Kenneth Meyer Setton
Born(1914-06-17)June 17, 1914
New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States
DiedFebruary 18, 1995(1995-02-18) (aged 80)
Princeton, New Jersey, United States
NationalityAmerican
EducationBoston University
Columbia University
Occupationhistorian

Kenneth Meyer Setton (June 17, 1914 – February 18, 1995) was an American historian and an expert on the history of medieval Europe, particularly the Crusades.[1]

Early life, education and awards

Setton's childhood and adolescence were not easy. He supported himself from the age of 13. Setton received his bachelor's degree in 1936 as a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Boston University.[2] He received his master's degree in 1938 and PhD in 1941 at Columbia University. His dissertation Christian Attitude Toward the Emperor in the Fourth Century was written under the direction of Lynn Thorndike. He also received honorary degrees from Boston University and the University of Kiel. He claimed that knowledge of languages is the basis of knowledge of historical science, and he spoke Italian, French, German and Catalan, besides his favorites, Latin and classical Greek.[3]

Setton spent nearly two decades finishing his classic work, the four-volume The Papacy and the Levant, 1204-1571.[4] For the first two published volumes he received the Haskins Medal of the Medieval Academy of America in 1980.[5] He served as the editor-in-chief of the Wisconsin Collaborative History of the Crusades, published in six volumes from 1969 to 1989.

Setton was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1952.[6] He received the John Frederick Lewis Prize of the Philosophical Society three times: first in 1957 for his work The Byzantine Background to the Italian Renaissance, then in 1984 for his work The Papacy and the Levant, volume 3 and 4 and in 1990 for his work Venice, Austria and the Turks in the 17th Century.[7]

Setton was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1960.[8]

Career

Setton began his teaching career at Boston University and the University of Manitoba. Then he taught at the University of Pennsylvania between 1950 and 1965, succeeding another medievalist, John L. La Monte.[9] In the period between 1965 and 1968 he taught at the University of Wisconsin, where he was appointed director of the Institute for Research in the Humanities. After 1968 he worked at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.

He had many concurrent appointments, such as director of the library at the University of Pennsylvania, acting director of the Gennadius Library in Greece and Guggenheim Fellow.

Selected works

  • Christian Attitude Towards the Emperor in the Fourth Century, Columbia University Press, 1941[10]
  • The Bulgars in the Balkans and the occupation of Corinth in the seventh century, Mediaeval Academy of America, 1950
  • The Papacy and the Levant, 1204-1571. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society. 1976–1984. ISBN 0-87169-114-0. OCLC 2698253.
  • A History of the Crusades (1969–1989).[11] Six volumes. University of Wisconsin Press, 1955–1989, as editor in chief with Harry W. Hazard, Robert Lee Wolff, Marshall W. Baldwin and Norman P. Zacour as co-editors. This series is known as the Wisconsin Collaborative History of the Crusades.
  • Venice, Austria and the Turks in the 17th Century, American Philosophical Society, 1991, ISBN 978-0-87169-192-7
  • Western Hostility to Islam, American Philosophical Society, 1992, ISBN 978-0-87169-201-6
  • Catalan domination of Athens, 1311-1388. London: Variorum. 1975. ISBN 0-902089-77-3. OCLC 73998789. A history of the founding of the Catalan Company and their subsequent control of the Duchy of Athens and Thebes.
  • The Age of Chivalry (1969).[12]
  • Europe and the Levant in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. London: Variorum Reprints. 1974. ISBN 0-902089-64-1. OCLC 1128239.
  • Setton, Kenneth Meyer (1975). Athens in the Middle Ages. London. ISBN 0-902089-84-6. OCLC 73998786.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

References

  1. ↑ Bibliothèque nationale de France {BnF Data}. "Kenneth Meyer Setton (1914-1995)".
  2. ↑ Mayer, Hans Eberhard (1997). "Kenneth Meyer Setton (17 June 1914-18 February 1995)". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 141 (2): 241–49. JSTOR 987307. In 1936 he received a bachelorate from Boston University
  3. ↑ Mayer, Hans Eberhard (1997). "Kenneth Meyer Setton (17 June 1914-18 February 1995)". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 141 (2): 241–49. JSTOR 987307. He believed that a knowledge of languages formed the basis of historical science, and he conversed easily in Italian, French, German, and Catalan. His most enduring loves in this field, however, were Latin and classical Greek.
  4. ↑ Saxon, Wolfgang (1995-02-23). "Kenneth M. Setton, 80, Scholar And Author on Medieval Europe". The New York Times. Retrieved 2023-02-19. Dr. Setton spent nearly two decades finishing his four-volume "The Papacy and the Levant, 1204-1571" (American Philosophical Society, 1976-1984). A classic study of the era, it remains in print.
  5. ↑ "Haskins Medal Recent Recipients". Medieval Academy of America. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved January 5, 2011. 1980:Kenneth M. Setton, The Papacy and the Levant (1204-1571). 2 vols. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1976, 1978.
  6. ↑ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  7. ↑ "John Frederick Lewis Award". American Philosophical Society. Archived from the original on October 17, 2011. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Kenneth Meyer Setton". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  9. ↑ "Awards for Scholarly Distinction" (cfm). American Historical Association. August 20, 2007. Retrieved January 5, 2011. from 1950 to 1965 he taught at the University of Pennsylvania, where he succeeded another eminent medievalist, John L. La Monte.
  10. ↑ Setton, K. M. (Kenneth Meyer). (1941). Christian attitude towards the emperor in the fourth century. New York: Columbia university press.
  11. ↑ Setton, K. M. (Kenneth Meyer). (1969 ). A history of the Crusades. [2d ed.] Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
  12. ↑ Setton, K. M. (Kenneth Meyer)., National Geographic Society (U.S.). (1969). The Age of chivalry. [Washington]: National Geographic Society.
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