Thomas Noel Bisson

Thomas N. Bisson was the Emeritus Henry Charles Lea Professor of Medieval History at Harvard University. He long studied the cultural history of power in medieval Europe. Bisson’s research addressed the political, institutional, and intellectual history of medieval Europe, focusing in particular upon the French kingdom, Languedoc, and Catalonia. Among his books are: Fiscal Accounts of Catalonia under the Early Count-Kings (1151-1213), 2 vols. (1984); and The Crisis of the Twelfth Century: Power, Lordship, and the Origins of European Government (2009). He re-edited the chronicle of Robert of Torigni (abbot of Le Mont Saint-Michel, 1154-86), a major source of information on France and England in the generation before Magna Carta. Prior to his work at Harvard University, he held appointments at University of California, Berkeley, Swarthmore College, Brown University, and Amherst College.