Steven Runciman

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Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman CH (born July 7, 1903 in Northumberland , † November 1, 2000 in Radway, Warwickshire ) was a British historian who is famous for his work on the Middle Ages .

Life

His parents were both for the Liberal Party in Parliament, his paternal grandfather, Walter Runciman, 1st Baron Runciman , was a major shipowner. He received his education in Eton , at the same time as George Orwell , who became a close friend. In 1921 he began studying history at Trinity College (Cambridge) .

His work on the Byzantine Empire made him a Fellow of Trinity College in 1927 . He inherited a substantial fortune from his grandfather, after which he resigned as a fellow in 1938. From 1942 to 1945 he was Professor of Byzantine Art and History at Istanbul University , where he began his research on the Crusades . The result, A History of the Crusades ( History of the Crusades ), is his most famous work. It appeared in three volumes in 1951, 1952 and 1954.

Since 1957 he was a member ( fellow ) of the British Academy . In 1958 he was knighted as a Knight Bachelor ("Sir"). Since 1965 he was a member of the American Philosophical Society .

Runciman was an old-style scholar who was not interested in using newer methodological approaches. In his private life he was known as an eccentric , an esthete, anecdote-teller, adherent of the occult and friend of aristocrats and politicians in many countries.

The Runciman Award is named in his honor .

Fonts (in selection)

  • The Emperor Romanus Lecapenus and his reign. A study of 10th century Byzantium. University Press, Cambridge 1929.
  • A history of the first Bulgarian Empire . Bell, London 1930.
  • A history of the crusades. 3 parts. University Press, Cambridge 1951-1954.
  • The Medieval Manichee: A Study of the Christian Dualist Heresy. University Press, Cambridge 1955.
    • German: heresy and Christianity. Medieval Manichaeism. Fink, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-7705-2498-5 .
  • Byzantine Civilization. Meridian Books, New York 1956.
    • German: Byzantium. From the foundation to the fall of Constantinople (= Kindlers Kulturgeschichte , Volume 8), translated by Heinrich Wolfart. Kindler, Munich 1969; published as paperback by dtv, Munich 1983
  • The Sicilian Vespers. A history of the Mediterranean world in the later thirteenth century. University Press, Cambridge 1958
    • German: The Sicilian Vespers. A history of the Mediterranean world at the end of the thirteenth century. , translated by Peter de Mendelssohn, Beck, Munich 1959, ISBN 3-406-06458-2
  • The fall of Constantinople 1453. University Press, Cambridge 1965.
    • German: The conquest of Constantinople 1453 , translated by Peter de Mendelssohn, Beck, Munich 1966, ISBN 3-406-02528-5 ; Published as paperback by dtv, Wissenschaftliche Reihe, Munich 1977, ISBN 3-423-04286-9
  • The Great Church in captivity: A study of the Patriarchate of Constantinople from the eve of the Turkish conquest to the Greek war of independence. University Press, Cambridge 1968, ISBN 0-521-07188-7 .
    • German: The Patriarchate of Constantinople from the eve of the Turkish conquest to the Greek war of independence. , translated by Peter de Mendelssohn, Beck, Munich 1970, ISBN 3-406-03332-6 .

literature

  • Cyril Mango : Sir Steven Runciman, July 7, 1903 - November 1, 2000. In: Byzantinische Zeitschrift , Vol. 94 (2001), pp. 911-912.
  • Minoo Dinshaw: Outlandish Knight: The Bycantine Life of Steven Runciman . Allen Lane, 2016
  • Anthony Bryer: James Cochran Stevenson Runciman, 1903-2000 . In: Proceedings of the British Academy . tape 120 , 2003, p. 365-381 ( thebritishacademy.ac.uk [PDF]).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Knights and Dames at Leigh Rayment's Peerage
  2. ↑ Member History: Sir Steven Runciman. American Philosophical Society, accessed January 26, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Runciman, Steven
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Runciman, Sir James Cochran Stevenson (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British historian
DATE OF BIRTH July 7, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Northumberland
DATE OF DEATH November 1, 2000
Place of death Radway, Warwickshire