Simon Richard Ditchfield is a British academic historian of

early modern Italy The history of early modern Italy roughly corresponds to the period from the Renaissance to the Congress of Vienna in 1814. The following period was characterized by political and social unrest which then led to the unification of Italy, which cu ...

. Since 2014, he has been Professor of Early Modern History at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

Career

Ditchfield completed his undergraduate studies at the

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in 1980. He then received

Master of Philosophy A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at leas ...

(1987) and

Doctor of Philosophy 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 Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(PhD) degrees from the

Warburg Institute The Warburg Institute is a research institution associated with the University of London in central London, England. A member of the School of Advanced Study, its focus is the study of cultural history and the role of images in culture – cros ...

; his

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 ...

was awarded in 1991 for his

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

''Hagiography and Ecclesiastical Historiography in Late Sixteenth- and Early Seventeenth-Century Italy: Pietro Maria Campi of

Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...

(1569–1649)''."Professor Simon Ditchfield"
''University of Yok''. Retrieved 20 September 2018."Prof. Simon Ditchfield"
''Ecclesiastical History Society'' (Institute of Historical Research). Retrieved 20 September 2018. He returned to the University of York in 1991 as a

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

post-doctoral fellow A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

, and has remained there ever since; after completing his fellowship, he was appointed a temporary lecturer in 1994, and then from 1996 to 1999 he was a project director in the department of the Heritage studies as applied history project ; he was then appointed to a full lectureship (1998), and was promoted to a senior lectureship in 2002, a readership in 2006, and to a professorship in 2014. Ditchfield's research focuses on urban and religious culture in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

from around 1300 to around 1800. He was president of the

Ecclesiastical History Society The Ecclesiastical History Society (EHS) is a British learned historical society founded in 1961 to foster interest in, and to advance the study of, all areas of the history of the Christian Church through twice yearly conferences and publication ...

for the 2015–16 yearPast Presidents - Ecclesiastical History Society
/ref> and is a

Fellow of the Royal Historical Society A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

Publications

* ''Liturgy, Sanctity and History in Tridentine Italy: Pietro Maria Campi and the Preservation of the Particular'', Cambridge Studies in Italian History and Culture (

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 1995). * (Co-editor with John Arnold and Kate Davies), ''History and Heritage: consuming the past in contemporary culture'' ( Donhead Publishing, 1998) * (Editor) ''Christianity and Community in the West: Essays for John Bossy'' ( Ashgate, 2001). * (Co-author with Anna Benvenuti, Sofia Boesch Gajano, Roberto Rusconi, Francesco Scorza Barcellona and Gabriella Zarri) ''Storia della Santità nel Cristianesimo Occidentale'' ( Viella, 2005). * (Co-editor with Kate van Liere and

Howard Louthan Howard is a masculine given name derived from the English surname Howard (surname), Howard. ''The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names'' notes that "the use of this surname as a christian name is quite recent and there seems to be no parti ...

) ''Sacred History: Uses of the Christian Past in the Renaissance World'' (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2012). * (Co-editor with Helen Smith) ''Conversions: Gender and Religious Change in Early Modern Europe'' (

Manchester University Press Manchester University Press is the university press of the University of Manchester, England, and a publisher of academic books and journals. Manchester University Press has developed into an international publisher. It maintains its links with t ...

, 2017). * * (Co-editor with Pamela M. Jones and Barbara Wisch), ''A Companion to Early Modern Rome, 1492-1692'', (

Brill Brill may refer to: Places * Brielle (sometimes "Den Briel"), a town in the western Netherlands * Brill, Buckinghamshire, a village in England * Brill, Cornwall, a small village to the west of Constantine, Cornwall, UK * Brill, Wisconsin, an un ...

, 2019)

References

21st-century British historians Alumni of the University of York Alumni of the Warburg Institute British historians of religion Cultural historians Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Historians of Christianity Historians of Italy Historians of the early modern period Historians of the University of York Living people Presidents of the Ecclesiastical History Society Year of birth missing (living people) {{UK-historian-stub