John Oswald Prestwich (26 June 1914 – 25 January 2003), nicknamed "Jop", was a medieval historian and fellow of Queen's College,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he worked as a

code breaker Code Breaker is a cheat device developed by Pelican Accessories, currently available for PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Dreamcast, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS. Along with competing product Action Replay, it is one of the few currently suppo ...

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...

Life

Prestwich was born on 26 June 1914 in

Leigh, Lancashire Leigh is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, on low-lying land northwest of Chat Moss. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire, Leigh was originally the cen ...

, England. He was educated at the

Sedbergh School Sedbergh School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, in North West England. It comprises a junior school for children aged 4 to 13 and the main school for 13 to 18 year olds. It w ...

, then an all-boys

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

. In 1933, he

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

into

Hertford College, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main ga ...

. Following graduation, he held a prize fellowship at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

. In 1937, he was elected 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 ...

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

. On 2 November 1940, having attended an

Officer Cadet Training Unit An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fr ...

, he was commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the

Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was a light infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until 1958, serving in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. The regiment was formed as a consequence of th ...

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. Like other academics, he worked at

as a code breaker, taking advantage of his fluency in German. He recalled later: In 1938, Prestwich married Menna Roberts, who was a historian of the 16th and 17th centuries and fellow of

St Hilda's College, Oxford St Hilda's College is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college is named after the Anglo-Saxon Saint, Hilda of Whitby and was founded in 1893 as a hall for women; it ...

. She died in 1990. He retired in 1981 to

Old Headington Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston to the north-west, Cowley to the south, and Barton and Risinghurst to the east. Th ...

and died in 2003. He was survived by his son,

Michael Prestwich Michael Charles Prestwich OBE (born 30 January 1943) is an English historian, specialising on the history of medieval England, in particular the reign of Edward I. He is retired, having been Professor of History at Durham University and Head of ...

, who is also a medieval historian.

Scholarship

Prestwich's work focused on England in the 11th and 12th centuries. Although his small scholarly output is often noted, he had "towering influence" on the field and was "one of the most influential medievalists in Britain in the second half of the twentieth century",

Christopher Tyerman Christopher Tyerman (born 22 May 1953) is an academic historian focusing on the Crusades. In 2015, he was appointed Professor of History of the Crusades at the University of Oxford. Life and career He graduated from New College, Oxford, with a f ...

, ''review'' of ''The Place of War in English History, 1066–1214'', ''War in History'' 13:4:524–526 (October 2006) despite not founding a "Prestwich school of history". In 1982–83, he gave the

Ford Lectures The Ford Lectures, technically the James Ford Lectures in British History, are an annual series of public lectures held at the University of Oxford on the subject of English or British history. They are usually devoted to a particular historical ...

at Oxford on "The Place of War in English History, 1066–1214". A book based on the lectures was edited by his son and published posthumously. The book also included an appendix containing a "spirited and effective demolition of feudalism as a useful or accurate description of anything that might have existed in the two centuries after the conquest".

Partial list of publications

* "War and Finance in the Anglo-Norman State", ''

Transactions of the Royal Historical Society Transaction or transactional may refer to: Commerce * Financial transaction, an agreement, communication, or movement carried out between a buyer and a seller to exchange an asset for payment *Debits and credits in a Double-entry bookkeeping sys ...

'' 4:19–43 (December 1954) * "Anglo-Norman feudalism and the problem of continuity", '' Past & Present'' 26:39–57 (1963) * "The military household of the Norman kings", ''

The English Historical Review ''The English Historical Review'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that was established in 1886 and published by Oxford University Press (formerly Longman). It publishes articles on all aspects of history – British, European, and wo ...

'' 96:378:1–35 (1981) * ''The Place of War in English History, 1066–1214'', 2004,

Bibliography

* "John Prestwich" (obituary), ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

''
February 7, 2003
* "John Prestwich" (obituary), ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

''
February 18, 2003
* John Gillingham, James Clarke Holt, John O. Prestwich, ''War and Government in the Middle Ages: Essays in honour of JO Prestwich'' (festschrift), 1984

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prestwich, J. O. British medievalists Fellows of The Queen's College, Oxford Historians of the British Isles 1914 births 2003 deaths Military personnel from Lancashire British Army personnel of World War II People educated at Sedbergh School Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry officers Bletchley Park people