Paul Howson William Booth (born 4 April 1946) is a British medieval historian and teacher, specialising in the history of
Cheshire in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries,
and local history of the
North West
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
. Booth is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow of the
University of Keele, having previously held the same honour at the
University of Liverpool
, mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning
, established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...
from 2010 to 2012.
Early life and education
Booth graduated from the Universities of
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 ...
(BA, 1967),
King's College London (P.G.C.E., 1968) and Liverpool (MA, 1974) where he was supervised by Professor A. R. Myers. In 2011 he was awarded the degree of
Doctor of Letters
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 Docto ...
of Liverpool University, in recognition of his research and publications in his specialist subjects.
Career
Booth was lecturer in History at
University of Liverpool
, mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning
, established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...
from 1972 to 2010 (Senior Lecturer from 1983). He taught medieval history to undergraduates, and trained
archives
An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located.
Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...
students in medieval
palaeography
Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") is the study of historic writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts, including the analysi ...
and
diplomatic. During this time he taught and organised University Continuing Education courses in History and Local History in the North West.
Several of Booth's classes formed themselves into local history societies, all of which have active publication programmes. He has served on the Councils of all of the regional local history societies, has been chairman of both the Cheshire Local History Committee and the Lancashire Local History Federation and was president and joint general secretary of the
Chetham Society
The Chetham Society "for the publication of remains historic and literary connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Chester" is a text publication society and registered charity (No. 700047) established on 23 March 1843.
History
The ...
. From 2008 to 2011 he was co-director of the
Arts and Humanities Research Council
The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), formerly Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB), is a British research council, established in 1998, supporting research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities.
History
The Arts ...
(AHRC)-funded project, "The Gascon Rolls, 1317–1468", jointly with Malcolm Vale of the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
.
Booth is a fellow of the
Royal Historical Society
The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history.
Origins
The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...
, and has acted as external adviser to
University of Toronto Press
The University of Toronto Press is a Canadian university press founded in 1901. Although it was founded in 1901, the press did not actually publish any books until 1911.
The press originally printed only examination books and the university cale ...
and the
Irish Research Council
The Irish Research Council ( ir, An Chomhairle um Thaighde in Éirinn) was launched in 2012 and operates under the aegis of the Department of Education and Skills. The core function of the organisation is to support research across a number ...
, and as a peer reviewer to the AHRC.
Booth's research focus has been in the field of medieval Cheshire.
His research into the financial and legal records of the county palatine has added to historical knowledge of the county, and called into question previous assumptions about agriculture,
political disorder, and involvement in the royal wars in Wales, Scotland and France. In particular, he has asserted that the oppressive period of the
Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock, known to history as the Black Prince (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), was the eldest son of King Edward III of England, and the heir apparent to the English throne. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II, suc ...
's rule, did not result, as had been generally accepted, the "great rebellion of 1353" (so called by
Geoffrey Barraclough
Geoffrey Barraclough (10 May 1908, Bradford – 26 December 1984, Burford) was an English historian, known as a medievalist and historian of Germany.
He was educated at Bootham School (1921–1924) in York and at Bradford Grammar School (192 ...
, second professor of Medieval History at Liverpool).
Booth's work has influenced other medieval historians; for example his study of the Black Prince's state visit to Cheshire in 1353 enabled Professor Thorlac Turville-Petre to demonstrate that the Middle English alliterative poem ''Winner and Waster'' was based on the events of that year in Cheshire. Similarly, Professor Chris Given-Wilson has stated that Booth's research on the detailed working of the mechanism of Cheshire’s government in the 1350s and 1360s has made clear the unique roles of the prince’s two successive business-managers, Sir John Wingfield and Sir John Delves.
Booth's research students have continued his work; for example, Andrew Tonkinson's monograph on Macclesfield in the later fourteenth century and the late Phyllis Hill's edition of the County Court of Chester Indictment roll, 1354 to 1377.
A group of Booth's former adult students formed themselves into the Ranulf Higden Society, which hosts lectures by medieval historians, and also organises members into research groups which are working on publishing medieval documents. The first volume of these appeared in ''Life, Love and Death in North East Lancashire 1510 to 1537''.
In October 2012 the University of Liverpool terminated Booth's honorary fellowship because of remarks made by him on a social media site which were critical of the University.
In 2015 Booth was in the news when he discovered the apparent first known use of a now commonly used expletive, within the name of one
Roger Fuckebythenavele, in the
plea rolls
Plea rolls are parchment rolls recording details of legal suits or actions in a court of law in England.
Courts began recording their proceedings in plea rolls and filing writs from their foundation at the end of the 12th century. Most files were ...
of the Chester County Court for the years 1310–1311.
Publications
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References
External links
Ranulf Higden Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Paul
1946 births
Living people
Alumni of King's College London
Alumni of the University of Sheffield
Alumni of the University of Liverpool
Fellows of the Royal Historical Society
Academics of the University of Liverpool
Chetham Society