John Hugh Arnold (born 28 November 1969) is a British historian. Since 2016, he has been the Professor of Medieval History at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He previously worked at

Birkbeck College , mottoeng = Advice comes over nightTranslation used by Birkbeck. , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £4.3 m (2014) , budget = £10 ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

, where he specialised in the study of medieval religious culture. He has also written widely on historiography and why history matters.

Career

Born 28 November 1969, Arnold received his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in history and his

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

degree in medieval studies from the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for post-nominals) is a collegiate research university, located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, co ...

. He was professor of medieval history at Birkbeck College, University of London, from 2008. He joined the college as a lecturer in 2001. Before that he was a lecturer at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

. He is a member of the

Social History Society ''Cultural and Social History'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering cultural and social history published by Routledge five times a year on behalf of the Social History Society. It was established in 2004. Abstracting and indexing The j ...

and the

Medieval Academy of America The Medieval Academy of America (MAA; spelled Mediaeval until c. 1980) is the largest organization in the United States promoting the field of medieval studies. It was founded in 1925 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The academy publishes ...

.Professor John Arnold.
Birkbeck College. Retrieved 19 May 2015.

Research

Arnold specialises in the study of medieval religious culture, saying that while he has never been a believer in any religion, "belief" has always fascinated him. In his work he asks "Why do people believe the things they believe? What does 'believing' really mean in practice?" Arnold has also written widely about

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians h ...

. In 2008 he wrote a policy paper, ''Why history matters - and why medieval history also matters'', for History & Policy.''Why history matters - and why medieval history also matters''
John H. Arnold, History & Policy, 28 November 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2015.

Selected publications

*''What is Masculinity? Historical Dynamics from Antiquity to the Contemporary World'' (Palgrave, 2011), co-edited with Sean Brady *''What is Medieval History?'' (Polity, 2008) *''Belief and Unbelief in Medieval Europe'' (Bloomsbury, 2005) *''A Companion to the Book of Margery Kempe'' (Boydell, 2004), co-edited with Katherine J Lewis *''Inquisition and Power: Catharism and the Confessing Subject in Medieval Languedoc'' (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001) *''History:

A Very Short Introduction ''Very Short Introductions'' (''VSI'') is a book series published by the Oxford University Press (OUP). The books are concise introductions to particular subjects, intended for a general audience but written by experts. Most are under 200 page ...

'' (Oxford, 2000)

References

External links

John H. Arnold.
academia.edu
The Historian's Many Hats
BBC History Trails.
The Big Question: What is history?
Open University. 1969 births Academics of Birkbeck, University of London Professors of Medieval History (Cambridge) Academics of the University of East Anglia Alumni of the University of York British medievalists Cultural historians British historians of religion Historiographers King's College, Cambridge Living people Social historians {{UK-historian-stub