Kenneth Meyer Setton | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1914-06-17)June 17, 1914 New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States |
| Died | February 18, 1995(1995-02-18) (aged 80) Princeton, New Jersey, United States |
| Education |
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| Occupation | Historian |
Kenneth Meyer Setton (June 17, 1914 – February 18, 1995) was an Americanhistorian and an expert on the history ofmedieval Europe, particularly theCrusades.[1]
Setton's childhood and adolescence were not easy. He supported himself from the age of 13. Setton received hisbachelor's degree in 1936 as aPhi Beta Kappa graduate ofBoston University.[2] He received hismaster's degree in 1938 and PhD in 1941 atColumbia University. His dissertationChristian Attitude Toward the Emperor in the Fourth Century was written under the direction ofLynn Thorndike. He also receivedhonorary degrees from Boston University and theUniversity of Kiel. He claimed that knowledge of languages is the basis of knowledge of historical science, and he spokeItalian, French,German andCatalan, besides his favorites,Latin andclassical Greek.[3]
Setton spent nearly two decades finishing his classic work, the four-volumeThe Papacy and the Levant, 1204-1571.[4] For the first two published volumes he received theHaskins Medal of theMedieval Academy of America in 1980.[5] He served as the editor-in-chief of theWisconsin Collaborative History of the Crusades, published in six volumes from 1969 to 1989.
Setton was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Society in 1952.[6] He received theJohn Frederick Lewis Award of the Society three times: first in 1957 for his workThe Byzantine Background to the Italian Renaissance, then in 1984 for his workThe Papacy and the Levant, volume 3 and 4 and in 1990 for his workVenice, Austria and the Turks in the 17th Century.[7]
Setton was elected to theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1960.[8]
Setton began his teaching career at Boston University and theUniversity of Manitoba. Next he taught at theUniversity of Pennsylvania between 1950 and 1965, succeeding another medievalist,John L. La Monte [pl].[9] In the period between 1965 and 1968 he taught at theUniversity of Wisconsin, where he was appointed director of the Institute for Research in the Humanities. After 1968 he worked at theInstitute for Advanced Study inPrinceton, New Jersey.
He had many concurrent appointments, such as director of the library at the University of Pennsylvania, acting director of theGennadius Library in Greece, andGuggenheim Fellow.
In 1936 he received a bachelorate from Boston University
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.
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.
1980:Kenneth M. Setton, The Papacy and the Levant (1204-1571). 2 vols. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1976, 1978.
from 1950 to 1965 he taught at the University of Pennsylvania, where he succeeded another eminent medievalist, John L. La Monte.
