Philippe Buc is a French/American historian concentrating on religion and politics, mainly in the European Middle Ages. Since 2021 he is Professor of Medieval History at the

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

. Buc did his undergraduate studies at

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

, graduating in 1982. He then attended the prestigious EHESS (quasi-university) in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

between 1984 and December 2011, studying

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and receiving his doctorate for his dissertation entitled "Potestas: prince, pouvoir, et peuple dans les commentaires de la Bible (Paris et France du Nord, 1100-1330") (''loosely, "Potestas: Prince power and people in bible commentaries - Paris and northern France: 1100-1330"''). The work was supervised by

Jean-Claude Schmitt Jean-Claude Schmitt (born 4 March 1946 in Colmar) is a prominent French medievalist, the former student of Jacques Le Goff, associated with the work of the Annales School. He studies the socio-cultural aspects of medieval history in Western Eu ...

and informally but energetically by

Jacques Le Goff Jacques Le Goff (1 January 1924 – 1 April 2014) was a French historian and prolific author specializing in the Middle Ages, particularly the 12th and 13th centuries. Le Goff championed the Annales School movement, which emphasizes long-term t ...

. He was a professor at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

(USA) between 1990 and 2011. An important focus of his research is on Christian violence and cultures of violence shaped by Christianity. See '' Holy War, Martyrdom, and Terror'' (2015). Buc's book, '' The Dangers of Ritual'' (2001), garnered a lot of attention from early medieval historians for its commentary on the subject of ritual. In September 2011 he became Professor for Medieval History at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

Institut für Geschichte
and

Institut für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung The Institute for Austrian Historic Research (german: Institut für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung, acronym IÖG) is a history research institution in Vienna, Austria. Established in 1854, since 2016 it is part of the University of Vienna ...

. At around the same time he accepted

US citizenship Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

(while still retaining the French citizenship acquired by virtue of his birth in

References

External links

Stanford History Department

Institut für Geschichte

Academia.edu page
Living people 1961 births French male non-fiction writers {{france-historian-stub