JH Shennan

Joseph Hugh Shennan FRHistS (born March 13, 1933 in Liverpool - † May 25, 2015 ) was a British historian and taught from 1965 to 1998 at the University of Lancaster . His main research focus was on the history of France during the Ancien Régime , as well as on the history of early modern Europe. He was also one of the pioneers in European Studies .

Life

Joseph Shennan was born in Liverpool in 1933 to primary school teachers Hugh and Mary Shennan. He attended St Edward's school and studied history at the University of Liverpool . There he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1955 . From 1955 to 1957 he performed his National Service . Due to his academic training and his linguistic skills, he was used in the military intelligence service. In 1957 he continued his studies at Corpus Christi College of the University of Cambridge on. His doctorate took place here in 1960 . He then taught as assistant lecturer and later as lecturer history at the University of Liverpool. In October 1965 he was employed at the History Department of the University of Lancaster and played an important role in the establishment of the department. Over the years he has taught as a senior lecturer and reader . In the 1970s he was one of the pioneers of European Studies . In 1971, he and like-minded people founded the journal European Studies Review , which later became the European History Quarterly . In 1974 he was appointed professor for European Studies , later for European history. As such, he helped set up the interdisciplinary School of European Studies and was its first director. From 1979 to 1984 he headed the History Department . During this time he founded the Lancaster Pamphlets , edited by the History Department , to which he also contributed three titles, France before the Revolution (1983), Louis XIV (1986), and International Relations in Europe, 1689-1789 (1995). In 1985 he was appointed provisional chancellor and in 1993 he was appointed vice chancellor of the university. In 1998 he retired .

Shennan was a Roman Catholic . Since 1958 he was married to Margaret Price, a fellow student from his student days at the University of Liverpool. The marriage produced three sons. His wife also worked as an academic and ran, among other things, St. Martin's College Lancaster .

Publications (selection)

• The Parlement of Paris (1968)
• Government and Society in France, 1461-1661 (1969)
• The Origins of the Modern European State, 1450-1725 (1974)
• Philippe, Duke of Orléans, Regent of France, 1715-1723 (1979)
• Liberty and Order in Early Modern Europe: the Subject and the State, 1650-1800 (1986)
• The Bourbons: the History of a Dynasty (2007)

Web links

• Joe Shennan obituary , July 3, 2015, The Guardian
• Professor Joseph Shennan , May 25, 2015, University of Lancaster website