K. B. McFarlane
Kenneth Bruce McFarlane,
Life
McFarlane was born on 18 October 1903, the only child of A. McFarlane, OBE. His father was a civil servant in the Admiralty and the young McFarlane's childhood was an unhappy one. This may have led to the deep melancholy that seemed to pervade much of his adult life.
Many of McFarlane's colleagues and students found him difficult to approach, but to those who could break through the facade he became a true friend. McFarlane also found, through the help of his great friend
His most important contribution to the field was his revision of the understanding of late medieval
In July 1966, while house-hunting before retirement, McFarlane was "ambushed by a stroke which killed him instantly".[4]
Publications
Although his scholarship and methods have had great influence on later historians, McFarlane did not publish widely in his lifetime.
Letters to Friends, 1940–1966, edited by G. L. Harriss, contains a selection from the large collection of correspondence deposited with Magdalen College and published privately through the college in 1997. The great bulk of McFarlane's correspondence remains unpublished.[7]
References
- ^ Leyser, Karl (1997). "K. B. McFarlane: A Memoir". Letters to Friends: ix–xxxvii.
- ^ McFarlane, K. B. The Nobility of Late Medieval England, Oxford 1973, viii; "Introduction" by Gerald Harriss
- ^ Hannes Obermair (2007). "'Bastard Urbanism'? Past Forms of Cities in the Alpine Area of Tyrol-Trentino". Concilium Medii Aevi, 10, pp. 53–76, esp. pp. 59–60.
- ^ Leyser, Karl (1997). "K. B. McFarlane: A Memoir". Letters to Friends: xxvii.
- ^ Wilson, A. N. (1998). "This Trying Time: John Sparrow". London Review of Books. 20 (19).
- ^ Bennett, Alan (4 September 1997). "K. B. McFarlane is remembered by Alan Bennett, his former student, and the life of a Forties Oxford don is evoked in two of his letters". Volume 19, No 17. Vol. 19, no. 17. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
- ^ Bennett, Alan (4 September 1997). "K. B. McFarlane is remembered by Alan Bennett, his former student, and the life of a Forties Oxford don is evoked in two of his letters". Volume 19, No 17. Vol. 19, no. 17. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
Sources
- The McFarlane legacy: studies in late medieval politics and society, edited by R.H. Britnell and A.J. Pollard. (1995).
- 'Kenneth Bruce McFarlane, 1903–1966' by K. J. Leyser. Proceedings of the British Academy, v. 62, 1976, pp. 485–506.
- 'A don of old school; Alan Bennett, recalls both the dedication and acerbity of his tutor the historian K B McFarlane', Oxford Today, v. 10 no. 2 (Hilary 1998), pp. 26–26.
- K.B. McFarlane, Letters to Friends, 1940–1966, ed. G.L. Harriss (Oxford: Magdalen College, 1997)