Уильям Робертсон (историк)
Уильям Робертсон | |
|---|---|
 Портретная живопись Уильяма Робертсона, Джошуа Рейнольдс | |
| Директор и вице-канцлер Университета Эдинбурга | |
| В офисе 1 февраля 1762 - 11 июня 1793 года | |
| Preceded by | John Gowdie |
| Succeeded by | George Baird |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 19 September 1721 Borthwick, Midlothian, Scotland |
| Died | 11 June 1793 (aged 71) Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
| Known for | Principal of the University of Edinburgh Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Historiographer Royal |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | History |
Уильям Робертсон FRSE FSA Scot (19 сентября 1721 года - 11 июня 1793 года) был шотландским историком, священнослужителем и педагогом, который служил директором Эдинбургского университета , капеллан замка Стирлинг и одним из капелланов короля в Шотландии .
Робертсон внес значительный вклад в написание шотландской истории и истории Испании и испанской Америки, и его историографический подход оказал значительное современное влияние (в частности, его акцент на последовательности человеческой природы в разных эпох и обществах). [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Он был заметной фигурой в шотландском просветлении , а также выдающимся представителем Церкви Шотландии умеренной партии . [ 3 ]
Ранний период жизни
[ редактировать ]Робертсон родился в Manse of Borthwick , Мидлотиан , сын преподобного Уильяма Робертсона (1686–1745), местного министра и его жены Элеоноры Питкэрн, дочери Дэвида Питкэрна из Дрегорна. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] Он получил образование в приходской школе Бортвик и в гимназии Далкита . Семья переехала в Эдинбург, когда его отец назначил министром церкви леди вчера в 1733 году. Его отец переехал в Старый Грейфрис Кирк в Эдинбурге в 1736 году. [6]
He studied divinity at the University of Edinburgh (1733–41), and was licensed to preach in 1741. He received a Doctor of Divinity in 1759.[7]
The educationalist and writer James Burgh, who founded a dissenting academy on the outskirts of London, was his cousin, describing him as his "much esteemed friend and relation".[8]
Career
[edit]He became minister at Gladsmuir (East Lothian) in 1743 and in 1759 at Lady Yester's Kirk and Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh. A staunch Presbyterian and Whig, he volunteered to defend the city against the Jacobites led by Prince Charles Edward Stuart in 1745.
In 1754, he was elected an original member of The Select Society, also referred to as the Edinburgh Select Society.[9]
Robertson became royal chaplain to George III (1761), principal of the University of Edinburgh (1762), Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1763, and Historiographer Royal in 1764, reviving a role within the Royal household in Scotland that had been in abeyance from 1709 until 1763. One historian has written of Robertson's tenure as Principal of the University of Edinburgh that "the thirty years during which [he] presided over the University perhaps represent the highest point in its history."[10]
He was also a member of The Poker Club.[11]
Writings
[edit]One of his most notable works is his History of Scotland 1542–1603, begun in 1753 and first published in 1759.[12] With multivolume history of Spain, Robertson was recognized by the Spanish authorities, and elected to Spain's Royal Academy of History. The work was translated in Spain, with extensive additions from archival sources to which Robertson had no access. A Spanish reviewer of the draft translation of the History of America (1777), took issue with Robertson's claims and the translation never published.[13][14] Historian D.A. Brading describes Robertson's history as "the first sustained attempt to describe the discovery, conquest and settlement of Spanish America since Herrera's Décadas."[15] His biography of Charles V "provided a masterly survey of the progress of European society, in which he traced the erosion of the 'feudal system' caused by the rise of free towns, the revival of learning and Roman law, and by the emergence of royal authority and the balance of power between states. It was the development of commerce, assisted by law and private property, which was held to be chiefly responsible for the advance in civilisation."[16]
Later life and death
[edit]In 1783, he became a founding member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
He died of jaundice[17] on 11 June 1793, at Grange House in south Edinburgh (the large, now-demolished mansion which gave its name to the Grange district).[9] Robertson is buried at Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh. The grave is within a large stone mausoleum, second only to William Adam's mausoleum immediately to the south. Both stand to the south-west of the church, near the entrance to the Covenanters' Prison.
Legacy
[edit]He gives his name to the William Robertson Building of the Old Medical School buildings at the University of Edinburgh on Teviot Place, home to the School of History, Classics and Archaeology. There is also an endowed chair at Edinburgh in his name, the William Robertson Chair of History, for a specialist in non-European modern history.[18]
Family
[edit]Robertson married his cousin Mary Nisbet (daughter of Rev James Nisbet of Old Kirk, St Giles) in 1751.[6] They had six children, two daughters and four sons. Three of his children are buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard in individual plots behind their father's mausoleum:
- Hon William Robertson, Lord Robertson FRSE, Senator of the College of Justice (1753–1835)
- General James Robertson (died 1845)
- Lt Col David Robertson MacDonald of Kinlochmoidart FRSE (1761–1845) an important figure in the history of Ceylon
One of his daughters, Mary, married the author Patrick Brydone FRSE.[4][19] In 1778 his daughter, Eleanora (or Eleanor) Robertson, married John Russell[4] WS FRSE (1753–1792), a Director of the Royal Bank of Scotland. Their children included John Russell WS FRSE (1780–1862), Principal Clerk of Session.[20]
He was great uncle to Dr William Robertson FRSE (1818-1882).
Publications
[edit]- The Situation of the World at the Time of Christ's Appearance (1755) (sermon)
- The History of Scotland 1542–1603 (1759) (3 vols.)
- History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V, with a View of the Progress of Society in Europe (1769) (3 later 4 vols.)
- The History of America (1777, 1796) (3 vols.)
- An Historical Disquisition Concerning the Knowledge Which the Ancients Had of India (1791)
References
[edit]- ^ R. A. Humphreys, William Robertson and his History of America. London 1954.
- ^ Broadie, Alexander, ed. (1997). The Scottish Enlightenment: an anthology. Canongate classics (1st publ ed.). Edinburgh: Canongate. ISBN 978-0-86241-738-3.
- ^ Shefr, R. B., Church and Society in the Scottish Enlightenment: The Moderate Literati of Edinburgh, Princeton, 1985.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (23 September 2004). "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. ref:odnb/23817. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/23817. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ "Collection: Certificates, Diplomas etc of Principal William Robertson | University of Edinburgh Archive and Manuscript Collections". archives.collections.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae; by Hew Scott
- ^ Waterston, Charles D; Macmillan Shearer, A (July 2006). Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002: Biographical Index (PDF). Vol. II. Edinburgh: The Royal Society of Edinburgh. ISBN 978-0-902198-84-5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 October 2006. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
- ^ "Burgh, James (1714–1775), educationist and author". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/3992. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 5 March 2019. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Account Suspended" (PDF). Royalsoced.org.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
- ^ Horn, D. B., A Short History of the University of Edinburgh: 1556–1889, 1967, p.76
- ^ "The Poker Club | James Boswell .info". jamesboswell.info. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
- ^ David J. Womersley, "The historical writings of William Robertson". Journal of the History of Ideas (1986): 497–506. in JSTOR
- ^ Hamann, Byron Ellsworth, The Invention of the Colonial Americas: Data, Architecture, and the Archive of the Indies. Los Angeles: Getty Publications 2022, 73.
- ^ Cañizares-Esguerra, Jorge. How to Write the History of the New World. Stanford: Stanford University Press 2002, 171-82
- ^ David Brading, The First America: The Spanish Monarchy, Creole Patriots, and the Liberal State 1492–1867. New York: Cambridge University Press 1991, p. 432.
- ^ Brading, The First America, p. 433.
- ^ "Collection: Certificates, Diplomas etc of Principal William Robertson | University of Edinburgh Archive and Manuscript Collections". archives.collections.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
- ^ "William Robertson Chair of History". scholarshipdb.net. 2015. Archived from the original on 23 February 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
- ^ "Dr. William Robertson". geni_family_tree. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
- ^ Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
Further reading
[edit]- Brown, S. J. (ed.), William Robertson and the Expansion of Empire, Cambridge, 1997.
- Kontler, László, Translations, Histories, Enlightenments: William Robertson in Germany, 1760–1795, Palgrave Macmillan US, 2014. ISBN 978-1-349-47575-9, ISBN 978-1-137-37172-0, ISBN 978-1-137-37171-3
- Smitten, Jeffrey R., The Life of William Robertson: Minister, Historian and Principal, Edinburgh University Press, 2016.
External links
[edit]
- William Robertson at James Boswell – a Guide
- Руководители Эдинбургского университета
- Модераторы Генеральной Ассамблеи Церкви Шотландии
- Люди из Мидлотиана
- Шотландские историки 18-го века
- Академики Университета Эдинбурга
- Выпускники Эдинбургского университета
- 1721 Рождение
- 1793 Смерть
- Похороны в Greyfrives Kirkyard
- Члены философского общества Эдинбурга
- Стипендиаты Королевского общества Эдинбурга
- Министры 18-го века церкви Шотландии
- Шотландские пресвитерианские министры 18-го века
- Виг (британская политическая партия) политики
- Историки Шотландии
- Британские латиноамериканцы
- Стипендиаты Общества антикваров Шотландии