Chichele Professorship

The Chichele Professorships are statutory professorships at the University of Oxford named in honour of Henry Chichele (also spelt Chicheley or Checheley, although the spelling of the academic position is consistently "Chichele"), an Archbishop of Canterbury and founder of All Souls College, Oxford. Fellowship of that College has accompanied the award of a Chichele chair since 1870.

Following the work of the 1850 Commission to examine the organization of the University, All Souls College suppressed ten of its fellowships to create the funds to establish the first two Chichele professorships: The Chichele Professor of International Law and Diplomacy, established in 1859 and first held by Mountague Bernard, and the Chichele Professor of Modern History, first held by Montagu Burrows.

There are currently Chichele Professorships in five different subjects:

  • Chichele Professor of Economic History: Kevin O'Rourke.
  • Chichele Professor of the History of War: Hew Strachan appointed 1 January 2002.
  • Chichele Professor of Public International Law: Vaughan Lowe appointed 1 October 1999.
  • Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory: Jeremy Waldron appointed December 2009.
  • Chichele Professor of Medieval History: Christopher Wickham, appointed March 2005.

Probably the best known former Chichele Professor is Sir Isaiah Berlin. Perhaps the best known former Professor of the History of War was Cyril Falls.