David Knowles (scholar) facts for kids

David Knowles (born Michael Clive Knowles, 29 September 1896 – 21 November 1974) was an English Benedictine monk and Catholic priest. He was also a very important historian. He became a top history professor at the famous University of Cambridge from 1954 to 1963.

Who Was David Knowles?

Michael Clive Knowles was born on 29 September 1896 in Studley, England. He went to Downside School, which was run by monks. Later, he studied at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he earned top grades in philosophy and classics.

Becoming a Monk

In July 1914, after finishing school, Knowles joined the monastery. He became a member of the monastic community in September and was given the religious name David. This is the name he was known by for the rest of his life.

After a special training period called a novitiate, he was sent to Rome to study theology. When he returned to Downside, he became a priest in 1922. He used the large library at Downside to research the early history of monks in England.

David Knowles believed that monks should focus more on quiet prayer and study. This was different from some other monks who wanted to spend more time running the school. Because of these different ideas, he moved to Ealing Abbey in London. He lived there from 1933 to 1940.

A Professor at Cambridge

In 1944, David Knowles was chosen for a special research position at Peterhouse, a college at the University of Cambridge. He stayed there for his entire career as a professor.

In 1947, he became a professor of medieval history. Then, in 1954, he was given the important title of Regius Professor of Modern History. He held this job until he retired in 1963.

He was also the president of the Royal Historical Society from 1957 to 1961. He was the first president of the Ecclesiastical History Society from 1961 to 1963.

While working at Cambridge, David Knowles eventually left his vows as a monk. However, before he passed away on 21 November 1974 from a heart attack, he was welcomed back into the monastic order.

His Important Books

David Knowles is most famous for his book The Monastic Order in England (1940). This book tells the history of early English monks. His three-volume work, The Religious Orders in England (1948–1959), is also highly respected by historians.

In 1962, he published a textbook called The Evolution of Medieval Thought. This book was used in many history classes for a long time. Some people have pointed out that his book Medieval Religious Houses did not include information about nunneries (places for nuns). He said there wasn't enough information, but later studies have found more.

Published Works

• The American Civil War: A Brief Sketch (1926)
• The Monastic Order in England: A History of Its Development from the Times of St Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council, 943–1216 (1940, 2nd ed. 1963)
• The Religious Houses of Medieval England (1940)
• The Prospects of Medieval Studies (1947)
• The Religious Orders in England (three volumes, forming a continuation after 1216 AD of The Monastic Order in England) (1948–59)
• Archbishop Thomas Becket: A Character Study (1949)
• Monastic Constitutions of Lanfranc (1951) translator
• Episcopal Colleagues of Archbishop Thomas Becket (1951) Ford Lectures 1949
• Monastic Sites From The Air (1952) with J. S. K. St. Joseph
• Medieval Religious Houses: England and Wales, with R. Neville Hadcock (1953, 2nd ed. 1971)
• The Historian and Character (1954) Inaugural Lecture
• Charterhouse: The Medieval Foundation in the Light of Recent Discoveries (1954) with W. F. Grimes
• Cardinal Gasquet as an Historian (1957)
• The English Mystical Tradition (1961)
• The Evolution of Medieval Thought (1962)
• Saints and Scholars: Twenty-Five Medieval Portraits (1962)
• The Benedictines: A Digest for Moderns (1962)
• Great Historical Enterprises; Problems in Monastic History (1963)
• The Historian and Character and Other Essays (1963) with others, presentation volume
• Lord Macaulay, 1800–1859 (1963)
• From Pachomius to Ignatius: A Study in the Constitutional History of the Religious Orders (1966)
• The Nature of Mysticism (1966)
• What is Mysticism? (1967)
• Authority (1969)
• Christian Monasticism (1969)
• The Christian Centuries: The Middle Ages, volume 2 (1969) with Dimitri Obolensky
• The Heads of Religious Houses: England and Wales, 940–1216 (1972) with Christopher N. L. Brooke, Vera C. M. London
• Bare Ruined Choirs: The Dissolution of the English Monasteries (1976)
• Thomas Becket (1977)