Janet Nelson Explained

Dame Janet Nelson
Birth Name:	Janet Laughland Muir
Birth Date:	1942 3, df=y
Birth Place:	Blackpool, Lancashire, England
Other Names:	Jinty Nelson
Spouse:	^[1]
Discipline:	History
Sub Discipline:	Medieval history
Alma Mater:	Newnham College, Cambridge
Thesis Title:	Rituals of Royal Inauguration in Early Medieval Europe
Thesis Year:	1967
Doctoral Advisor:	Walter Ullmann
Main Interests:	Medieval kingship
Workplaces:	King's College, London

Dame Janet Laughland Nelson (born 1942), also known as Jinty Nelson, is a British historian. She is Emerita Professor of Medieval History at King's College London.

Early life

Born on 28 March 1942 in Blackpool, Nelson was educated at Keswick School, Cumbria, and at Newnham College, Cambridge, where she received her BA degree in 1964 and her PhD degree in 1967.^[2]

Career

She was appointed a lecturer at King's College, London, in 1970, promoted to Reader in 1987, to Professor in 1993, and Director of the Centre for Late Antique and Medieval Studies in 1994, retiring in 2007. She was President of the Ecclesiastical History Society (1993–94)^[3] and was a Vice-President of the British Academy (2000–01). In 2013 she gave the British Academy's Raleigh Lecture on History.^[4] She was the first female President of the Royal Historical Society (2000–04).^[5] The Jinty Nelson Award for Inspirational Teaching & Supervision in History was established by the Royal Historical Society in January 2018.

Her research to date has been focused on early medieval Europe, including Anglo-Saxon England. She has published widely on kingship, government, political ideas, religion and ritual, and increasingly on women and gender during this period. From 2000 to 2010 she co-directed, with Simon Keynes (of Cambridge University), the AHRC-funded project Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England.^[6] Her book King and Emperor, a biography of Charlemagne, was published in 2019.^[7]

Honours

Nelson was appointed a DBE in 2006 and holds honorary doctorates from the Universities of East Anglia (2004),^[8] St Andrews (2007),^[9] Queen's University Belfast (2009),^[10] York (2010),^[11] Liverpool (2010)^[12] and Nottingham (2010).^[13]

Works

• Book: Nelson, Janet . 2. King and Emperor: A New Life of Charlemagne . University of California Press . 2019 . 978-0520314207 . ^[14]
• (with D. Kempf) ed., Reading the Bible in the Middle Ages (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015)^[15]
• Courts, Elites and Gendered Power in the Early Middle Ages (Aldershot, 2007)
• (with P. Wormald) ed., Lay Intellectuals in the Carolingian World (Cambridge, 2007)
• ed., Timothy Reuter, Medieval Politics and Modern Mentalities (Cambridge, 2007)
• (with P. Stafford and J. Martindale) ed., Law, Laity and Solidarities: Essays in Honour of Susan Reynolds (Manchester, 2001)
• (with P. Linehan) ed.,The Medieval World (London, 2001); 2003 pbk edition
• (with F. Theuws) ed., Rituals of Power from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages (Leiden, 2000)
• Rulers and Ruling Families in Earlier Medieval Europe (London, 1999); 2019 pbk edition
• The Frankish World, 750–900 (London, 1996)
• Charles the Bald (London, 1992); 2013 pbk edition
• Book: Nelson, Janet L.. none. Janet Nelson. The Annals of St-Bertin. 1991. Manchester. Manchester University Press. 978-0719034251.
• Politics and Ritual in Early Medieval Europe (London, 1986)

Nelson has also appeared on BBC television and radio, notably as an expert on the Anglo-Saxon Kings in Michael Wood's 2013 series on the subject.^[16]

External links

• Biography on the King's College London website
• Transcript of interview at the Institute of Historical Research, London, 30 May 2008

Notes and References

1. Book: Fouracre, Paul. Ganz, David. Introduction: Dame Jinty Nelson . . . An Appreciation. 1–6. Frankland: The Franks and the world of the early middle ages. https://books.google.com/books?id=13ICEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1. 3 January 2020. Manchester University Press. 978-1-5261-4825-4.
2. NELSON, Dame Janet Laughland, (Dame Jinty Nelson), Who's Who 2009, A & C Black, 2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2008 Profile, ukwhoswho.com; accessed 3 September 2009.
3. Web site: Past Presidents of the EHS | Ecclesiastical History Society. history.ac.uk. 4 March 2019.
4. Web site: Raleigh Lectures on History. The British Academy. text video
5. News: Jinty Nelson Award for Inspirational Teaching & Supervision in History - RHS. RHS. 23 January 2018. en-GB.
6. Web site: Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England: Team. pase.ac.uk. 4 March 2019.
7. Book: King and Emperor. penguin.co.uk. 4 March 2019.
8. Web site: Honorary Graduates of the University. 14 August 2017. 4 March 2019.
9. Web site: Honorary degrees (21 June 2007). University of St Andrews news. 22 June 2007. 4 March 2019.
10. Web site: 07-2009 Press Releases | News. Queen's University Belfast. 4 March 2019.
11. Web site: University of York honours 11 for their contributions to society - News and events. The University of York. 4 March 2019.
12. Web site: World leading scientists among 2010 honours - News. University of Liverpool. 16 July 2010. 4 March 2019.
13. Web site: Graduation celebrations for the class of 2010. The University of Nottingham. 4 March 2019.
14. Book: Nelson, Janet L.. King and Emperor: A New Life of Charlemagne. 2019. University of California Press. 978-0520314207. Google Books.
15. Harkins. Franklin T.. Review of Reading the Bible in the Middle Ages ed. by Jinty Nelson and Damien Kempf. The Catholic Historical Review. 105. 3. 2019. 573–575. 1534-0708. 10.1353/cat.2019.0109. 211649817 .
16. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b038dbd5 BBC Four – King Alfred and the Anglo Saxons