Charles W. (Charles Wendell) David

Born in 1885 and active as a historian of the Middle Ages, he earned his doctorate from Harvard University in 1918. He taught history at Bryn Mawr College from 1918 to 1940, then moved to the University of Pennsylvania, where he served as professor of history and became the university’s first full-time Director of Libraries.

His work is especially associated with medieval history and source editing. Among his notable books is Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, and he also edited The Conquest of Lisbon, an important text for readers interested in the Crusades and medieval Iberia.

He lived a long life, dying in 1984. Although not a household name today, his scholarship and library leadership left a quiet but lasting mark, and his books remain useful to students of medieval Europe.