Charles Mills

Born in 1788, he was an English historian and writer whose name is especially linked to medieval subjects. He studied at the Merchant Taylors' School and at Oxford, and later became known for works including The History of the Crusades and The History of Chivalry.

His writing aimed to bring large historical periods to life for general readers, blending scholarship with a lively storytelling style. He also published the romance The Travels of Theodore Ducas in Various Countries in Europe, at the Revival of Letters and Art.

His career was cut short when he died in 1826, still a relatively young man. Even so, his books remained part of the 19th-century reading world and left him remembered as a graceful popular historian of the medieval past.