raymond Carr, Geoffrey Barraclough, and his tutor Ronald Robinson.{{cite magazine |last1=Valero Moreno |first1=Juan Miguel |date=2008 |title=Peter Linehan on history and Europe, una entrevista |url=http://www.pliegosdeyuste.eu/n78pliegos/pdf/n78p5.pdf |language=es |magazine=Pliegos de Yuste |issue=7–8 |pages=5–12 |issn=1697-0152 | access-date=6 September 2021 }}
He became a fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 1971{{cite web |title=Dr Peter Linehan |url=https://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/dr-peter-linehan |website=StJohns |access-date=6 September 2021}} and a corresponding member of the Real Academia de la Historia in 1996. He was elected a fellow of the British Academy in 2002. In 2018, he was awarded an honorary degree from the Autonomous University of Madrid.{{cite web |title=La Universidad Autónoma de Madrid investirá doctores 'honoris causa' a Peter Linehan y Anil K. Jain |url=https://www.eleconomista.es/ecoaula/noticias/9393797/09/18/-La-Universidad-Autonoma-de-Madrid-investira-doctores-honoris-causa-a-Peter-Linehan-y-Anil-K-Jain.html |website=elEconomista.es |access-date=6 September 2021 |language=es |date=18 September 2018}}
Personal life
He died in 2020 aged 76 from heart disease.{{Cite web|url=https://www.laopiniondezamora.es/opinion/2020/07/13/memoria-peter-linehan-7955016.html|title=A la memoria de Peter Linehan|first=José Carlos de Lera|last=Maíllo|date=July 13, 2020|website=La Opinión de Zamora|language=es}} He was survived by his wife and their three children.
Books
- The Spanish Church and the Papacy in the Thirteenth Century (1971)
- Spanish Church and Society, 1150-1300 (1983)
- Past and Present in Medieval Spain (1992)
- History and the Historians of Medieval Spain (1993)
- The Ladies of Zamora (1997)
- The Processes of Politics and the Rule of Law (2002)
- The Mozarabic Cardinal: the life and times of Gonzalo Pérez Gudiel (2004, with Francisco J. Hernández)
- Spain 1157–1300: a partible inheritance (2008)
- St John's College, Cambridge: A History (2011)
- Historical Memory and Clerical Activity in Medieval Spain and Portugal (2012)
- Portugalia Pontificia: Materials for the history of Portugal and the Papacy 1198–1417 (2012)
- At the Edge of Reformation: Iberia before the Black Death (2019)
References
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Category:20th-century British historians
Category:Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge
Category:Fellows of the British Academy
Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
Category:People educated at St Benedict's School, Ealing
Category:People from Mortlake, London
Category:21st-century British male writers
Category:British male non-fiction writers
Category:20th-century British male writers