Marjorie McCallum Chibnall (27 September 1915 – 23 June 2012) was an English
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...
,
medievalist
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often vo ...
and Latin translator. She edited the ''Historia Ecclesiastica'' by
Orderic Vitalis, with whom she shared the same birthplace of
Atcham
Atcham is a village, ecclesiastical parish and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies on the B4380 (once the A5), 5 miles south-east of Shrewsbury. The River Severn flows round the village. To the south is the village of Cross Houses and ...
in Shropshire.
Biography
Born into a farming family at
Atcham
Atcham is a village, ecclesiastical parish and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies on the B4380 (once the A5), 5 miles south-east of Shrewsbury. The River Severn flows round the village. To the south is the village of Cross Houses and ...
in
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...
in 1915, Chibnall was educated at Shrewsbury Priory County Girls' School and
Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, where she was taught by
Evelyn Jamison
Evelyn Mary Jamison (24 February 1877 – 9 May 1972) was a British medievalist who devoted herself mainly to the study of the history of the Normans in Sicily. She was vice-principal and tutor of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford from 1921 to 1937.'Mi ...
,
V. H. Galbraith
Vivian Hunter Galbraith (15 December 1889 – 25 November 1976) was an English historian, fellow of the British Academy and Oxford Regius Professor of Modern History.
Early career
Galbraith was born in Sheffield, son of David Galbraith, ...
and
F. M. Powicke.
In 1947, she married the biochemist and amateur medieval historian
Albert Chibnall, who died in 1988.
They had a son and a daughter.
Chibnall died in
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...
on 23 June 2012, at the age of 96.
Scholarly life
Marjorie Chibnall took her
BLitt at the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
on the subject of ecclesiastical law, before moving on for her doctorate to a study of the relations between the mighty
Bec Abbey in Normandy and its dependent English priories. She completed her doctorate in 1939 under the supervision of the economic historian
Eileen Power
Eileen Edna Le Poer Power (9 January 18898 August 1940) was a British economic historian and medievalist.
Early life and education
Eileen Power was the eldest daughter of a stockbroker and was born at Altrincham, Cheshire (now part of Great ...
. Her early career was spent teaching at the
University of Southampton
, mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour
, type = Public research university
, established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...
(1941–1943) and the
University of Aberdeen
, mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
, established =
, type = Public research universityAncient university
, endowment = £58.4 million (2021)
, budget ...
(1943–1947).
Chibnall was from 1947 a lecturer in history at
Girton College, Cambridge
Girton College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college statu ...
, and from 1953 a
fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
of the college, but she relinquished her positions there in 1965 in order to complete her editorial work on the ''Historia Ecclesiastica'' of
Orderic Vitalis. Four years later she was made a research fellow and subsequently a fellow of
Clare Hall, Cambridge
Clare Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. Founded in 1966 by Clare College, Clare Hall is a college for advanced study, admitting only postgraduate students alongside postdoctoral researchers and fellows. It ...
, and an
honorary fellow
Honorary titles (professor, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as well as in m ...
of Girton College.
In a career spanning more than six decades, Marjorie Chibnall worked extensively on Anglo-Norman and Norman history. She encouraged much scholarship on these topics, as an active participant at the Battle Conferences on Anglo-Norman history and an editor of their proceedings. Chibnall's editions of the writings of Orderic Vitalis and of Atcham were acclaimed works, as was her biography of the
Empress Matilda. She continued to publish when she was well into her nineties. Her last book, a short account of the Normans, was published in 2000. She also edited five volumes of ''Anglo-Norman Studies'', the proceedings of the annual Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies.
Honours
Chibnall was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1978. In 1979, the
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...
granted her an honorary doctorate. In 2004, she was awarded an
OBE for services to history.
The Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies established the Marjorie Chibnall Essay Prize. It is awarded to doctoral students or those within two years of completing their PhD for an unpublished paper to be presented at the conference and published in its proceedings.
Select bibliography
*''Select Documents of the English lands of the Abbey of Bec'', (Royal Historical Society, Camden Third Series vol. 73, 1951)
*''John of Salisbury’s Memoirs of the Papal Court'', (London, 1956)
*(ed. & tr) ''The Ecclesiastical History of Orderic Vitalis'', 6 vols., (Oxford, 1969–1980)
*''Charters and Custumals of the Abbey of Holy Trinity, Caen'' (Oxford, 1982)
*''The World of Orderic Vitalis'', (Oxford, 1984)
*''Anglo-Norman England 1066–1166'', (Oxford, 1986)
*Editor and translator: ''The Historia Pontificalis of John of Salisbury'', (Oxford, 1986)
*''Empress Matilda'', (Oxford, 1991)
*(ed. with Leslie Watkiss) ''The Waltham Chronicle : An Account of the Discovery of Our Holy Cross at Montacute and its Conveyance to Waltham'' (Oxford, 1994)
*Editor and translator with
R. H. C. Davis
Ralph Henry Carless Davis (7 October 1918 – 12 March 1991) was a British historian and educator specialising in the European Middle Ages. Davis was born and died in Oxford. He was a leading exponent of strict documentary analysis and interpre ...
): ''The Gesta Guillelmi of William of Poitiers'', (Oxford, 1998)
*''The Debate on the Norman Conquest'', (Manchester, 1999)
*''Piety, Power and History in Medieval England and Normandy'', (Aldershot, 2000)
*''The Normans'' (Oxford, 2000)
References
External links
A Memoir of Marjorie Chibnall by Diana E Greenway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chibnall, Marjorie
1915 births
British medievalists
Women medievalists
Fellows of Clare Hall, Cambridge
Fellows of Girton College, Cambridge
Fellows of the British Academy
20th-century English historians
2012 deaths
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Writers from Shropshire
Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Academics of the University of Southampton
Academics of the University of Aberdeen
British women historians