Sir Frank Merry Stenton, FBA (17 May 1880 – 15 September 1967) was an English historian of

Anglo-Saxon England Anglo-Saxon England or Early Medieval England, existing from the 5th to the 11th centuries from the end of Roman Britain until the Norman conquest in 1066, consisted of various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until 927, when it was united as the Kingdom o ...

, and president 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 ...

(1937–1945). The son of Henry Stenton of

Southwell, Nottinghamshire Southwell (, ) is a minster and market town in the district of Newark and Sherwood in Nottinghamshire, England. It is home to the grade-I listed Southwell Minster, the cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham. The populatio ...

, he was educated at

Keble College, Oxford Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to th ...

, and was elected an

Honorary Fellow Honorary titles (professor, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as well as in m ...

in 1947. With Allen Mawer, Stenton wrote the second

English Place-Name Society The English Place-Name Society (EPNS) is a learned society concerned with toponomastics and the toponymy of England, in other words, the study of place-names (toponyms). Its scholars aim to explain the origin and history of the names they stu ...

volume, ''The Place-Names of Buckinghamshire'', published in 1925. He delivered the

Ford Lectures The Ford Lectures, technically the James Ford Lectures in British History, are an annual series of public lectures held at the University of Oxford on the subject of English or British history. They are usually devoted to a particular historical ...

Oxford University 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 ...

in 1929. He went on to write ''Anglo-Saxon England'', a volume of the

Oxford History of England The Oxford History of England (1934–1965) was a notable book series on the history of the United Kingdom. Published by Oxford University Press, it was originally intended to span from Roman Britain to the outbreak of the First World War in fourte ...

, first published in 1943 and widely considered a classic history of the period. Stenton was a professor of history at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

(1926–1946), and subsequently the university's vice-chancellor (1946–1950). During his period as vice-chancellor at Reading, he presided over the university's purchase of

Whiteknights Park Whiteknights Park, or the Whiteknights Campus of the University of Reading, is the principal campus of that university. The park covers the area of the manor of Earley Whiteknights, also known as Earley St Nicholas and Earley Regis. Whit ...

, creating the new campus that allowed for the expansion of the university in later decades. In November 2008, it was announced that a new hall of residence to be constructed on that campus would be named Stenton Hall, in his honour. The annual Stenton Lecture, given by an eminent historian, was inaugurated at Reading University in 1967. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in the 1948 New Year Honours, and received the

accolade The accolade (also known as dubbing or adoubement) ( la, benedictio militis) was the central act in the rite of passage ceremonies conferring knighthood in the Middle Ages. From about 1852, the term ''accolade'' was used much more generally to ...

from

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

at Buckingham Palace on 10 February 1948. His wife,

Doris Mary Stenton Doris Mary Stenton, Lady Stenton, (1894–1971) was an English historian of the Middle Ages. Life Born Doris Mary Parsons, she was the daughter of John Parsons and his wife Amelia Wadhams. She was their only child and was born in Reading, Berk ...

, wrote a preface to the third edition of ''Anglo-Saxon England'', published after his death, and edited ''Preparatory to Anglo-Saxon England: Being the Collected Papers of Frank Merry Stenton'', published in 1970. She was an historian in her own right, producing ''English Society in the Early Middle Ages'' for the

Pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...

History of England, and ''The English Woman in History'' (1957). Stenton's papers, together with those of his wife Doris, Lady Stenton, their library and his coin collection are part of the special collections at Reading University.

References

External links

*
Stenton Papers

Stenton Library

Stenton Coin Collection

Stenton., F. M. (1920), The Danes in England.. History, 5: 173–177. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-229X.1920.tb01326.x

TYPES OF MANORIAL STRUCTURE IN THE NORTHERN DANELAW By F. M. STENTON

Documents illustrative of the social and economic history of the Danelaw, from various collections (1920) By F. M. Stenton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stenton, Frank 1880 births 1967 deaths 20th-century English historians Academics of the University of Reading Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Anglo-Saxon studies scholars British medievalists Knights Bachelor Presidents of the Royal Historical Society Toponymists Vice-Chancellors of the University of Reading Contributors to the Victoria County History Corresponding Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America