Urban Tigner Holmes Jr. (July 13, 1900 – May 12, 1972) was an American scholar focusing on medieval literature and romance philology. The son of Commander Urban T. Holmes, United States Navy, Holmes was born in Washington, D.C. In 1916, he enrolled at the

U.S. Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of ...

only to withdraw the following year due to health reasons. In 1917, he began schooling at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied Greek, Russian, Sanskrit, and Old French. After graduating with a Bachelors in 1920, Holmes continued his doctoral studies at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and

La Sorbonne The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...

. While at the Sorbonne, Holmes studied under scholars such as

Joseph Bédier Joseph Bédier (28 January 1864 – 29 August 1938) was a French writer and scholar and historian of medieval France. Biography Bédier was born in Paris, France, to Adolphe Bédier, a lawyer of Breton origin, and spent his childhood in Réunion. ...

and Mario Roques. Holmes taught at the University of Western Ontario and the University of Missouri before settling down at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1925. By 1945, he was the Kenan Professor of Romance Philology. Urban T. Holmes was recognized both nationally and internationally for his scholarship. In 1950, he became a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur. This was followed by becoming a Member of the Royal Archeological Institute (1961), a fellow of the Royal Numismatic Society (1961), a fellow of the American Numismatic Society (1962), and a fellow of the

Royal Society of Antiquaries The Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland is a learned society based in Ireland, whose aims are "to preserve, examine and illustrate all ancient monuments and memorials of the arts, manners and customs of the past, as connected with the antiquit ...

(1967). Among his most renowned works are his ''History of Old French Literature'' (1937) and ''Daily Living in the Twelfth Century'' (1952). The publication of his work ''Chrétien, Troyes, and the Grail'' (1959, co-authored with Sister

Amelia Klenke Amelia may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Amélia'' (film), a 2000 Brazilian film directed by Ana Carolina * ''Amelia'' (film), a 2009 film based on the life of Amelia Earhart Literature * ''Amelia (magazine)'', a Swedish w ...

) introduced his very controversial Judeo-Christian Grail theory. His son Urban T. Holmes III (1930–1981) was a prominent Episcopal priest, theologian, and academic during the twentieth century.

References

*Dean, Ruth J., Grace Frank, William Roach. "Memoirs of Fellows and Corresponding Fellows of the Mediaeval Academy." ''Speculum'' 48:3 (1973), 624–625. 1900 births 1972 deaths American medievalists University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty University of Pennsylvania alumni University of Paris alumni Harvard University alumni University of Western Ontario faculty University of Missouri faculty 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers {{US-historian-stub