ROBERTSON, WILLIAM. - Historian, b. at Borthwick (Midlothian) in Scotland on 19 Sept. 1721, d. at Grange House (Edinburgh) on 11 June 1793.

A Presbyterian minister, he received wide recognition for his History of Scotland, which earned him the post of principal of the University of Edinburgh (1768).

In all his works there is a continuous effort at understanding, often a notable penetration, always dignity of style and accuracy of preparation. Into his cultural formation there undoubtedly flow the most widespread motifs of the Enlightenment (his debt to Voltaire and Montesquieu, for certain ways of framing problems, and for interpretive criteria, is evident), but his religious faith, his political position, and above all the milieu of the Select Society (of which, among others, A. Smith and D. Hume were members) had a far more important weight. His works are: The history of Scotland during the reigns of queen Mary and of king James VI until his accession to the Crown of England (2 vols., London 1759), which established his fame as a historian and was much discussed, because it was too tender for some, too harsh for others, with regard to Mary Stuart; The history of the reign of the emperor Charles V (3 vols., ibid. 1769, which was placed on the Index on 31 Jan. 1777 for its Protestant view of Catholicism and the Roman Pontificate), whose introduction (View of the progress of society in Europe from the subversion of the Roman Empire to the beginning of the sixteenth century) is the first vigorous attempt at an organic vision of the Middle Ages, seen nevertheless essentially as the slow and obscure preparation of modern Europe; The history of America (2 vols. London 1777), limited to Spanish and Portuguese expansion, expanded with the history of the first English colonies in the posthumous edition of 1796; An historical disquisition concerning the knowledge which the ancients had of India (ibid. 1791). Complete edition of the works edited by D. Stewart, 12 vols. (ibid. 1817).

Bibliography8 works

BIBL.: L. Stephen, Hist. of English thought in the XVIII cent., I, 3rd ed., London 1902, p. 446 ff.; Th. P. Peardon, The transition in English histor. writing (1760-1830), New York 1933; R. Pascal, Property and Society. The Scottish histor. school of the XVIII cent., in The modern quart., 1 (1938), p. 167 ff. On his historical work: J. B. Black, The art of history, London 1925, p. 117 ff.; B. Pier, W. R. als Historiker und Geschichtsphilosoph, Phil. Diss., Münster 1929; G. Falco, La polemica sul medioevo, I, Turin 1933, pp. 147-89; E. Fueter, Storia della storiografia mod., Italian trans., II, Naples 1944, pp. 40-42 and passim; F. Meinecke, Die Entstehung der Historismus, 2nd ed., Munich 1946, pp. 241-47; G. Falco, introduction to W. Robertson, I progressi della civiltà europea dalla caduta dell'Impero rom. agli erici del sec. XVI, Italian trans., Turin 1931, pp. ix-xxx (cf. D. Cantimori, in Società, 8 [1932], pp. 250-54).

Francesco Natale

@incollection{ec10_robertson_william, author = {Natale, Francesco}, title = {Robertson, william}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {X}, pages = {1049--1050}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1953}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/robertson-william} }

One of some 20,000 entries brought back from the twelve printed volumes (1948–54). Spotted something? Help us improve it.

Robertson, William

About this entry