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Richard Vaughan (9 July 1927 – 4 March 2014) was a British historian and ornithologist. Specialising in medieval history, he was Professor of History at both the University of Hull (1965–1981) and the University of Groningen (1981–1989). His most significant work was a four-volume history of the late medieval Dukes of Burgundy.

Early life

Vaughan was born in Maidenhead on 9 July 1927. His father was John Henry Vaughan, a Colonial Office lawyer who would serve as Chief Justice of Fiji between 1945 and 1949. Richard Vaughan attended Eastbourne College. After completion of National Service, he obtained a double First from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and became a Fellow of the college in 1953.

Academic career

In 1958, while a fellow at Corpus Christi, Vaughan published his study of Matthew Paris which became the standard work on the medieval chronicler. In 1965, he took up the post of Professor of History at the University of Hull. Between 1962 and 1976 he wrote his most important work, a four volume history of the Dukes of Burgundy. C. A. J. Armstrong described it as "a major achievement in European historiography, … probably no one has produced an equally comprehensive survey of Burgundian power between 1364 and 1477."

In 1981 he moved to the University of Groningen in the Netherlands to become Professor of Medieval History. He had also developed an interest in the Arctic and became Chair of the Arctic Centre at the University of Groningen. Following his retirement in 1989, he served as visiting professor at the Central Michigan University for one year.

Vaughan was founding editor of the Journal of Medieval History (from 1975). He was also a noted linguist and translator, and spoke thirteen languages. He was founding editor of North-Holland Medieval Translations.

Historian Graeme Small described Vaughan as part of a "golden generation" of historians of the late medieval French period.

Ornithology

In parallel to his career as a historian, Vaughan had an international reputation as an ornithologist. He was particularly known for his work on the rare Eleonora's falcon. In 2005, he wrote, with his daughter Nancy, the standard work on the Stone-curlew.

Personal life

Vaughan married in 1955 and had 6 children. He spent his retirement initially in the North York Moors and, from 1996, in Somerset. He died on 4 March 2014.

Works

Vaughan's published works include:

History

• Matthew Paris, Cambridge University Press, 1958.
• Philip the Bold: The Formation of the Burgundian State, Longman, 1962, Boydell & Brewer Press, 2002.
• John the Fearless: The Growth of Burgundian Power, Longman, 1966, Boydell & Brewer Press, 2002.
• Philip the Good: The Apogee of Burgundy, Barnes & Noble, 1970, Boydell & Brewer Press, 2002.
• Charles the Bold: The Last Valois Duke of Burgundy, Barnes & Noble, 1974, Boydell & Brewer Press, 2002
• Valois Burgundy, Archon Books, 1975

Ornithology

• Gulls in Britain, H.F. and G. Witherby, 1972
• Birds of the Yorkshire Coast, Hendon Publishing, 1974.
• Twentieth-Century Europe: Paths to Unity, Barnes & Noble, 1979.
• Arctic Summer: Birds in North Norway, Nelson, 1979.
• Plovers, Dalton, 1980.
• In Search of Arctic Birds, Poyser, 1992.
• Seabird City: A Guide to the Breeding Seabirds of the Flamborough Headland, Smith Settle, 1998.
• (With Nancy Vaughan Jennings) The Stone Curlew, Burhinus oedicnemus, Isabelline Books, 2005.

Arctic

• Northwest Greenland: A History, University of Maine Press, 1991.
• The Arctic, Alan Sutton, 1994, reprinted, 1999.

References

1. ^ "Richard Vaughan - obituary". The Telegraph. 3 April 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
2. "Letters of Richard Vaughan and John Henry Vaughan relating to the Hastings Rarities, with related newspaper cuttings". Bodleian Archives and Manuscripts. Additional description: Biographical / Historical. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
3. ^ "Richard Vaughan". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
4. Small, Graeme (1 January 2023). "Christopher Allmand obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 December 2024.

• British historians