Cora Scofield

Cora Scofield
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Chicago
ThesisA study of the Court of Star Chamber : largely based on manuscripts in the British Museum and the Public Record Office (1900)

Cora Louise Scofield (February 6, 1870-March 10, 1962) was an American historian of late medieval England.

Early life and education

Cora Scofield was born in Washington, Iowa in 1870, the second of two daughters of a Union Army veteran, General Hiram Scofield, and his wife Amelia.[1] She attended Vassar College, graduating in 1890,[2][3] which she followed with a period of study at the University of Oxford in 1891-92. She graduated with a PhD from the University of Chicago in 1898.[4]

Career

Scofield published her doctoral thesis, A Study of the Court of Star Chamber, in 1900.[5] She then focused her studies on the reign of Edward IV of England. In 1923, she published her two volume The Life and Reign of Edward the Fourth. Historian and archivist Charles Johnson wrote that it was "likely to be the standard authority on that period of English history which his life covers, and not soon to be superseded." He considered that "[t]he most striking merit of Miss Scofield's work is her treatment of foreign relations. ... she makes constant use of French and Flemish sources", although he regretted that, "in view of the excellence of her work", she did not have access to some sources.[6] Even after Charles Ross published his Edward IV in 1974, Scofield's work has continued to remain a vital resource for scholars.[7][8][9]

Scofield died in Boston on March 10, 1962.[10]

Selected publications

  • Scofield, Cora Louise (1900), A study of the Court of Star Chamber, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, OCLC 213551510[11]
  • Scofield, Cora L. (1906). "The Movements of the Earl of Warwick in the Summer of 1464". The English Historical Review. XXI (LXXXIV): 732–737. doi:10.1093/ehr/XXI.LXXXIV.732. ISSN 0013-8266. Retrieved 2025-10-13.
  • Scofield, Cora L. (1909). "Elizabeth Wydevile in the Sanctuary at Westminster , 1470". The English Historical Review. XXIV (XCIII): 90–91. doi:10.1093/ehr/XXIV.XCIII.90. ISSN 0013-8266. Retrieved 2025-10-13.
  • Scofield, Cora L. (1914). "The Early Life of John de Vere, thirteenth Earl of Oxford". The English Historical Review. XXIX (CXIV): 228–245. doi:10.1093/ehr/XXIX.CXIV.228. ISSN 0013-8266. Retrieved 2025-10-13.
  • Scofield, Cora L. (1923). The life and reign of Edward the Fourth, King of England and France and Lord of Ireland. London: Longmans, Green and Co. OCLC 1367922.[12][13]

References

  1. ^ "Well-known Iowa Veteran Is Dead". Quad-City Times. Davenport, Iowa. Jan 2, 1907. p. 2. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  2. ^ "Vassar's Commencement". Buffalo Weekly Express. Jun 12, 1890. p. 8. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  3. ^ "Vassar Commencement". The Evening Republican. Meadville, Pennsylvania. Jun 12, 1890. p. 1. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  4. ^ Scofield, Cora Louise (1900). A study of the court of star chamber. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. OCLC 493649597.
  5. ^ Scofield, Cora Louise (1900), A study of the Court of Star Chamber, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, OCLC 213551510
  6. ^ Johnson, Charles (July 1924). "Review: The Life and Reign of Edward the Fourth". The Antiquaries Journal. 4 (3): 296–298. doi:10.1017/S0003581500006004.
  7. ^ Brondarbit, Alexander R. (2020). Power-brokers and the Yorkist State, 1461-1485. Boydell Press. p. xi. ISBN 9781783275342. The references within will not do adequate justice to the numerous historians I have relied upon. Cora Scofield, Ralph Griffiths, Jack Lander, Rosemary Horrox , and Tony Pollard are especially deserving of mention.
  8. ^ Gregory, Phillipa; Baldwin, David; Jones, Michael (2011). The Women of the Cousins' War The Duchess, the Queen, and the King's Mother. Atria Books. p. 231. ISBN 9781451629569. Cora Scofield, whose admired biography of Edward IV was published in 1923, wrote that ....
  9. ^ Penn, Thomas (2019). "Acknowledgements.". The Brothers York An English Tragedy. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 9780718197292. I want also to acknowledge three scholars, Cora Scofield, Charles Ross and, again, Rosemary Horrox, whose landmark studies of Edward IV and Richard III are crucial to an understanding of the two reigns spanned by this book.
  10. ^ Griffiths, Ralph A., Cora Louise Scofield (1870-1961): a memoir in Scofield, Cora L., The Life and Reign of Edward the Fourth, reissue by Fonthill Media, 2016
  11. ^ Reviews of A study of the Court of Star Chamber
  12. ^ Reviews of The life and reign of Edward the Fourth, King of England and France and Lord of Ireland
  13. ^ "The Life and Reign of Edward the Fourth". The Daily Telegraph. London, England. Jul 18, 1924. p. 15. Retrieved 8 February 2025.