Thomas Frederick Tout (1855–1929)
Refashioning history for the twentieth century
- Author(s)
- Edited by Joel T. Rosenthal and Caroline M. Barron
- Series
- IHR Conference Series
Description
Thomas Frederick Tout (1855–1929) was arguably the most prolific English medieval historian of the early twentieth century. The son of an unsuccessful publican, he was described at his Oxford scholarship exam as ‘uncouth and untidy’; however he went on to publish hundreds of books throughout his distinguished career with a legacy that extended well beyond the academy. Tout pioneered the use of archival research, welcomed women into academia and augmented the University of Manchester’s growing reputation for pioneering research.
This book presents the first full assessment of Tout’s life and work, from his early career at Lampeter, to his work in Manchester and his wide-ranging service to the study of history. Selected essays take a fresh and critical look at Tout’s own historical writing and discuss how his research shaped, and continues to shape, our understanding of the middle ages, particularly the fourteenth century. The book concludes with a personal reflection on Tout by his grandson, Tom Sharp.
Table of contents
Introduction
Caroline M. Barron
I. Tout as a teacher and university statesman
1. The early years and Wales’s history
Ralph A. Griffiths
2. Thomas Frederick Tout at Lampeter: the making of a historian
William Gibson
3. The Manchester School of History: Tout’s contribution to the pedagogy of academic history
Peter Slee
4. Tout and Manchester University Press
Dorothy J. Clayton
5. T. F. Tout and the idea of the university
H. S. Jones
6. ‘Dear Professor Tout…’: letters from Tout’s students during the First World War
Christopher Godden
II. Tout as a political historian
7. Tout and the reign of Edward II
Seymour Phillips
8. Tout and the royal favourites of Edward II
J. S. Hamilton
9. Tout and the middle party
Paul Dryburgh
Thomas Frederick Tout (1855–1929): refashioning history for the twentieth century
10. Tout and the higher nobility under the three Edwards
Matt Raven
III. Tout as an administrative historian
11. Tout and the exchequer
Nick Barratt
12. Tout and seals
John McEwan
13. Tout’s administrators: the case of William Moulsoe
Elizabeth Biggs
IV. Tout’s wider influence
14. Institutionalizing history: T. F. Tout’s involvement with the Royal Historical Society and the Historical Association
Ian d’Alton
15. T. F. Tout and the Dictionary of National Biography
Henry Summerson
16. Tout’s work as a reviewer
John D. Milner† and Dorothy J. Clayton
17. T. F. Tout and literature
D. Vance Smith
18. The homage volume of 1925 – looking back and looking forward
Joel T. Rosenthal
V. Tout remembered
19. Reflections on my grandfather, the historian T. F. Tout
Tom Sharp