External links
- Obituary [ dead link ], The Daily Telegraph , 22 September 2016
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Jonathan Riley-Smith | |
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| Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History University of Cambridge | |
| In office 1994–2011 | |
| Preceded by | Christopher N. L. Brooke |
| Succeeded by | David Maxwell |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jonathan Simon Christopher Riley-Smith 27 June 1938 Harrogate,England |
| Died | 13 September 2016 (aged 78) |
| Citizenship | British |
| Parent(s) | William Henry Douglas Riley-Smith Elspeth Agnes Mary Craik Henderson |
| Alma mater | Trinity College,Cambridge |
Jonathan Simon Christopher Riley-Smith (27 June 1938 –13 September 2016) was a historian of the Crusades, [1] and,between 1994 and 2005,Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Cambridge. [2] He was a Fellow of Emmanuel College,Cambridge. [3]
Riley-Smith was the eldest of four children born into a prosperous Yorkshire brewing family. His maternal grandfather (to whose memory he later dedicated his book What Were the Crusades?) was the British Conservative Party MP,John Craik-Henderson (1890-1971). [4] He attended Eton College and Trinity College,Cambridge,where he took his BA (1960),MA (1964),PhD (1964),and LittD (2001). [5]
Riley-Smith taught at the University of St Andrews (1964–1972),Queens' College,Cambridge (1972-1978),Royal Holloway College,London (1978–1994) as well as at Emmanuel (1994–2005). [2] [3] His many respected publications on the origins of the crusading movement and the motivations of the first crusaders have deeply influenced current historiography of the crusades: [6] in an appreciative obituary,a senior colleague described Riley-Smith as "quite simply the leading historian of the crusades anywhere in the world". [7]
He was appointed a Knight of Grace and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and a Bailiff Grand Cross of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem. [8]
Riley-Smith appeared in the documentary series Crusades (1995) as an historical authority. However,the series adopted the views of Steven Runciman,which were not held by Riley-Smith. The producers then edited the taped interviews so that the historians seemed to agree with Runciman. Riley-Smith said of the producers that "they made me appear to say things that I do not believe!" [9] In 2006,he delivered the Gifford Lectures on The Crusades and Christianity at the University of Edinburgh. [10]
Riley-Smith was a convert to Catholicism. [5] He married Louise Field,a portrait artist,in 1968. [11] [12] Their three children include the singer/songwriter Polly Paulusma.
Jonathan Riley-Smith died on 13 September 2016. [13]
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