Nationality British | Name Michael Prestwich | |
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Born 30 January 1943 (age 81) ( 1943-01-30 ) Subject Middle AgesEdward IMedieval warfare Books Armies and warfare in the Middl, Knight: The Medieval Warrior's, The three Edwards, Plantagenet England - 1225‑1360, Medieval People: Vivid Live Similar People F M Powicke, David W Rollason, R G Collingwood, Brian Harrison, A J P Taylor | ||
Medieval warfare pt1 prof michael prestwich
Michael Charles Prestwich OBE (born 30 January 1943) is an English historian, specialising on the history of medieval England, in particular the reign of Edward I. He is retired, having been Professor of History at Durham University, and Head of the Department of History until 2007.
Contents
- Medieval warfare pt1 prof michael prestwich
- Early life
- Father
- Academic career
- Personal life
- Select publications
- Contributions
- References
Early life
Prestwich is the son of two Oxford historians, John Prestwich (historian) and Menna Prestwich. He was educated at the Dragon School in Oxford, and then went to a well-known public school Charterhouse, before winning a scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford. After being awarded an MA and First in History, he completed his D.Phil. with a thesis entitled Edward I's wars and their financing 1294-1307 at Christ Church, Oxford.
Father
Michael's father was John Prestwich (historian), "the redoubtable mediaevalist ... who knew so much and published so little". He had worked at Bletchley Park during the war, working among other things on the breaking of U-boat codes.
Academic career
After a year as a lecturer at Christ Church, Michael moved in 1969 to St Andrews where he stayed for ten years before moving to Durham as a Reader. He soon became Professor, and has been head of the department for two spells. For seven years in the 1990s he was Pro-Vice-Chancellor, with a wide brief which even extended to health and safety. He was chairman of the trustees of the Durham Union Society until 2013. He twice chaired the History panel for the Research Assessment Exercise, in 1996 and 2001.
Prestwich has provided support and encouragement to other historians, in particular Ann Hyland, who recognised his assistance in her work on medieval warhorses. Prestwich wrote the foreword for both of her books on the subject. On his retirement, he was presented with a festschrift, War, Government and Aristocracy in the British Isles c.1150-1500, edited by Chris Given-Wilson, Ann Kettle and Len Scales.
Prestwich was appointed OBE in the 2010 New Year Honours.
Personal life
He is married to fellow Oxford-educated historian Maggie Prestwich, who recently retired as senior tutor at Trevelyan College, Durham. He lives in Western Hill in Durham, and has a dog and three grown up children. He retired in 2008.