James Westfall Thompson (1869–1941) was an American historian specializing in the history of medieval and early modern Europe, particularly of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He also made noteworthy contributions to the history of literacy,

libraries A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

and the book trade in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

Biography

Born to a Dutch Reformed minister's family in Pella, Iowa, Thompson received an undergraduate degree from

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

in 1892 and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in history from the newly founded

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 1895. Thompson remained at Chicago as a professor of history until 1933, when he left for the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. He remained at Berkeley until his death in 1941. Thompson was one of the most prolific academics of his generation and wrote on a wide range of subjects, from the French Revolution to the economic structures of the

Carolingian Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–887) was a Franks, Frankish-dominated empire in Western and Central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as List of Frankish kings, kings of the Franks since ...

to the history of

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

in early modern Europe. Some of his most important scholarly contributions came from his research on

literacy Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

and

book collecting Book collecting is the collecting of books, including seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever books are of interest to a given collector. The love of books is ''bibliophilia'', and someo ...

. His 1939 book ''The Literacy of the Laity in the Middle Ages'' remains a classic study of the subject. Thompson's two-volume study of the social and economic history of

medieval Germany The concept of Germany as a distinct region in Central Europe can be traced to Julius Caesar, who referred to the unconquered area east of the Rhine as ''Germania'', thus distinguishing it from Gaul. The victory of the Cherusci, Germanic tribes ...

, ''Feudal Germany'', appropriated elements of Frederick Jackson Turner's famous Frontier Thesis and applied them to the colonization of Slavic central Europe by German settlers in the Middle Ages. Thompson served as president of the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world, claiming over 10,000 members. Founded in 1884, AHA works to protect academic free ...

in 1941, but died before completing his term. His planned presidential address to the Association's annual meeting on the origins of critical historical scholarship in eighteenth-century France was edited by his students and published posthumously in the 1942 edition of the ''

American Historical Review ''The American Historical Review'' is a quarterly academic history journal published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical Association, for which it is an official publication. It targets readers interested in all periods ...

''. He is the namesake of the

's Thompson Residence Hall, located in Pierce Tower. Thompson was married to Anna Hawes Wilmarth (1873–1935) in 1897. They had a son, Wilmarth, and an adopted daughter, Frances. They divorced in 1909. Anna later married Harold L. Ickes.

Bibliography

* ''The editando of the French monarchy under Louis VI''., le Gros, 1108–1137. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1895.
''The wars of religion in France, 1559–1576; the Huguenots, Catherine de' Medici and Philip II''
by James Westfall Thompson. Chicago, The University of Chicago press, 1909. * ''The Frankfort book fair; the Francofordiense emporium of Henri Estienne'', ed. with historical introduction, original Latin text with English translation on opposite pages and notes, by James Westfall Thompson. Chicago, Caxton Club, 1911; Reprint, Amsterdam, G. Th. van Heusden, 1969. * ''Russian diplomacy and the war'', by James Westfall Thompson. Pub. under the auspices of the Germanistic society of Chicago: Chicago? 1915. * ''The French revolution from 1789 to 1815'', by François Auguste Marie Mignet. Edited, with additional chapter on the hundred days, by James Westfall Thompson. New York: Collier, c1916. * ''The lost oracles; a masque'', by James Westfall Thompson. Chicago, W. M. Mill, c1921. * ''Feudal Germany'', by James Westfall Thompson. 2 vols. Chicago, The University of Chicago press, 1928; Reprint, New York: F. Ungar Pub., 1962. * ''Economic and social history of the Middle Ages (300–1300''), by James Westfall Thompson. New York, London, The Century Co., c1928. * ''The Middle Ages, 300–1500'', by James Westfall Thompson. 2 vols. New York, A. A. Knopf, 1931; 2d ed. New York: Cooper Square Publishers, 1972. * ''The living past; politics-society-trade-art''. Chicago: Thomas S. Rockwell Company, 1931. * ''Byways in bookland'', by James Westfall Thompson. Berkeley: The Book arts clubof the University of California, 1935. * ''The dissolution of the Carolingian fisc in the ninth century'', by James Westfall Thompson. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1935. * ''Secret diplomacy; a record of espionage and double-dealing: 1500–1815'', by J. W. Thompson & S.K. Padover; with 18 illustrations. London, Jarrolds, limited, 1937. * ''The importance of libraries in the preservation of culture'', by James Westfall Thompson. Baltimore: Enoch Pratt free library of Baltimore, 1937. * ''An introduction to medieval Europe, 300–1500'', by James Westfall Thompson ... & Edgar Nathaniel Johnson. New York: W. W. Norton & company, inc., c1937. * ''European civilization; a political, social and cultural history'', by James Westfall Thompson, Franklin Charles Palm, and John J. Van Nostrand. New York: D. Van Nostrand Company, inc., 1939. * ''The literacy of the laity in the Middle Ages'', by James Westfall Thompson. New York: Burt Franklin, 1960. * ''A history of historical writing'', by James Westfall Thompson with the collaboration of Bernard J. Holm. 2 vols. Gloucester, Mass.: P. Smith, 1967. * ''The letters and documents of Armand de Gontaut, baron de Biron, marshal of France (1524–1592)'', collected by Sidney Hellman Ehrman, edited, with an introduction by James Westfall Thompson. 2 vols. New York: AMS Press, 1979. * ''Medieval and historiographical essays in honor of James Westfall Thompson'', edited by James Lea Cate and Eugene N. Anderson. Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press, 1966, c1938.p. 280
/ref>

References

External links

Guide to the James Westfall Thompson Papers
at The Bancroft Library
A History of Historical Writing,Vol. II
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, James Westfall American medievalists 1869 births 1941 deaths University of California, Berkeley faculty Presidents of the American Historical Association Historians of Europe People from Pella, Iowa Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America Historians from Iowa Historians from California Historians of libraries