Edward Shepherd Creasy

Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy (12 September 1812 – 17 January 1878) was an English historian. He was born in Bexley, England. He was educated at Eton College and King's College, Cambridge and called to the Bar in 1837.^[1] In 1840, he began teaching history at the University of London. He was knighted in 1860 and assumed the position of Chief Justice of Ceylon. His best known contribution to literature is his Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World (1851). Other works include; Historical and Critical Account of the Several Invasions of England (1852), History of the Ottoman Turks, The Rise and Progress of the English Constitution, and Imperial and Colonial Institutions of the British Empire (1872). He died in London on 17 January 1878.

Academically, Creasy's work is of a high standard, featuring original texts among his writings. For example, the quoted comment 'without horse' is followed by a Greek text to that effect in the Marathon Battle account. This feature, along with his detailed explanations of sources, and often of their sources, makes his work of enduring value.

Creasy's most famous work, the Fifteen Battles, reveals much about 19th century European sentiment, being laced with explicit references to the deplorable barbarism and immorality of non-Europeans. Indeed, the reason Creasy gives for the significance of many of the fifteen battles, is the very fact that they denied Middle Eastern / Far Eastern people groups access to European soil. Examples include the defeat of the Persians at Marathon, Persian defeat at Arbela, the defeat of Hasdrubal at Metaurus, Attila the Hun's defeat at Chalons, Charles Martel's defeat of the Moors at Tours. Other battles are seen as "decisive" because they shaped the development of Britain, which was the world's leading power at the time of writing: the Norman Conquest at the Battle of Hastings, the defeat of the Spanish Armada and of the French at Blenheim and Waterloo, although also the weakening of the British Empire by the independence of the USA - in 1851 nothing like the global power she would later become - won at Saratoga.

Coming as he does, just before Darwin, Creasy's world-view is notably one of 'enlightenment', and he sees Europe as the keeper of civilization. His thinking is eurocentric, and he describes Christianity as a gift to Europe, which it alone could deserve.

He shares with most Post-Waterloo, 19th century writers the illusion that world peace has been achieved by enlightened Man.

References

1. ^ Edward Shepherd Creasy in Venn, J. & J. A., Alumni Cantabrigienses, Cambridge University Press, 10 vols, 1922–1958.

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London, J. M. Dent & Sons; New York, E. P. Dutton.

External links

• Works by Edward Shepherd Creasy at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Edward Shepherd Creasy in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

Persondata
Name	Creasy, Edward Shepherd
Alternative names
Short description	English historian
Date of birth	1812
Place of birth
Date of death	1878
Place of death

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This article about a British historian or genealogist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: 1812 births 1878 deaths English historians Old Etonians Academics of the University of London Alumni of King's College, Cambridge English academic biography stubs British historian stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную? Adaptive system Certificate of Advanced Study in Mathematics Look at other dictionaries: Edward Shepherd Creasy — Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy (1812 1878) est un historien britannique. Il a étudié à Eton College et à l Université de Cambridge. Il est membre du Barreau depuis 1837. Il devient en 1840 professeur d histoire à l Université de Londres et, en 1860,… …   Wikipédia en Français Creasy, Sir Edward Shepherd — (1812 1878)    Historian, ed. at Eton and Camb., and called to the Bar in 1837, he became in 1840 Prof. of History, London Univ., and in 1860 Chief Justice of Ceylon, when he was knighted. His best known contribution to literature is his Fifteen… …   Short biographical dictionary of English literature Battle of Tours — Infobox Military Conflict Conflict=Battle of Tours partof=the Muslim conquests caption=Charles de Steuben s Bataille de Poitiers en Octobre 732 depicts a triumphant Charles Martel (mounted) facing ‘Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi (right) at the Battle of …   Wikipedia Battles of macrohistorical importance involving invasions of Europe — In the battles of macrohistorical importance involving invasions of Europe, there were seven distinct conflicts that greatly affected the history of Europe, ranging from the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC to the Battle of Vienna in 1683. In each …   Wikipedia Charles Martel — This article is about the Frankish Ruler. For other uses, see Charles Martel (disambiguation). Charles Martel, Frankish ruler Charles Martel is primarily famous fo …   Wikipedia Battle of the Teutoburg Forest — Part of the Roman Germanic wars Cenotaph of Marcus Caelius, 1st …   Wikipedia Битва при Пуатье (732) — У этого термина существуют и другие значения, см. Битва при Пуатье. Битва при Пуатье Арабские завоевания …   Википедия Битва при пуатье — Арабские завоевания Карл Штейбен Битва при Пуатье 732 года изображает триумф Карла Мартелла (на коне) в схватке с Абдур Рахманом ибн Абдаллахом (справа) в битве при Туре. Д …   Википедия The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World — The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World: from Marathon to Waterloo is a book written by Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy and published in 1851 . This book tells the story of the fifteen military engagements (from Marathon to Waterloo) which,… …   Wikipedia Osman's Dream — is an Old Turkish epic poem, narrative history, attributed to Osman I of Ottoman Empire, but most probably unknown authorship, dating at the 13th century. The work alludes to a dream experienced by the first sultan, Osman I, consisting of a… …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”