Cyril Roy Hart (born 1923) is an amateur historian of Anglo-Saxon England. He is a retired
general practitioner who published books and articles on medical subjects, but who is mainly known for his extensive contributions to Anglo-Saxon history.
Hart was born on 16 May 1923 at his grandparents' home, 12 Benson Avenue,
East Ham
East Ham is a district of the London Borough of Newham, England, 8 miles (12.8 km) east of Charing Cross. East Ham is identified in the London Plan as a Major Centre. The population is 76,186.
It was originally part of the Becontree Hun ...
, an eastern suburb of London.
After Hart had qualified as a physician, he turned to the serious study of history and gained a master's degree at
Leicester University
, mottoeng = So that they may have life
, established =
, type = public research university
, endowment = £20.0 million
, budget = £326 million
, chancellor = David Willetts
, vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah
, head_labe ...
under the supervision of
Herbert Finberg. He published several studies of Anglo-Saxon charters which, in the view of
Simon Keynes
Simon Douglas Keynes, ( ; born 23 September 1952) is a British author who is Elrington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon emeritus in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic at Cambridge University, and a Fellow of Trinity College.< ...
and
Alfred Smyth, secured him a reputation on a par with leading professional historians. He went on to publish ''The Danelaw'', described by Keynes and Smyth as "a monumental work running to 700 pages of immensely detailed scholarship". In their view his researches "have revolutionised our understanding of Anglo-Saxon history". In 2006 leading historians published a
festschrift
In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
in his honour. He is an
M.A.
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
, an
M.B., a
D.Litt
Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...
and an
F.R.Hist.S.
Select bibliography
His works are listed in the festschrift.
*''The Early Charters of Eastern England'', 1966
*''The Early Charters of Essex'', 1971
*'Athelstan Half-King and his Family', ''Anglo-Saxon England'', 1973 (''The Danelaw'' has an updated version of this article)
*''The Early Charters of Northern England and the North Midlands'', 1975
*''The Danelaw'', 1992
*''The Autobiobiography and Personal Philosophy of a Retired Physician'', 1998
*''Learning and Culture in Late Anglo-Saxon England and the Influence of Ramsey Abbey on the Major English School'', 2 vols, 2003
*''Chronicles of the Reign of Æthelred the Unready'', 2006
*Entrles in the ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'', 2004
References
Sources
*
*
*{{cite book, editor1-first=Simon, editor1-last=Keynes , editor2-first=Alfred P., editor2-last=Smyth , title=Anglo-Saxons: Studies Presented to Cyril Roy Hart , publisher=Four Courts Press , location =Dublin, Ireland , year=2006, isbn=978-1-85182-932-3
Anglo-Saxon studies scholars
British medievalists