Guy Halsall facts for kids

Guy Halsall (born in 1964) is a British historian and university professor. He is an expert in the history of Early Medieval Europe. This period is roughly from the years 500 to 1000 AD.

Professor Halsall teaches at the University of York in England. He has written many books and articles about early medieval history. His current work looks at changes in Western Europe around the year 600 AD. He also explores how ideas from philosophy can help us understand history better. Before York, he taught at the University of Newcastle and Birkbeck, University of London.

About Guy Halsall's Life

Guy Halsall was born in North Ferriby, England, in 1964. He grew up in Worcestershire. He went to the University of York to study archaeology and history. In 1986, he was the first student to get a top grade in archaeology from York.

He continued his studies at York and earned his D.Phil. degree in 1991. His special research was about the history and archaeology of the Metz region during the Merovingian period. The Merovingian period was an early time in French history.

Guy Halsall's Career in History

In 1990, Guy Halsall received a special research award at the University of Newcastle. From 1991 to 2002, he worked as a lecturer and then a reader at Birkbeck, University of London. He taught about early medieval history and archaeology there.

In 2003, he moved to the University of York. He became a full professor there in 2006. In 2012, a student newspaper at the University of York published a message he sent to students. This message was about students not attending lectures.

In 2013, Professor Halsall signed an open letter. This letter disagreed with changes to the British history curriculum. The letter said the proposed changes focused too much on British history. It also said they promoted certain political views.

Professor Halsall has also guided several students who were studying for their doctoral degrees. These students include Catherine-Rose Hailstone and James M. Harland.

Guy Halsall's Historical Ideas

Professor Halsall has some interesting ideas about history. He believes the fall of the Western Roman Empire happened because of problems inside the empire. He thinks that the barbarian groups were absorbed into Roman society. He argues they did not change Roman civilization very much.

He also disagrees with the idea that all Germanic-speaking peoples had one single culture. He thinks this idea is linked to old ways of thinking about nations.

Professor Halsall has different views from some historians at the University of Oxford. These historians believe that Germanic tribes had stronger, more fixed identities. They also think that the movement of these groups, helped by the Huns, greatly caused the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Professor Halsall is concerned that such theories could lead to outdated or harmful ideas about different groups of people.

He also thinks that some new studies using archaeogenetics (studying ancient DNA) can sometimes lead to ideas that are not truly scientific. He worries this might make the idea of ethnicity too simple, like old ideas about "race."

Books by Guy Halsall

Books He Wrote

• Worlds of Arthur: Facts and Fictions of the Dark Ages (2013)
• Cemeteries and Society in Merovingian Gaul: Selected Studies in History and Archaeology, 1992-2009 (2010)
• Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376-568 (2007)
• Warfare and Society in the Barbarian West, 450-900 (2003)
• Early Medieval Cemeteries. An Introduction to Burial Archaeology in the Post-Roman West (1995)
• Settlement and Social Organization. The Merovingian Region of Metz (1995)

Books He Edited

• (with Wendy Davies and Andrew Reynolds) People and Space in the Middle Ages, 300–1300 (2006)
• Violence and Society in the Early Medieval West (1998)
• Humour, History and Politics in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (2002)