Ian N. Wood, (born 1950) is an English scholar of early medieval history, and a professor at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

who specializes in the history of the

Merovingian dynasty The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

and the missionary efforts on the European continent. Patrick J. Geary called him "the leading British historian of Francia".

Early life and education

Wood received his BA (with first class honours) in 1972, MA in 1974 and PhD on

Avitus of Vienne Alcimus Ecdicius Avitus (c. 450 – February 5, 517/518 or 519) was a Latin poet and bishop of Vienne in Gaul. His fame rests in part on his poetry, but also on the role he played as secretary for the Burgundian kings. Avitus was born of a promi ...

in 1980 from

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12t ...

Academic career

Wood taught at the

from 1976 onwards. He became

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of Early Medieval History in 1995, the same year he delivered the Jarrow Lecture. He retired from teaching in 2015. Wood taught a range of courses on Roman history and early medieval history at Leeds including a special subject on 'The Fall of the Roman Empire'. He is the author of several monographs and edited collections as well as around two hundred scholarly articles. His first monograph, ''The Merovingian Kingdoms (450-751)'', was called a "wonderful book" and "one of the finest results of this new interest" in the

Honours

In July 2019, Wood was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences. A ''Festschrift'' in his honour was published in 2021.

Publications

Books

*''The Merovingian Kingdoms (450-751)'' (London, 1994) *''Gregory of Tours'' (Bangor, 1994) *''The Missionary Life'' (London, 2001) *''Avitus of Vienne: Letters and Selected Prose'' (Liverpool, 2002, with Danuta Shanzer) *''Fragments of History: Rethinking the Ruthwell and Bewcastle Monuments'' (Manchester, 2007, with

Fred Orton Fred Lionel Orton (born 1945, Coventry, Warwickshire England) is an English art historian. His initial training was at Coventry College of Art in painting as a Dip.A,D student. He extended his experience in the History and Development of Art ini ...

and Clare Lees) *''The Modern Origins of the Early Middle Ages'' (Oxford, 2013) *''Abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow'' (Oxford, 2013, with Chris Grocock)

References

External links

Ian Wood's profile
at the University of Leeds {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Ian N. Living people Academics of the University of Leeds Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford British medievalists 1950 births Fellows of the British Academy