# Antonia Gransden

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English historian and medievalist (1928–2020)

Antonia Gransden Photographed while at the University of Nottingham Born Antonia Morland (1928-10-07)7 October 1928 Compton Dundon, Somerset, England Died 18 January 2020(2020-01-18) (aged 91) Keinton Mandeville, Somerset Spouse K. W. Gransden ​ ​ (m. 1957; div. 1977)​ Academic background Education Dartington Hall Somerville College, Oxford University of London Academic work Discipline History Sub-discipline Medieval history Institutions British Museum University of Nottingham Notable works Historical Writing in England (1982)

**Antonia Gransden** ([née](/source/Birth_name#Maiden_and_married_names) **Morland**; 7 October 1928 – 18 January 2020), English [historian](/source/Historian) and [medievalist](/source/Medievalist), was [Reader](/source/Reader_(academic_rank)) in [Medieval History](/source/Medieval_History) at the [University of Nottingham](/source/University_of_Nottingham). She was author of works in medieval [historiography](/source/Historiography), including the massive two-volume study *Historical Writing in England*, covering a thousand years of historical writing from the 6th to the 16th century.[1]

Work at the British Museum fuelled Gransden's fascination with [Bury St Edmunds Abbey](/source/Bury_St_Edmunds_Abbey). She went on to edit the records of the abbey, resulting in a two-volume *History of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds*, which she completed aged 86.

## Life

Gransden was born Antonia Morland in [Compton Dundon](/source/Compton_Dundon), Somerset.[2][3] Her father was a director of [Morlands](/source/Morlands) clothing company in [Glastonbury](/source/Glastonbury), Somerset.[1] Educated at [Dartington Hall](/source/Dartington_Hall) and [Somerville College, Oxford](/source/Somerville_College%2C_Oxford), she gained a first class degree and studied for a PhD, which she went on to earn from the [University of London](/source/University_of_London).[2] She spent a decade as assistant keeper in the British Museum reading room from 1952, before joining Nottingham University as an assistant lecturer in 1964.[1] She married [Ken Gransden](/source/K._W._Gransden) in 1957 and the couple had two daughters. However, the marriage was dissolved in 1977.[4] She retired from Nottingham University in 1989.[1]

Gransden was a long-standing member of the [Labour Party](/source/Labour_Party_(UK)), and an advocate for women's rights to education, equal pay and opportunities. She died from bronchopneumonia at a care home in [Keinton Mandeville](/source/Keinton_Mandeville), Somerset, on 18 January 2020 at the age of 91.[1][2] At the time of her death her "magisterial" two volumes on *Historical Writing in England* remained unsurpassed.[5]

## Select bibliography

[Scholia](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Scholia) has an *author* profile for ***[Antonia Gransden](https://iw.toolforge.org/scholia/author/Q4776238)***.

- *A Critical Edition of the Bury St Edmunds Chronicle in Arundel MS 30 (College of Arms)*, London: University of London, 1956

- (ed.) *The Letter-Book of William of Hoo, Sacrist of Bury St. Edmunds, 1280–1294*, *Publications*, Vol. 5, Ipswich: [Suffolk Records Society](/source/Suffolk_Records_Society), 1963

- (ed. & trans.) *The Chronicle of Bury St Edmunds 1212–1301*, *Nelson's Medieval Texts*, London: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1964

- (ed.) *Customary of the Benedictine Abbey of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk*, Vol. 99, London: [Henry Bradshaw Society](/source/Henry_Bradshaw_Society), 1970.

- *Historical Writing in England*c.*550 to*c.*1307*, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1974

- *Historical Writing in England ii*c.*1307 to the Early Sixteenth Century*, [Ithaca](/source/Ithaca%2C_New_York): Cornell University Press, 1982

- *Legends, Traditions, and History in Medieval England*, London: Hambledon Press, 1992

- *A History of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds, 1182–1256: Samson of Tottington to Edmund of Walpole*, Studies in the History of Medieval Religion, vol. 31, Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer, 2007, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781843833246](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781843833246)

- *A History of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds, 1257–1301: Simon of Luton and John of Northwold*, Studies in the History of Medieval Religion, vol. 42, Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer, 2015, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781783270262](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781783270262)

- (ed.) [*Bury St Edmunds: Medieval Art, Architecture, Archaeology, and Economy*](https://books.google.com/books?id=0kYHEAAAQBAJ), Abingdon: Routledge, 2020, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-351-57288-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-351-57288-0)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Gobit_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Gobit_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Gobit_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Gobit_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Gobit_1-4) James Clark (16 February 2020). ["Antonia Gransden obituary"](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/feb/16/antonia-gransden-obituary). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230224163547/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/feb/16/antonia-gransden-obituary) from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2020.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-ODNB_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-ODNB_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-ODNB_2-2) Given-Wilson, C. (2024). "Gransden [née Morland], Antonia (1928–2020), historian". *[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography#Oxford_Dictionary_of_National_Biography)* (online ed.). Oxford University Press. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000381939](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fodnb%2F9780198614128.013.90000381939). (Subscription, [Wikipedia Library](https://wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org/partners/88/) access or [UK public library membership](https://www.oxforddnb.com/help/subscribe#public) required.)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Antonia Gransden, 91: Medievalist, watercolourist and friend of EM Forster"](https://www.thetimes.com/article/antonia-gransden-91-medievalist-watercolourist-and-friend-of-em-forster-tpgwjz369). *The Times*. 14 March 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Murray, Penelope (3 August 1998). ["Obituary: K. W. Gransden"](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-k-w-gransden-1169495.html). *The Independent*. [Archived](https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-k-w-gransden-1169495.html) from the original on 7 May 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Fulton, Helen (2020). "Medieval Historical Writing: Britain and Ireland, 500–1500 ed. by Jennifer Jahner, Emily Steiner, and Elizabeth M. Tyler (review)". *Studies in the Age of Chaucer*. **42**: 413–7. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1353/sac.2020.0024](https://doi.org/10.1353%2Fsac.2020.0024).

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