The Regius Professorship of Hebrew in the University of Oxford is a professorship at 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 ...

, founded by

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

in 1546. In 1630, through the influence of

William Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms, he was arrested by Parliament in 1640 ...

Archbishop 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 Just ...

, a

canonry A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, i ...

of Christ Church was perpetually annexed to the professorship.

List of Regius Professors

Incomplete list:

Godfrey Rolles Driver Sir Godfrey Rolles Driver (20 August 1892 – 22 April 1975), known as G. R. Driver, was an English Orientalist noted for his studies of Semitic languages and Assyriology.J. A. Emerton, 'Driver, Sir Godfrey Rolles (1892–1975)'. In ''Oxfo ...

twice served as acting professor during vacancies, in 1934–1935 and 1959–1960. However, he was not eligible to hold the chair outright, as he was a layman and the chair was attached to an Anglican canonry of Christ Church, requiring the holder to be in holy orders. The university statutes were changed in 1960 to allow William McHardy, a Church of Scotland layman, to be appointed. The term of Jan Joosten was ended on 3 July 2020 in the wake of criminal charges for possessing images of child sexual abuse.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Professor of Hebrew, Regius, Oxford Hebrew, Regius Hebrew, Oxford Hebrew, Regius, Oxford Hebrew-speaking people by occupation 1546 establishments in England Lists of people associated with the University of Oxford