John Richard Green
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John Richard Green (12 December 1837 – 7 March 1883) was an English historian.


Early life

Green was born on 12 December 1837, the son of a tradesman in
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 ...
, where he was educated, first at Magdalen College School, and then at
Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship St ...
, where he is commemorated by the J. R. Green Society, which meets several times a term and is run by students from the undergraduate body. He grew up in a
high-church The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originated ...
Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
family from which he rebelled as early as 1850, being "temporarily banished from his uncle's house for ridiculing the uproar over 'Papal Aggression.'"


Career


Ecclesiastical career

He entered the church, being ordained to the diaconate in 1860, and served various cures in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, under a constant strain caused by delicate health. Always an enthusiastic student of history, the little leisure time he had was devoted to research.


Turn to historical writings

In 1869 he finally gave up his work as a clergyman, and was appointed librarian at Lambeth. He had been laying plans for various historical works, including a History of the English Church as exhibited in a series of Lives of the
Archbishops of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
, and, what he proposed as his ''
magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...
'', a history of England under the
Angevin Angevin or House of Anjou may refer to: *County of Anjou or Duchy of Anjou, a historical county, and later Duchy, in France **Angevin (language), the traditional langue d'oïl spoken in Anjou **Counts and Dukes of Anjou * House of Ingelger, a Frank ...
kings. After suffering from failing health he abandoned these projects and instead concentrated his energies on the preparation of his ''
A Short History of the English People ''A Short History of the English People'' is a book written by English historian John Richard Green. Published in 1874, "it is a history, not of English Kings or English Conquests, but of the English People." Background and reception Green bega ...
'', which appeared in 1874, and at once gave him an assured place in the first rank of historical writers. Abandoning his proposed history of the Angevins, he confined himself to expanding his ''Short History'' into ''A History of the English People'' in four volumes (1878–1880) and writing ''The Making of England'', of which one volume only, coming down to 828, had appeared when he died at Mentone in March 1883. After his death appeared ''The Conquest of England''. The ''Short History'', which in 1915 was republished as part of the
Everyman Library Everyman's Library is a series of reprints of classic literature, primarily from the Western canon. It is currently published in hardback by Random House. It was originally an imprint of J. M. Dent (itself later a division of Weidenfeld & Ni ...
, may be said to have begun a new epoch in the writing of history, making the social, industrial, and moral progress of the people its main theme. It sold 235,000 copies in England alone. More recently J. W. Burrow proposed that Green, like
William Stubbs William Stubbs (21 June 182522 April 1901) was an English historian and Anglican bishop. He was Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford between 1866 and 1884. He was Bishop of Chester from 1884 to 1889 and Bishop of O ...
and
Edward Augustus Freeman Edward Augustus Freeman (2 August 182316 March 1892) was an English historian, architectural artist, and Liberal politician during the late-19th-century heyday of Prime Minister William Gladstone, as well as a one-time candidate for Parliament. ...
, was a historical scholar with little or no experience of public affairs, with views of the present that were Romantically historicised, and who was drawn to history by what was in a broad sense an antiquarian passion for the past, as well as a patriotic and populist impulse to identify the nation and its institutions as the collective subject of English history, making


Personal life

In 1877 he married Alice Stopford. During the 1870s Green suffered from
lung The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of t ...
problems. His wife assisted him in carrying out and completing his work as his broken health took its toll during his few remaining years. He died on 7 March 1883. Sir Leslie Stephen edited a volume of Green's correspondence, which was published in 1901 (see "Works by and About John Richard Green" under "External Links," below).


Works

*(1874) ''
A Short History of the English People ''A Short History of the English People'' is a book written by English historian John Richard Green. Published in 1874, "it is a history, not of English Kings or English Conquests, but of the English People." Background and reception Green bega ...
'' *(1879) ''English Literature'' (Editor) *(1879) ''Readings From English History'' (Editor) *(1880) ''A History of the English People'' *(1881
''The Making of England''
ref name=Review1885> *(1883
Conquest of England''
ref name=Review1885/> *(1884)
The Conquest of England
'


References


Footnotes


Bibliography

* * This article incorporates text from this public-domain publication. * * *


Further reading

* * * * * *


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Green, John Richard 1837 births 1883 deaths Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford 19th-century Anglican deacons 19th-century Church of England clergy 19th-century English historians English librarians People from Oxford People educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford English male non-fiction writers 19th-century English male writers