iman dies
Stephen Hayes
Sir Steven Runciman, Expert on Crusades,
World Traveler, Dies
From News Services
Saturday , November 4, 2000 ; Page B06
Sir Steven Runciman, 97, a British historian who was a leading
authority on the Byzantine Empire and the Crusades, died Nov. 1 in
Radway, Warwickshire, England. The cause of death was not
reported.
Sir Steven's three-volume "A History of the Crusades," published
between 1951 and 1954, became the standard work on the subject.
Instead of focusing on the popular Western viewpoint that
crusaders were heroes fighting barbarians to win control of the
Christian Holy Land, Sir Steven drew on Muslim, Greek and
Armenian sources to give the Eastern view.
"High ideals were besmirched by cruelty and greed, enterprise and
endurance by a blind and narrow self-righteousness; and the Holy
War itself was nothing more than a long act of intolerance in the
name of God, which is a sin against the Holy Ghost," he wrote.
His later books included "The Eastern Schism," 1955; "The Sicilian
Vespers," 1958; "The Fall of Constantinople 1453," 1965; "The
Great Church in Captivity," 1968; "The Orthodox Churches and the
Secular State," 1972; and "Byzantine Style and Civilization," 1975.
He was a firm believer in the credo that a historian wrote to be
read, and read by the largest audience possible. Thus, although
some remember him for groundbreaking historical research, many
others will remember him for masterful, driving prose that showed
that brilliantly written narrative history can be as entertaining as it
is informative.
In the preface to "A History of the Crusades," he wrote, "I believe
that the supreme duty of the historian is to write history, that is to
say, to attempt to record in one sweeping sequence the greater
events and movements that have swayed the destinies of man."
Sir Steven's research and his curiosity took him to remote corners
of the world in the 1920s and 1930s.
His 1991 memoir, "A Traveller's Alphabet," paints a picture of a
privileged and convivial man--the son of wealthy and
well-connected parents--who was on easy terms with diplomats and
scholars.
He wrote of a steamer voyage to China in 1925, and a piano duet
with Henry Pu Yi, the last emperor; 1938 travels in French
Indochina, and a ballet performance at Angkor Wat in Cambodia;
and caviar sandwiches with Queen Marie of Romania.
In the late 1950s, Sir Steven went to Sarawak to research "The
White Rajahs," a history of the English family that ruled the area
before it became part of Malaysia.
"That he contrived to write so many books of a sort calling for slow
and difficult research, yet also found time to crisscross the globe so
thoroughly, is only partly to be explained by a long life, a
comfortable income, and a worldwide network of friends and
relations," critic Sir Frank Kermode wrote, attributing some of Sir
Steven's success to his "gifts of grace."
James Cochran Stevenson Runciman was born in Northumberland.
He was the second son of Walter Runciman, a member of the
Asquith cabinet.
His mother won election to the House of Commons. Sir Steven was
a grandson of the shipping magnate Lord Runciman and was
descended from the 18th century Scottish painter Alexander
Runciman.
Sir Steven exhibited intellectual ability at an early age. He could
read French at age 3, Latin at 6, Greek at 7 and Russian at 11. He
won a scholarship to Eton, where his schoolmates included George
Orwell.
Sir Steven graduated from Cambridge University's Trinity College
with a first in history and was a research student under the
legendary historian J.B. Bury. Sir Steven held a fellowship at Trinity
from 1927 to 1938, where his students included the traitor Guy
Burgess--whom he later recalled as a brilliant student with dirty
fingernails.
During World War II, he served in the Ministry of Information. This
service included a tour as press attache at the British mission in
Sofia, Bulgaria, until the Germans occupied it. He joined the British
Embassy in Cairo in 1941, worked for the government in Palestine in
1942, then, at the request of the Turkish government, served as
professor of Byzantine art and history at the University of Istanbul
from 1942 to 1945.
After two years in Greece as British Council representative, he
returned to Britain and devoted himself to writing.
He was knighted in 1958 and made a Companion of Honor in 1984.
He became a fellow of the British Academy in 1957. He was
chairman of the Anglo-Hellenic League from 1951 to 1967, during
which time he helped restore the grave on the island of Skyros of
the British soldier-poet Rupert Brooke.
Sir Steven lived much of his life in Scotland and raised hens as a
hobby. He was known as an excellent cook and discerning art
collector. A legendary conversationalist, he also became known for
a vast array of off-color stories he enjoyed sharing.
He leaves no immediate survivors.
- 2000 The Washington Post
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