Jonathan Sumption

Lord Sumption, 2013

Jonathan Philip Chadwick Sumption, Lord Sumption OBE , QC (born December 9, 1948 ) is a British historian and lawyer .

Sumption attended Eton College and studied medieval history at Magdalen College ; he graduated in 1970. He was then a fellow at Magdalen College for some time before embarking on a career as a lawyer. In 1975 he became a member of the Inner Temple and in 1986 he was appointed Crown Attorney . He subsequently became a judge and served as a judge on the United Kingdom Supreme Court from 2012 until the age limit in 2018 . On the occasion of his appointment in the latter office, he was awarded the courtesy title of Lord Sumption for life .

Sumption is considered to be quite an influential intellectual who is extremely well read and speaks several languages. During his time as a barrister , he also achieved an unusually high income. ^Bele?

Sumption has written several historical accounts. His main work is a comprehensive representation of the Hundred Years War . The preparatory work began in the 1980s, the first volume of a total of five planned volumes appeared in 1990. The work, in which all relevant sources and large parts of the extensive secondary literature were processed, was extremely positive both in the public press and in historical circles recorded. The description is not only considered detailed and reliable, but also stylistically successful.

Political opinions

On March 30, 2020, he strongly criticized the UK government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic .

On the BBC's World at One radio program , he posed the rhetorical question of whether the coronavirus situation was serious enough to keep most of the UK population in house, ruin the economy indefinitely and destroy businesses.

In the Sunday Times of May 17, 2020, he further noted that free people made mistakes and willingly took risks. If the politicians are held responsible for everything that goes wrong, they would take away the freedom of the citizens so that nothing can go wrong. You would not do this to protect people from risk, but to protect yourself from criticism.

Publications

• Pilgrimage. An Image of medieval Religion. Faber & Faber, London et al. 1975, ISBN 0-571-10339-1 (Also called: The Age of Pilgrimage. The medieval Journey to God. HiddenSpring, Mahwah NJ 2003, ISBN 1-58768-025-4 ).
• The Albigensian Crusade. Faber & Faber, London et al. 1978, ISBN 0-571-11064-9 .
• with Keith Joseph : Equality. John Murray, London 1979, ISBN 0-7195-3651-0 .
• The Hundred Years War. Faber & Faber, London et al. 1990ff.
  • Volume 1: Trial by Battle. 1990, ISBN 0-571-13895-0 ;
  • Volume 2: Trial by Fire. 1999, ISBN 0-571-13896-9 ;
  • Volume 3: Divided Houses. 2009, ISBN 978-0-571-13897-5 ;
  • Volume 4: Cursed Kings. 2015, ISBN 9780812247992 .

Web links

• Jonathan Sumption, Esq, OBE, QC at debretts.com
• Wendell Steavenson: Jonathan Sumption: the brain of Britain (portrait in Guardian)
• Interview with Sumption

Individual evidence

1. ↑ World at One. BBC Radio 4 , March 30, 2020, archived from the original on March 30, 2020 (English, audio; quote from 19.35 min): "But the real question is: Is this serious enough to warrant putting most of our population into house imprisonment, wrecking our economy for an indefinite period, destroying businesses that honest and hard working people have taken years to build up, saddling future generations with debt, depression, stress, heart attacks, suicides and unbelievable distress, inflicted on millions of people who are not especially vulnerable and will suffer only mild symptoms or none at all like the health secretary and the prime minister. " 
2. ↑ Jonathan Sumption: Set us free from lockdown, ministers, and stop covering your backs. In: The Sunday Times . May 17, 2020 : "Free people make mistakes and willingly take risks. If we hold politicians responsible for everything that goes wrong, they will take away our liberty so that nothing can go wrong. They will do this not for our protection against risk, but for their own protection against criticism. "