October 21, 2021

Past President – Michael Jones

Michael Jones MA, DPhil, D Litt, FSA, FRHistS

 

Michael Jones is Emeritus Professor of Medieval French History at the University of Nottingham. He was born in Wrexham, and studied history at Oxford University, thereafter teaching at the universities of Exeter and Nottingham, specialising in French medieval history.

The importance of his research into medieval Brittany is reflected in his numerous publications in French and English, which include The Creation of Brittany: A Late Medieval State, (1988), The Bretons (1991, with Patrick Galliou), Les châteaux de Bretagne, Ouest-France, (1992, with Gwyn Meirion-Jones), and Comptes du duché de Bretagne. Les comptes, inventaires et execution des testaments ducaux, 1262-1352, (2017, with Philippe Charon).

Members of the Cambrians who attended the Association’s summer meeting in Brittany in 2013 will recall his erudite descriptions of houses and towns that we visited, which so much enhanced our appreciation and enjoyment of the tour.

He is a member of many British and French historical societies, and was, in 2002, awarded the Order of the Ermine by the Cultural Institute of Brittany in recognition of his services to Breton culture. Elected Correspondant étranger of the Académie des Inscription et Belles Lettres in 2006, he was promoted Associé étranger in 2017, becoming a Membre de l’Institut. Since his retirement he has undertaken research into the history of the medieval church in Nottinghamshire, especially with regard to Southwell Minster, as well as taking an active role in the study and conservation of the remarkable series of historic buildings in his home village of Norwell.

 

Michael Jones Presidential Address 2020: Bretons in Lincolnshire