Steven Gunn (historian)

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Steven Gunn
FRHistS
Born
Steven John Gunn
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Historian and academic
TitleProfessor of Early Modern History
Board member of Royal Armouries
Children2
Academic background
Education Whitgift School
Alma mater Merton College, Oxford
Thesis The life and career of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, c. 1484-1545 (1986)
Doctoral advisor C. S. L. Davies
Institutions Newcastle University
Merton College, Oxford
Doctoral students Yuval Noah Harari

Steven John Gunn FRHistS [1] is an English historian and fellow of Merton College, University of Oxford. He teaches and researches the history of late medieval and early modern Britain and Europe, and is the author of a number of academic texts.

Contents

Biography

Gunn was an undergraduate and doctoral student at Merton College, Oxford, matriculating in 1979. [2] Prior to this he attended the Whitgift School in South Croydon. [3] Gunn's doctoral thesis, a study of the life and career of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, was supervised by C. S. L. Davies and completed in 1986. [4] Prior to being elected a Tutorial Fellow at his alma mater, Gunn held a research fellowship at Newcastle University. [5]

Gunn's research interests lie in the political, social, cultural and military history of England and its European neighbours, spanning the mid-fifteenth to the late sixteenth century. [6]

Gunn was awarded the Title of Distinction of Professor of Early Modern History by the University of Oxford in October 2015. [7]

Gunn delivered the 2015 James Ford Lectures in British History at the University of Oxford, taking as his subject 'The English people at war in the age of Henry VIII'. A book of the same title based on the lectures was published in 2018. [8]

Between 2018 and 2019 Gunn served as Acting Warden of Merton College in the period between the retirement of Martin J. Taylor and the arrival of his successor, Irene Tracey. [9] He had previously served as Sub-Warden from 2010 to 2012. [10]

In 2021 Gunn was appointed to the board of trustees of the Royal Armouries by Oliver Dowden, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, serving a four-year term. [11]

Media work

Gunn has appeared as a panelist on two editions of the BBC Radio 4 programme In Our Time , discussing the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 2005 [12] and the Battle of Bosworth Field in 2012. [13] In 2008 he appeared on Great Lives discussing Henry VII with George Osborne. [14] In 2009 he appeared on an episode of the Radio 4 series The Hidden Henry discussing Henry VIII's intellectual development and scholarly ambitions with Andrea Clarke. [15] In June 2025 Gunn appeared in an episode of Suzannah Lipscomb's podcast Not Just the Tudors discussing his book An Accidental History of Tudor England alongside his co-author Tomasz Gromelski. [16] He has also contributed articles to the magazine History Today . [17]

Personal life

Gunn is married to Jacquie, [18] and together they have two daughters. [19]

Selected publications

See also

References

  1. ↑ "List of current Fellows (February 2024)" (PDF). Royal Historical Society. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  2. ↑ Waller, Philip (2020). "James Barney Henderson Obituary" (PDF). Postmaster & the Merton Record: 247.
  3. ↑ "Class of 1978, 40th Anniversary Reunion – September 2018, Oxford". Whitgiftian Association. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  4. ↑ Gunn, Steven (2016). Henry VII's New Men and the Making of New England. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. vii. ISBN   9780199659838.
  5. ↑ "Henry VII's New Men and the Making of Tudor England: Author Information". Oxford University Press. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  6. ↑ Steven Gunn at Merton College website Retrieved 5 August 2020
  7. ↑ "Recognition of Distinction: Successful Applicants 2015", The University of Oxford Gazette, no. 510915, October 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  8. ↑ Gunn, Steven (2018). The English People at War in the Age of Henry VIII. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. vii. ISBN   978-0-19-252389-1.
  9. ↑ Tracey, Irene (2020). "From the Warden" (PDF). Postmaster & the Merton Record: 4.
  10. ↑ "Lesley Walsh". Merton College, Oxford. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  11. ↑ "The Secretary of State has appointed Professor Steven Gunn as Academic/Research Trustee of the Royal Armouries". UK Government. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  12. ↑ "In Our Time - The Field of the Cloth of Gold". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  13. ↑ "In Our Time - The Battle of Bosworth Field". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  14. ↑ "Great Lives, Henry VII". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  15. ↑ "The Hidden Henry, Henry the Scholar". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  16. ↑ "Not Just the Tudors, Accidental Deaths in Tudor England". BBC Sounds. 16 June 2025.
  17. ↑ "Steven Gunn". History Today. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  18. ↑ Deeson, Joe Hyland (2021). "History Society" (PDF). Postmaster & the Merton Record: 27.
  19. ↑ Gunn, Steven (2016). Henry VII's New Men and the Making of Tudor England. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. vii. ISBN   9780199659838.
  20. 1 2 3 4 Steven Gunn at Oxford Faculty of History Retrieved 5 August 2020
  21. ↑ "Discovery of the Month". Everyday Life and Fatal Hazard in Sixteenth-Century England. Retrieved 9 June 2025.
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