Norman Cantor
Encyclopedia
Norman Frank Cantor was a historian
who specialized in the medieval
period. Known for his accessible writing and engaging narrative style, Cantor's books were among the most widely-read treatments of medieval history in English. His textbook The Civilization of the Middle Ages, first published in 1963, remains an all-time bestseller in the field.
, Manitoba, Canada, Cantor received a Bachelor of Arts
degree at the University of Manitoba
in 1951. He moved to the United States
to obtain an M.A.
degree (1953) from Princeton University
, then spent a year as a Rhodes Scholar
at the University of Oxford
. He returned to Princeton and received his Ph.D.
in 1957 under the direction of eminent medievalist Joseph R. Strayer
. He also began his teaching career at Princeton.
After teaching at Princeton, Cantor became a professor at Columbia University
from 1960 to 1966. He was a Leff professor at Brandeis University
until 1970 and then was at SUNY Binghamton until 1976, when he took a position at University of Illinois at Chicago
for two years. He then went on to New York University
, where he was professor of history, sociology and comparative literature. After a brief stint as Fulbright Professor at the Tel Aviv University History Department (1987–88), he devoted himself to working as a full-time writer.
Although his early work focused on English religious and intellectual history, Cantor's later scholarly interests were diverse, and he found more success writing for a popular audience than he did engaging in more narrowly-focused original research. He did publish one monograph
study, based on his graduate thesis, Church, kingship, and lay investiture in England, 1089-1135, which appeared in 1958 and remains an important contribution to the topic of church-state relations in medieval England. Throughout his career, however, Cantor preferred to write on the broad contours of Western history, and on the history of academic medieval studies in Europe and North America, in particular the lives and careers of eminent medievalists. His books generally received mixed reviews in academic journals, but were often popular bestsellers, buoyed by Cantor's fluid, often colloquial, writing style and his lively critiques of persons and ideas both past and present. Cantor was intellectually conservative and expressed deep skepticism about what he saw as methodological fads, particularly Marxism
and postmodernism
, but he also argued for greater inclusion of women and minorities in traditional historical narratives. In both his best-selling Inventing the Middle Ages and his autobiography, Inventing Norman Cantor, he reflected on his strained relationship over the years with other historians and with academia in general.
Upon retirement in 1999, Cantor moved to Miami, Florida, where he continued to work on several books up to the time of his death. He had been editor of Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages (1999).
Cantor published a memoir in 2002, Inventing Norman Cantor: Confessions of a Medievalist.
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
who specialized in the medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
period. Known for his accessible writing and engaging narrative style, Cantor's books were among the most widely-read treatments of medieval history in English. His textbook The Civilization of the Middle Ages, first published in 1963, remains an all-time bestseller in the field.
Life
Born in WinnipegWinnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Manitoba, Canada, Cantor received a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree at the University of Manitoba
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...
in 1951. He moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to obtain an M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
degree (1953) from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, then spent a year as a Rhodes Scholar
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. He returned to Princeton and received his Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in 1957 under the direction of eminent medievalist Joseph R. Strayer
Joseph Strayer
Joseph Reese Strayer was an American medievalist historian. He was a student of, and mentored by, Charles H. Haskins, America's first prominent medievalist historian.-Life:...
. He also began his teaching career at Princeton.
After teaching at Princeton, Cantor became a professor at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
from 1960 to 1966. He was a Leff professor at Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
until 1970 and then was at SUNY Binghamton until 1976, when he took a position at University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Illinois at Chicago
The University of Illinois at Chicago, or UIC, is a state-funded public research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, near the Chicago Loop...
for two years. He then went on to New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, where he was professor of history, sociology and comparative literature. After a brief stint as Fulbright Professor at the Tel Aviv University History Department (1987–88), he devoted himself to working as a full-time writer.
Although his early work focused on English religious and intellectual history, Cantor's later scholarly interests were diverse, and he found more success writing for a popular audience than he did engaging in more narrowly-focused original research. He did publish one monograph
Monograph
A monograph is a work of writing upon a single subject, usually by a single author.It is often a scholarly essay or learned treatise, and may be released in the manner of a book or journal article. It is by definition a single document that forms a complete text in itself...
study, based on his graduate thesis, Church, kingship, and lay investiture in England, 1089-1135, which appeared in 1958 and remains an important contribution to the topic of church-state relations in medieval England. Throughout his career, however, Cantor preferred to write on the broad contours of Western history, and on the history of academic medieval studies in Europe and North America, in particular the lives and careers of eminent medievalists. His books generally received mixed reviews in academic journals, but were often popular bestsellers, buoyed by Cantor's fluid, often colloquial, writing style and his lively critiques of persons and ideas both past and present. Cantor was intellectually conservative and expressed deep skepticism about what he saw as methodological fads, particularly Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
and postmodernism
Postmodernism
Postmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth and to be inherently suspicious towards a global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the...
, but he also argued for greater inclusion of women and minorities in traditional historical narratives. In both his best-selling Inventing the Middle Ages and his autobiography, Inventing Norman Cantor, he reflected on his strained relationship over the years with other historians and with academia in general.
Upon retirement in 1999, Cantor moved to Miami, Florida, where he continued to work on several books up to the time of his death. He had been editor of Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages (1999).
Select bibliography of Cantor's publications
- The Medieval World 300-1500 ('Norman Cantor, Civilization of the Middle Ages, p. 2')
- Perspectives on the European Past
- The Civilization of the Middle Ages A revision of his earlier Medieval History: the Life and Death of a Civilization (1963) (ISBN No. 0-06-017033-6)
- How to Study History (with Richard I. Schneider) (1967) A textbook that lays out fundamental methods and principles, including the uses of primary and secondary sources
- The English
- Western Civilization: Its Genesis and Destiny
- The Meaning of the Middle Ages
- Inventing the Middle Ages : The Lives, Works and Ideas of the Great Medievalists of the Twentieth Century, (1991) A historiographyHistoriographyHistoriography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
of views of the Middle Ages, in twenty vitae of seminal historians and other shapers of contemporary perception, including C. S. LewisC. S. LewisClive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
and . R. R. Tolkien - Medieval Lives
- Medieval Society, 400-1450
- The Age of Protest (1971)
- Twentieth Century Medieval Culture
- The Sacred Chain: History of the Jews (1994) Harper/Collins
- The American Century: Varieties of Culture in Modern TimesThe American Century: Varieties of Culture in Modern TimesThe American Century: Varieties of Culture in Modern Times is a 1997 book by Norman F. Cantor with Mindy Cantor.In this book Norman Cantor, who is best known for his treatment of medieval European history, traces 20th-Century Western intellectual thought, including art, literature, philosophy,...
(1997) - In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made (2001)
- Antiquity (2003)
- The Last Knight: The Twilight of the Middle Ages and the Birth of the Modern EraThe Last KnightThe Last Knight is a nonfiction book written by the medievalist Norman Cantor about the "twilight of the middle ages and the birth of the modern era"...
(2004) A look at John of Gaunt - Alexander the Great (2005) Published posthumously by HarperCollins (ISBN No. 0-06-057012-1)
Cantor published a memoir in 2002, Inventing Norman Cantor: Confessions of a Medievalist.