Introduction
Edward Miller (16 July 1915 – 21 December 2000) was an English historian.
Life
He was born at Acklington Park, the son of a shepherd. He attended King Edward VI Grammar School in Morpeth and went on to excel at Cambridge, specialising in mediaeval history. Having grown up on a farm, he was drawn to questions of mediaeval agriculture and the peasants whose labour had sustained the clergy.
After a professorship at the University of Sheffield he returned to Cambridge to be Master of Fitzwilliam College (1971–81), chairing the Victoria County History committee and the History of Parliament Trust.
Works
With John Hatcher, he wrote Medieval England: Rural Society and Economic Change, 1086-1348 (1978), which soon became a standard work for students. A companion volume by the same authors Medieval England: Towns, Commerce and Crafts, 1086-1348 appeared in 1995. Miller was co-editor of the second edition of volume 2 (1987) of the Cambridge Economic History of Europe and editor of the third volume (1991) of the Agrarian History of England and Wales covering the period 1348-1500.