Patrick Collinson
Encyclopedia
Patrick Collinson CBE
(10 August 1929 - 28 September 2011) was an English historian, known as an authority on the Elizabethan era
. His most influential work has been about Elizabethan Puritanism
. He was Emeritus Regius Professor of Modern History, University of Cambridge, having occupied the chair from 1988 to 1996. He died on 28 September 2011.
, the son of William Cecil Collinson and Belle Hay Patrick. He was educated at King's School, Ely, and Pembroke College, Cambridge
from 1949 to 1952.
, and was a lecturer
at the University of Khartoum
and King's College London
. He was professor at the University of Sydney
in 1969, then at the University of Kent at Canterbury and the University of Sheffield
.
His 1967 monograph, The Elizabethan Puritan Movement, had a great impact on historians' understanding of the movement. The work showed Puritanism to be a significant force within the Elizabethan Church instead of merely a radical group of individuals. By the time of his retirement in 1996, he was one of the doyens of English Reformation history. His short summation of the period, The Reformation, was published in 2003.
Collinson's work laid the foundations, in many ways, for what historians of the English Reformation currently term the 'Calvinist Consensus' in the latter decades of the sixteenth and reign of James I/VI. As such, the belief Puritanism was anything but religiously radical in relation to English, and indeed British, culture stands as one of his great achievements as an historian.
In 2011, Boydell Press published Collinson's memoir, The History of a History Man Or, the Twentieth Century Viewed from a Safe Distance. The Memoirs of Patrick Collinson as part of its Church of England Record Society Series. Collinson was the founding President of the society.
CBE
CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...
(10 August 1929 - 28 September 2011) was an English historian, known as an authority on the Elizabethan era
Elizabethan era
The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign . Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history...
. His most influential work has been about Elizabethan Puritanism
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
. He was Emeritus Regius Professor of Modern History, University of Cambridge, having occupied the chair from 1988 to 1996. He died on 28 September 2011.
Life
He was born in IpswichIpswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
, the son of William Cecil Collinson and Belle Hay Patrick. He was educated at King's School, Ely, and Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college has over seven hundred students and fellows, and is the third oldest college of the university. Physically, it is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from almost every century since its...
from 1949 to 1952.
Scholarship
Collinson authored his 1957 doctorate on Elizabethan Puritanism under J. E. NealeJ. E. Neale
Sir John Ernest Neale, FBA was a British historian who specialised in Elizabethan and Parliamentary history.-Academic career:...
, and was a lecturer
Lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
at the University of Khartoum
University of Khartoum
The University of Khartoum ia a multi-campus, co-educational university located in Khartoum. It is the largest and oldest university in Sudan. UofK was founded as Gordon Memorial College in 1902 and established in 1956 when Sudan gained independence...
and King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
. He was professor at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
in 1969, then at the University of Kent at Canterbury and the University of Sheffield
University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...
.
His 1967 monograph, The Elizabethan Puritan Movement, had a great impact on historians' understanding of the movement. The work showed Puritanism to be a significant force within the Elizabethan Church instead of merely a radical group of individuals. By the time of his retirement in 1996, he was one of the doyens of English Reformation history. His short summation of the period, The Reformation, was published in 2003.
Collinson's work laid the foundations, in many ways, for what historians of the English Reformation currently term the 'Calvinist Consensus' in the latter decades of the sixteenth and reign of James I/VI. As such, the belief Puritanism was anything but religiously radical in relation to English, and indeed British, culture stands as one of his great achievements as an historian.
In 2011, Boydell Press published Collinson's memoir, The History of a History Man Or, the Twentieth Century Viewed from a Safe Distance. The Memoirs of Patrick Collinson as part of its Church of England Record Society Series. Collinson was the founding President of the society.
Works
- Letters of Thomas Wood, Puritan, 1566–1577 (ed.) (1960)
- The Elizabethan Puritan Movement (1967)
- Archbishop Grindal, 1519-1583: The Struggle for a Reformed Church (1979)
- The Religion of Protestants: The Church in English Society, 1559–1625 (1982)
- The Birthpangs of Protestant England (1988)
- Elizabethan Essays (1994)
- Lady Margaret Beaufort and Her Professors of Divinity at Cambridge: 1502–1649 (2003)
- Elizabethans (2003)
- The Reformation (2003)
- Elizabeth I (Very Interesting People Series, 2007)
- From Cranmer to Sancroft (2007)
Further reading
- Anthony Fletcher, Peter Roberts (editors) (2006), Religion, Culture and Society in Early Modern Britain: Essays in Honour of Patrick Collinson
- Patrick Collinson, The History of a History Man Or, the Twentieth Century Viewed from a Safe Distance. The Memoirs of Patrick Collinson. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press, 2011. ISBN 9781843836278.