Alfred J. Andrea

Last updated

Alfred John Andrea (born November 18, 1941) is an American historian of medieval and world history.

Contents

He is professor emeritus of History at the University of Vermont, former president of the World History Association, and Distinguished Professor at the University of the Peloponnese in Greece. [1]

His scholarship has focused on the crusades, papal–Byzantine relations, the Silk Road, and the historiography of world history. [2] He has been a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation since 1965. He is known for his books Contemporary Sources for the Fourth Crusade and Encyclopedia of the Crusades.

Biography

Andrea was born on November 18, 1941. He received his A.B. magna cum laude from Boston College in 1963 [3] and earned his Ph.D. in history from Cornell University in 1969, with a dissertation titled Pope Innocent III as Crusader and Canonist: His Relations with the Greeks of Constantinople, 1198–1216. [4]

Andrea joined the faculty of the University of Vermont in 1967, where he taught until 2001, rising from assistant to full professor and holding administrative roles including Director of Graduate Studies, Interim Chair, and Director of Undergraduate Studies. [1]

He later held visiting and honorary appointments at institutions in the United States, Europe, and Asia, among them the Eli Lilly Visiting Professorship at the University of Puget Sound (1978–1979) and a Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence position at the University of Louisville (2002). [5]

He also served as a President of World History Association from 2010 to 2012. [6]

His awards include the World History Association’s Pioneer of World HistoryAward (2014), [7] the Phi Delta Kappa Award for Distinguished Teaching (2009), and the Centennial Medal for Distinguished Scholarship from Saint Michael’s College (2004). He has been a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation since 1965. [8]

Research and scholarly work

Andrea’s research spans medieval ecclesiastical history, the crusades, papal–Byzantine relations, and long-distance cultural exchange in the premodern world.

His work integrates regional and global perspectives, particularly cross-cultural encounters along the Silk Roads and in the Mediterranean.

His annotated source collection Contemporary Sources for the Fourth Crusade (Brill, 1997; 2nd ed., 2009) remains a standard reference in crusader studies, [2] and The Capture of Constantinople (1997) provides a critical edition and translation of Gunther of Pairis’s Hystoria Constantinopolitana . [9] His Encyclopedia of the Crusades (2003) [10] and editorial leadership of the 21-volume World History Encyclopedia (2011). [5]

In world history pedagogy, Andrea co-authored with James H. Overfield anthology The Human Record: Sources of Global History (first published in 1990; 8th ed., 2015) [11] and authored The Medieval Record: Sources of Medieval History (2nd rev. ed., 2019), which he regards as a personal favorite. He also co-edited Seven Myths of the Crusades (2015) with Andrew Holt [12] and coauthored Sanctified Violence: Holy War in World History (2021), [13] and authored Expanding Horizons: The Globalization of Medieval Europe, 450–1500 (2024). [14]

Selected publications

Books and reference works

References

  1. 1 2 Medievalists.net (2015-10-15). "Seven Myths of the Crusades: An Interview with Alfred J. Andrea and Andrew Holt". Medievalists.net. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  2. 1 2 Harris, Jonathan (2003-12-31). "Alfred J. Andrea, Contemporary Sources for the Fourth Crusade, with contributions by Brett E. Whalen (The Medieval Mediterranean, 29). Leiden: Brill, 2000. Pp. xii, 330. ISBN 90 04 11740 7". Crusades. 2 (1): 169–170. doi:10.1080/28327861.2003.12220003. ISSN   1476-5276.
  3. "Graduate: Andrea, Alfred, 1963 - 1963 | Burns Library Archival Collections". findingaids.bc.edu. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  4. Andrea, Alfred John (1969). Pope Innocent III as crusader and canonist: his relations with the greeks of Constantinople, 1198-1216. [Cornell University].{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. 1 2 Holt, Andrew (2015-06-26). "The Future of Medieval History: An Interview with Dr. Alfred J. Andrea". AHolt. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  6. "Former WHA Presidents – World History Association" . Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  7. "Pioneers in World History Award – World History Association" . Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  8. "Alfred Andrea | Department of History | The University of Vermont". www.uvm.edu. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  9. "The Capture of Constantinople: The "Hystoria Constantinopolitana" of Gunther of Pairis 0812215869, 9780812215861". dokumen.pub. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  10. Mardall, Ruth (2004-07-01). "Encyclopedia of the Crusades". Reference Reviews. 18 (5): 50–51. doi:10.1108/09504120410543336. ISSN   0950-4125.
  11. Bucholz, Arden (1992). "Review of The Human Record: Sources of Global History; The Human Record: Sources of Global History. Instructor's Resource Manual, Alfred J. Andrea". Journal of World History. 3 (2): 263–265. ISSN   1045-6007.
  12. Perry, Guy. "The best books on The Crusades". Five Books. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  13. Todesca, James J. (2024). "Sanctified Violence: Holy War in World History by Alfred J. Andrea and Andrew Holt (review)". Journal of Global South Studies. 41 (2): 344–346. ISSN   2476-1419.
  14. "New Medieval Books: Expanding Horizons". Medievalists.net. 2024-11-28. Retrieved 2025-09-01.