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Judith Herrin

Judith Herrin (/ˈhɛrɪn/; born 1942) is an English archaeologist, Byzantinist, and historian of Late Antiquity. She was a professor of Late Antique and Byzantine studies and the Constantine Leventis Senior Research Fellow at King's College London (now emerita).

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Details

Born: Oct 16, 1942
Born: 1942 (age 83–84)
Partner: Anthony Barnett
Awards: Heineken Prize for History (2016), Duff Cooper Prize (2020)
Education: Newnham College, Cambridge (BA), University of Birmingham (PhD)
Thesis: The Social and Economic Structure of Central Greece in the Late Twelfth Century (1972)
Discipline: Byzantine studies
Institutions: Princeton University, King's College London

Contents

1.Early life and education
2.Career
3.Critical reception
4.Honours
5.Selected bibliography
6.Notes

Judith Herrin (/ˈhɛrɪn/; born 1942) is an English archaeologist, Byzantinist, and historian of Late Antiquity. She was a professor of Late Antique and Byzantine studies¹ and the Constantine Leventis Senior Research Fellow at King's College London (now emerita).²

Early life and education

Herrin attended Bedales School.³ She then studied history at Newnham College, Cambridge, and was awarded her Ph.D. in 1972 from the University of Birmingham.⁴ She trained in Paris, Athens and Munich.⁴

Career

Herrin worked as an archaeologist with the British School at Athens and on the site of Kalenderhane Mosque in Istanbul as a Dumbarton Oaks fellow.⁵ Between 1991 and 1995, she was Stanley J. Seeger Professor in Byzantine History, Princeton University.⁶ She was appointed Professor of Late Antique and Byzantine Studies at King's College London (KCL) in 1995, and was head of the Center for Hellenic Studies at KCL.⁴ She retired from the post in 2008, becoming Professor Emeritus.⁴ She was president of the International Congress of Byzantine Studies in 2011.⁷

In 2016, Herrin won the Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for History.⁸

Herrin's book Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe was awarded the Duff Cooper Prize for 2020.⁹ It was shortlisted for the 2021 Wolfson History Prize.¹⁰

Critical reception

In 2013, G.W. Bowersock said in a New York Review of Books (NYRB) article that The Formation of Christendom had since its publication in 1987 meant "many historians suddenly discovered that early medieval Christianity was far more complex than they had ever imagined".¹¹ Her book Unrivalled Influence: Women and Empire in Byzantium with its "comparative perspective on Byzantium, European Christendom, and Islam reflects a lifetime of distinguished work on the Byzantine Empire."¹¹

Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire (2007) was similarly well received by academic historians writing in the UK broadsheet press. Norman Stone commented in The Guardian: "Herrin is excellent on the Ravenna of Justinian, with the extraordinary mosaics that somehow survived the second world war (when Allied bombing could be ruthless) and she is very good on that odd Byzantine (and Russian) phenomenon, the woman in power".¹² He concluded "Judith Herrin can work her way into the mind of Byzantium, and she gives prominence especially to the artistic side. A very good book, all in all."¹² In The Daily Telegraph, Noel Malcolm stated: "her general readers will mostly be people whose history lessons at school have left them thinking in terms of a West-centred sequence: 'Rome – Dark Ages – Middle Ages – Renaissance'. Their brains need some re-calibrating if they are to understand the rather different pattern of development that took place in the 'Rome of the East'; and that is the task which Judith Herrin has now performed, deftly and with much learning lightly worn".¹³

Honours

Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for History (2016) for her pioneering research into medieval cultures in Mediterranean civilisations and for establishing the crucial significance of the Byzantine Empire in history.⁶
Golden Cross of the Order of Honour for services to Hellenism by the president of the Hellenic Republic of Greece (2002)
Medal from the College de France (2000)
Vice-Chairman of the Editorial Board, Past & Present
Member of the Governing Board of the Warburg Institute, University of London (1995–2001)
University of London appointed Governor of Camden School for Girls (1995–2002)
Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries
Member, British Academy Committee for the Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire Archived 10 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine
Member, British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles

Selected bibliography

Ravenna. Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe (Penguin Random House/Princeton University Press, 2020) ISBN 978-1-84614-466-0, 978-0-691-20197-9
Ravenna, its role in earlier medieval change and exchange, edited with Jinty Nelson, (Institute of Historical Research, London, 2016) ISBN 978 1 909646 14 8, E-ISBN 978 0 691 20197 9.
Margins and Metropolis: Authority across the Byzantine Empire (Princeton University Press, 2013) ISBN 978-0-691-15301-8, E-ISBN 978-1-400-84522-4.
Unrivalled Influence: Women and Empire in Byzantium (Princeton University Press, 2013) ISBN 978-0-691-15321-6, E-ISBN 978-1-400-84521-7.
Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire (Allen Lane, the Penguin Press, London, 2007; Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2008) ISBN 978-0-691-13151-1, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish translations (2009–11), Princeton paperback ISBN .

Notes

Herrin, Judith (12 March 2011). "The Glories of Byzantium". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 24 December 2016. ↩
"KCL research portal". Retrieved 22 February 2017. ↩
Old Bedalian bulletin, May 2016 ↩
"King's College, London – Classics Emeritus Professor Judith Herrin wins 2016 Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for History". King's College, London. Archived from the original on 23 February 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2017. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
"The West meets Byzantium: unexpected consequences of the Council of Ferrara-Florence". The American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Retrieved 22 February 2017. ↩
"Judith Herrin – KNAW". Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW). Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2017.

Early life and education

Career

Herrin worked as an archaeologist with the British School at Athens and on the site of Kalenderhane Mosque in Istanbul as a Dumbarton Oaks fellow.⁵ Between 1991 and 1995, she was Stanley J. Seeger Professor in Byzantine History, Princeton University.⁶ She was appointed Professor of Late Antique and Byzantine Studies at King's College London (KCL) in 1995, and was head of the Center for Hellenic Studies at KCL. She retired from the post in 2008, becoming . She was president of the in 2011.

This page is based on “Judith Herrin” from English Wikipedia, (r1379632362) CC BY-SA 4.0 used under the license. The original authors are listed in its page history.

Last edited Oct 15, 2026, 5:38 PM · r139149 · Text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Herrin, Judith (12 March 2011). "The Glories of Byzantium". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 24 December 2016. ↩
"KCL research portal". Retrieved 22 February 2017. ↩
Old Bedalian bulletin, May 2016 ↩
"King's College, London – Classics Emeritus Professor Judith Herrin wins 2016 Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for History". King's College, London. Archived from the original on 23 February 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2017. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
"The West meets Byzantium: unexpected consequences of the Council of Ferrara-Florence". The American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Retrieved 22 February 2017. ↩
"Judith Herrin – KNAW". Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW). Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2017. ↩ ↩²
"KCL research portal". King's College London. ↩
"Heineken Prizes – Judith Herrin". Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2016. ↩
"Home - The Duff Cooper Prize". www.theduffcooperprize.org. Retrieved 19 March 2021. ↩
"Shortlist announced for £40k Wolfson History Prize". Books+Publishing. 3 May 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2020. ↩
Bowersock, G.W. (21 November 2013). "Storms over Byzantium". New York Review of Books. Retrieved 22 February 2017. ↩ ↩²
Stone, Norman (15 December 2007). "In old Istanbul". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 February 2017. ↩ ↩²
Malcolm, Noel (7 August 2007). "An unusual history of Byzantium". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 February 2017. ↩

Herrin, Judith (12 March 2011). "The Glories of Byzantium". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 24 December 2016. ↩
"KCL research portal". Retrieved 22 February 2017. ↩
Old Bedalian bulletin, May 2016 ↩
"King's College, London – Classics Emeritus Professor Judith Herrin wins 2016 Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for History". King's College, London. Archived from the original on 23 February 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2017. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
"The West meets Byzantium: unexpected consequences of the Council of Ferrara-Florence". The American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Retrieved 22 February 2017. ↩
"Judith Herrin – KNAW". Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW). Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2017.

Judith Herrin

Early life and education

Career

Critical reception

Honours

Selected bibliography

Notes

Early life and education

Career

Opinions 0

Critical reception

Honours

Selected bibliography

Notes

Other languages

Sub-pages

Early life and education

Career

Critical reception

Honours

Selected bibliography

Notes

Opinions 0

Judith Herrin

Early life and education

Career

Critical reception

Honours

Selected bibliography

Notes

Footnotes

Early life and education

Career

Opinions 0

Critical reception

Honours

Selected bibliography

Notes

Footnotes

Other languages

Sub-pages

Early life and education

Career

Critical reception

Honours

Selected bibliography

Notes

Footnotes

Opinions 0