author
Leopold von Ranke
1795–1886
A giant of nineteenth-century history writing, this German scholar helped change the way the past was studied by insisting on careful work with original documents. His books and teaching shaped generations of historians and still echo in classrooms today.
3 Audiobooks
A history of England principally in the seventeenth century, Volume 2 (of 6)
by Leopold von Ranke
Die großen Mächte
by Leopold von Ranke
A history of England principally in the seventeenth century, Volume 1 (of 6)
by Leopold von Ranke
About the author
Born in Wiehe, in what was then the Electorate of Saxony, Leopold von Ranke became one of the most influential historians of the nineteenth century. He studied theology and classical philology, but he is best remembered for pushing historians to work closely with archival records and other primary sources rather than repeating secondhand stories.
Ranke taught for many years at the University of Berlin, where he helped make the research seminar a central part of historical study. He wrote widely on European history, including works on the popes, the Reformation, and the histories of major states and nations. During his lifetime he gained an international reputation, and in 1865 he was ennobled, which is why he is known as "von" Ranke.
He is often linked with the ideal of describing the past as it actually happened, a phrase frequently associated with his method. Even when later historians questioned his claims to objectivity, his influence remained enormous: the habits of source criticism, archive-based research, and seminar teaching that he helped popularize became foundations of modern historical scholarship.