Jesus Professor of Celtic
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The Jesus Chair of Celtic is a professorship in
Celtic studies Celtic studies or Celtology is the academic discipline occupied with the study of any sort of cultural output relating to the Celtic-speaking peoples (i.e. speakers of Celtic languages). This ranges from linguistics, literature and art histor ...
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 ...
within the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages. The holder is also a Professorial
Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...
of
Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship St ...
. Just six people have held the chair since it was established in 1876, the first of whom was
Sir John Rhys ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...
. The previous post-holder,
Thomas Charles-Edwards Thomas Mowbray Charles-Edwards (born 11 November 1943) is an emeritus academic at the University of Oxford. He formerly held the post of Jesus Professor of Celtic and is a Professorial Fellow at Jesus College. Biography He was educated at A ...
, retired in 2011. An appeal to ensure the continuation of the chair successfully raised £3.25 million by the end of 2018, and in 2020 the post was taken up by its current incumbent David Willis.


History

The reforms at Oxford University during the mid-19th century provided the impetus for the establishment of a chair in Celtic, with a major impetus provided by Matthew Arnold's Poetry lectures 'On the Study of Celtic Literature'. At the time that the Royal Commission was established in 1852, there were 19 fellowships and 18 scholarships at Jesus College. Seven of each were limited to those from north Wales, and seven of each to south Wales and
Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...
. There were also
exhibitions An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery An art gallery is a roo ...
for students from Wales, with the Meyricke bequest making the north Wales exhibitions particularly valuable, despite the lower numbers of residents in north Wales compared to south Wales. The restrictions were said to be "ruining the College as a place of education", since it took little effort for a Welsh boy to achieve a scholarship or exhibition despite the deficiencies in their education; and many then became fellows of the college without obtaining anything more than a third- or fourth-class degree. The commissioners appointed in 1852 to consider reforms of the university were known to favour abolishing local restrictions on fellowships and scholarships, such as those requiring the holder to be from a particular school or area. The college therefore proposed to the commissioners in 1854 that the divisions between north and south Wales fellowships and scholarships should be removed, and that the number of fellows should be reduced by two in order to endow a Professorship of Welsh. The commissioners, however, proposed that a fellowship should be devoted to the
Laudian Professor of Arabic The position of Laudian Professor of Arabic, now known as the Abdulaziz Saud AlBabtain Laudian Professor, at the University of Oxford was established in 1636 by William Laud, who at the time was Chancellor of the University of Oxford and Archbish ...
. The college objected, on the basis that a Celtic Professorship was more appropriate for the college given its Welsh connections, and the commissioners conceded some ground, allowing the fellowship to be applied to such purposes as might be decided upon later. The college's proposal was later adopted, with the first Jesus Professor of Celtic, the distinguished Welsh scholar
Sir John Rhys ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...
, being elected in 1876. It is the oldest chair in the
Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, University of Oxford The Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages is a department of the University of Oxford, England. It is part of the university's Humanities Division. The Faculty offers various undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in European languages; no ...
and is still the only chair in Celtic at an English university. The professor also controls access to the Celtic Library at Jesus College, a specialist collection for researchers.


List of Jesus Professors of Celtic

*
Sir John Rhys ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...
: 1877–1915 *
John Fraser John Fraser may refer to: Politics *John Simon Frederick Fraser (1765–1803), commanded the Fraser Fencibles in Ireland and was (M.P.) for Inverness-shire *John James Fraser (1829–1896), 5th Premier of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, 18 ...
: 1921–1945 *
Sir Idris Foster Sir Idris Llewelyn Foster (23 July 1911 – 18 June 1984) was a Welsh people, Welsh scholar and Jesus Professor of Celtic at the University of Oxford from 1947 until 1978. He was born in Carneddi, Bethesda, Wales, Bethesda, Caernarfonshire, Wales ...
: 1947–1978 * D Ellis Evans : 1978–1996 *
Thomas Charles-Edwards Thomas Mowbray Charles-Edwards (born 11 November 1943) is an emeritus academic at the University of Oxford. He formerly held the post of Jesus Professor of Celtic and is a Professorial Fellow at Jesus College. Biography He was educated at A ...
: 1997–2011 * David Willis : 2020–


See also

*
List of professorships at the University of Oxford This is a list of professorships at the University of Oxford. During the early history of the university, the title of professor meant a doctor who taught. From the 16th century, it was used for those holding a professorship, also known as a cha ...
*
Chair of Celtic, Glasgow The Chair of Celtic is a professorship at the University of Glasgow, established in 1956 by an endowment from merchant James Crawford, the Ross Trust and the university's Ossianic Society. History In 1942, dyestuff and chemical merchant James Cr ...


References

;References ;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Professor of Celtic, Jesus Celtic, Jesus Celtic, Jesus 1877 establishments in England
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
Celtic studies Lists of people associated with the University of Oxford