John Morris (historian)

John Robert Morris(8 June 1913 – 1 June 1977) was an English historian who specialised in the study of the institutions of theRoman Empireand the history ofSub-Roman Britain.He is best known for his bookThe Age of Arthur(1973), which attempted to reconstruct the history of Britain and Ireland during the so-called "Dark Ages"(350–650 AD) following the Roman withdrawal, based on scatteredarchaeologicaland historical records. Much of his other work focused on Britain during this time.

Biography

Morris read modern history atJesus College, Oxford,from 1932 to 1935, and served in theArmyduring theSecond World War.After the war, he held a Leon Fellowship at theUniversity of Londonand a Junior Fellowship at theWarburg Institute.In 1948 he was appointed Lecturer in Ancient History atUniversity College, London.He worked in India in 1968 and 1969 as a lecturer for the Indian University Grants Commission, before returning to UCL to become Senior Lecturer in Ancient History, a post he held until his death.

In 1952 Morris founded the historical journalPast & Present,which he edited until 1960, and remained chairman of the editorial board until 1972. He was one of the writers, along withA. H. M. JonesandJ. R. Martindale,ofThe Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire,a biographical dictionary of the years 284–641, the first volume of which was published in 1971. He also instigated the publication of a new edition of theDomesday Book,and edited theArthurian Period Sourcesseries. His last book wasLondinium:Londonin the Roman Empire,published posthumously in 1982.

Morris was asocialistandanti-warcampaigner. He stood unsuccessfully forParliamentin 1935 as aLabour Partycandidate, and was for a time secretary to the Labour MPGeorge Strauss.He was a founder-member of theCommittee of 100,an anti-war group founded byBertrand Russellin 1960, and was later involved in theInstitute for Workers' Control.

In 1975 Morris wrote the script "Domesday Republished" for theLook, StrangerBBC-TV series.

Morris died on 1 June 1977 in London.

The Age of Arthur

The Age of Arthur(1973) was the first attempt by a professional historian to build a picture of Britain during the period 350–650, whenKing Arthur(whom Morris accepts as an authentic historical personage) was supposed to have lived. The book is not, however, exclusively about Arthur, but rather about the history ofCeltic Britainduring that era. The book also includes detailed chapters onBrittanyon the grounds that its Celtic population which came from migrations from "Greater Britain" meant that "Little Britain" (Brittany) was as much heir to RomanBritanniaas were England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland.

Although popular with the public, the book was heavily criticised in professional historical circles, severely damaging Morris's academic reputation in the eyes of many of his peers.David Dumvillelaunched a famously scathing attack on Morris's methodology;and while one of the most influential reviews of the book, by D. P. Kirby andJ. E. Caerwyn Williams,described it as "an outwardly impressive piece of scholarship", it went on to argue that this apparent scholarship "crumbles upon inspection into a tangled tissue of fact and fantasy which is both misleading and misguided".Others, such asJames Campbell,were more generous, but still considered that theAge of Arthurwas so misleading and full of problems that it was really only of use to professional historians who could sort the interesting ideas from the flights of fantasy.

Selected works

• Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire,ed. withA. H. M. JonesandJ. R. Martindale:
  • Volume 1 (Cambridge University Press, 1971) from 260 to 395
  • Volume 2 (Cambridge University Press, 1980) from 395 to 527
• Arthurian Period Sourcesseries, ed. John Morris:
  • The Age of Arthur: Volume 1: Roman Britain and the Empire of Arthur(London: Phillimore)
  • The Age of Arthur: Volume 2: The Successor States(London: Phillimore)
  • The Age of Arthur: Volume 3: Church, Society and Economy(London: Phillimore)
  • Arthurian period sources, vol. 1: Introduction, notes and index(London: Phillimore)
  • Arthurian period sources, vol. 2: Annals and Charters(London: Phillimore)
  • Arthurian period sources, vol. 3: Persons(London: Phillimore)
  • Arthurian period sources, vol. 4: Places and Peoples and Saxon Archaeology(London: Phillimore)
  • Arthurian period sources, vol. 5: Genealogies and texts(London: Phillimore)
  • Arthurian period sources, vol. 6: Studies in Dark-Age History(London: Phillimore)
  • Arthurian period sources, vol. 7: Gildas, The Ruin of Britain and Other Documents(London: Phillimore, 1978)
  • Arthurian period sources, vol. 8: Nennius: British History and the Welsh Annals(London & Chichester: Phillimore, 1980)
• Londinium: London in the Roman Empire(London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1982)