Professor Sir Richard W. Southern (1912-2001)

Gasper, Giles E.M.

Abstract

Sir Richard Southern is famous for his biographies of St Anselm of Canterbury and Robert Grosseteste, for his long meditation on medieval universities, humanism, and scholasticism, his early and still influential The Making of the Middle Ages, a survey of the western Latin church, and many other essays and articles. Fascinated by the religious culture of medieval Christendom, Southern explored the twin axes of how individuals in the period thought and how that thought played out, or not, in practical action in the world. Never an advocate of reform for its own sake, Southern was nevertheless, a pioneer in approaches in his to learning and leadership, which have resonated with generations of scholars since.

Citation

Gasper, G. E. (2022). Professor Sir Richard W. Southern (1912-2001). In S. Niskanen, & J. Willoughby (Eds.), Routledge Medieval Encyclopedia Online. Routledge

• Publication Date: 2022
• Deposit Date: Mar 24, 2022
• Publisher: Routledge
• Book Title: Routledge Medieval Encyclopedia Online
• Publisher URL: https://www.routledge.com/our-products/books