Charles Derek Ross (1924 – 1986) was an English historian of the

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the Periodization, period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Eur ...

. He was educated at

Wakefield Grammar School Queen Elizabeth Grammar School (QEGS) is an independent, public school for boys in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The school was founded by Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I in 1591 at the request of leading citizens in Wakefield (headed ...

and

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the mi ...

, where he completed a doctoral thesis on the baronage in Yorkshire in the early fifteenth century under the supervision of K.B. McFarlane. He published predominantly on the history of the later medieval English nobility, royalty, and the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...

. Originally teaching alongside Margaret Sharp (daughter of T.F. Tout), he became reader and then Professor of Medieval History at the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

. His pupils included Michael Hicks, Anne Crawford and Ralph Griffiths. He remained at Bristol until his death in 1986, when he was killed by an intruder in his own home.Ross, C.D., ''Edward IV'', ''fly'' Ross's best-known works are his biographies of

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

and

Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...

in the

Yale English Monarchs series The Yale English Monarchs series is a series of biographies on English and British kings and queens, published by Yale University Press. The books are written by some of the leading experts within their respective fields, incorporating the latest hi ...

. These influential books were the first modern comprehensive studies of the

Yorkist The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, t ...

kings' politics,

retinue A retinue is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble, royal personage, or dignitary; a ''suite'' (French "what follows") of retainers. Etymology The word, recorded in English since circa 1375, stems from Old French ''retenue'', it ...

s and landownership.

Bibliography

*'Materials for the Study of Baronial Incomes in Fifteenth-Century England,' ''Economic History Review,'' NS, vol.6 no. 2 (1953) (with T.B. Pugh) *'The Estates and Finances of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick,' ''Dugdale Society Occasional papers'' No. 12 (1956) *''Fifteenth Century England, 1399-1509: Studies in Politics and Society'', Manchester 1972 (with Stanley Chrimes and Ralph Griffiths) *''Edward IV'' (1974) *''The Wars of the Roses: A Concise History'' (1976) *''Richard III'' (1981)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Charles Derek 1924 births 1986 deaths English murder victims 20th-century English historians Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford