Peter Sawyer (historian) explained

Peter Hayes Sawyer (25 June 1928 – 7 July 2018^{[1] [2]}) was a British historian. His work on the Vikings was highly influential, as was his scholarship on Medieval England.^{[3] [4]} Sawyer's early work The Age of the Vikings argued that the Vikings were "traders not raiders", overturning the previously held view that the Vikings' voyages were only focused on destruction and pillaging.

Sawyer is particularly known for his annotated catalogue of Anglo-Saxon charters. Anglo-Saxon charters are referenced by "Sawyer" numbers (abbreviated 'S' as for example in charter "S 407") according to his catalogue.^[5]

Biography

Sawyer was born in Oxford, England, on 25 June 1928, the son of Grace Woodbridge and Bill Sawyer, a tobacconist. He grew up in Oxford, except for time spent with relatives in Milford Haven during WWII.

Sawyer studied at Oxford University from 1948 to 1951, where he was a member of Jesus College and graduated with a B.A. Honours in Modern History. He then was a research student at the University of Manchester from 1951 to 1953. After his time in Manchester, Sawyer was an assistant at the University of Edinburgh from 1953 to 1956 and a lecturer in medieval history at the University of Birmingham from 1957 to 1964. He taught at the University of Leeds from 1964, becoming professor of Medieval History in 1970. There, in collaboration with Robert Stuart Hoyt, he founded the International Medieval Bibliography.^{[6] [7]} He retired early from Leeds in 1982 and was subsequently (in 1998) given the title emeritus professor.^[8] Sawyer continued his teaching and research at Göteborg University as a docent, and had various stints as a visiting professor in the United States: at the University of Minnesota from 1966 to 1967 and then again in 1984, and at the University of California, Berkeley in 1985. Between 1996 and 2006 he worked in Trondheim (where his wife Birgit was a professor of Medieval History), connected to NTNU, and from 2006 he lived and worked in Uppsala.^[9]

He died in Uppsala, aged 90, in July 2018.^[1]

Works

• Book: Sawyer, Peter . Textus roffensis : Rochester cathedral library manuscript A.3.5. . Peter Sawyer (historian) . Copenhagen . Rosenkilde og Bagger . 195762 . Early English manuscripts in facsimile . 7, 11 . yes. 118+117 pages. 63444797.
• Book: Sawyer, Peter H . The age of the vikings . Peter Sawyer (historian) . London . E. Arnold . 1962 . 1978 2nd . yes. 275 pages . 9780713158366 . 463278812 .
• Book: Sawyer, Peter H . Anglo-saxon charters : an annotated list and bibliography . Peter Sawyer (historian) . . 1968 . Guides and handbooks . 8 . yes. xiii–538 pages . 460956.
• Book: Sawyer, Peter H . From Roman Britain to Norman England . Peter Sawyer (historian) . . 1978 . 1998 2nd . yes. xii–322 pages . 9780203450468 . 52489970.
• Book: Sawyer, Peter H . Charters of Burton Abbey . Peter Sawyer (historian) . Oxford University Press for the British Academy . 1979 . . 2 . yes. lv–93 pages . 9780197259405 . 6041283.
• Book: Kungar och vikingar : Norden och Europa 700–1100 . sv . Kings and Vikings : the Nordic countries and Europe 700–1100 . Peter . Sawyer . Peter Sawyer (historian) . Erik Frykman . Stockholm . . 1985 . Panorama . yes. 219 pages . 9789118436116 . 185803536.
• Book: Sawyer, Peter H . The making of Sweden . Peter Sawyer (historian) . Viktoria Bokförlag . Alingsås . 1989 . yes. iii–60 pages . 9789186708085 . 21221268.
• Book: Medieval Scandinavia: from conversion to Reformation, circa 800–1500 . Peter . Sawyer . Peter Sawyer (historian) . Birgit . Sawyer . . The Nordic Series . 17 . 1993 . yes. xvi–265 pages . 9780816617395 . 489584487 .
• Book: Sawyer, Peter H . The Oxford illustrated history of the Vikings . Peter Sawyer (historian) . . 1997 . yes . xv–298 pages . 9780198205265 . 751158622 . registration . Peter Sawyer The Oxford illustrated history of the Vikings. .
• Book: Sawyer, Peter . Anglo-Saxon Lincolnshire . Peter Sawyer (historian) . History of Lincolnshire Committee for the Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology . Lincoln . 1998 . yes. xv–289 pages . 9780902668027 . 906849208 .
• Book: Sawyer, Peter . The wealth of Anglo-Saxon England . Peter Sawyer (historian) . . 2013 . yes. xi–155 pages . 847547281 . 9780199253937 .

External links

• Ian N. Wood, 'Peter Hayes Sawyer (25 June 1928 – 7 July 2018)', Leeds Medieval Studies, 1 (2021), 101–4,
• Peter Hayes Sawyer: Curriculum Vitae
• Charters by Sawyer number
• Svearikets vagga – The cradle of Sweden – a Swedish program where Sawyer appears
• Leeds University promotional video, c. 1983 featuring Sawyer at 10.11.
• The Electronic Sawyer

Notes and References

1. Web site: Emeritus Professor dies at the age of 90 . . 9 July 2018 . 10 July 2018 .
2. Web site: Emeritus Professor Peter Sawyer . . 12 July 2018 . 15 July 2018 .
3. Web site: Peter Sawyer obituary. Wood. Ian. 2018-07-26. The Guardian. en. 2018-08-08.
4. Lund. Niels. 2018-07-03. Peter Sawyer (1928–2018). Northern History. 55. 2. 135–138. 10.1080/0078172X.2019.1585167. 191721278 . 0078-172X. free.
5. Web site: Electronic Sawyer: The Electronic Sawyer . ESawyer.
6. Sawyer. Peter. The Origins of the International Medieval Bibliography: Its Unwritten History (as told by its Founder). Bulletin of International Medieval Research. 2009. 14 for 2008. 57–61.
7. Murray. Alan V.. Thirty-Five Years of the International Medieval Bibliography (1967-2002). Bulletin of International Medieval Research. 2001. 7. 1–9.
8. http://www.leeds.ac.uk/calendar/emeritus.htm University of Leeds, List of Emeritus Professors
9. Web site: Peter Hayes Sawyer: Curriculum Vitae . 2010-08-18 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100812073114/http://www.bibisawyer.se/page_1235430751516.html . 2010-08-12 .