Jonathan McGovern (historian)

Jonathan McGovern FRHistS (born 1993) is an English historian and author. He specializes in the study of Tudor England. He is one of the founders of the New Administrative History.[1][2]

Jonathan McGovern
Born (1993-06-10) June 10, 1993 (age 31)
Derby, England
EducationUniversity of Oxford
University of York
Notable workThe Little History of England (2024)
Children1

Education and career

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McGovern was born in Derby and studied at Landau Forte College, then a City Technology College.[3] He read History and English at St Peter's College, University of Oxford, where he won the Smith Prize.[4] He holds a PhD in English from the University of York and has taught at Nanjing University, China.[5][6] He is currently Professor of English at the College of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Xiamen University.[7]

Academic research

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Historical perspective

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He has defended traditionalist historical methods, arguing for the importance of empiricism in history "as a practical benchmark, not a philosophical position".[8]

Thomas Becket

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In 2021, he published his discovery of the eighteenth-century origin of the phrase "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest", which was formerly misattributed to King Henry II of England.[9] The phrase actually originated with Robert Dodsley.

Awards and honours

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He is winner of the Sir John Neale Prize (2018),[10] the Gordon Forster Essay Prize (2018)[11] and the Parliamentary History Essay Prize (2019).[12] He was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 2022[13] and is a member of the Selden Society, a learned society dedicated to the study of English legal history.[14]

Publications

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Books

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  • The Little History of England. The History Press (2024).
  • The Tudor Sheriff: A Study in Early Modern Administration. Oxford University Press (2022).

Selected articles

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  • "Was Elizabethan England Really a Monarchical Republic?", Historical Research, vol. 92, no. 257 (2019), 515–28. doi.org/10.1111/1468-2281.12275.
  • "The Development of the Privy Council Oath in Tudor England", Historical Research, vol. 93, no. 260 (2020), 273–85. doi.org/10.1093/hisres/htaa003.
  • "Royal Counsel in Tudor England, 1485–1603", The Historical Journal, vol. 65, no. 5 (2022), 1442–69. doi.org/10.1017/S0018246X21000820.
  • "The Practical Historical Approach: A Review of the Principles and Methods of Fact-First History", World History Studies, vol. 9, no. 2 (2022), 1‒14.

References

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  1. ^ Wright, Kirsty (2023). "Revisiting the War in the Receipt, 1572–1609". Parliamentary History. 42 (1): 13. doi:10.1111/1750-0206.12668.
  2. ^ "Dr. Jonathan McGovern: The Tudor Sheriff and the New Administrative History". Law & History Review.
  3. ^ Dobson, Nick (Spring 2010). "Public Speaking and Debating" (PDF). Newslink.
  4. ^ McGovern, Jonathan (2022). The Tudor Sheriff: A Study in Early Modern Administration. Oxford University Press. p. vii.
  5. ^ "Author Bio (Jonathan McGovern), The History Press".
  6. ^ Kesselring, K. J. (2023). "Review of The Tudor Sheriff: A Study in Early Modern Administration, by Jonathan McGovern". English Historical Review. 138 (592): 649. doi:10.1093/ehr/cead038.
  7. ^ ""Jonathan McGovern", Google Scholar".
  8. ^ McGovern, Jonathan (2022). "The Practical Historical Approach: A Review of the Principles and Methods of Fact-First History". World History Studies. 9 (2): 1–14.
  9. ^ Blackburn, Jack (March 24, 2023). "Protestants added the 'à' to smear Thomas Becket". The Times.
  10. ^ "Jon McGovern wins prestigious Sir John Neale Prize".
  11. ^ "Editorial". Northern History. 56 (1–2): 1. 2019. doi:10.1080/0078172X.2019.1662684.
  12. ^ "John McGovern wins Parliamentary History Essay Prize".
  13. ^ "List of current Fellows" (PDF). May 2024.
  14. ^ "Selden Society: Report of the Council for the Year 2022" (PDF).