Restrictions on Access
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Preferred Citation
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Processing Information
Biography
Scope and Content
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Indexing Terms
Title: Robert Louis Benson papers
Collection number: 496
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
18.5 linear ft.
(19 boxes)
Date: c. 1955-1996
Abstract: Robert Louis Benson (b.1925 - d.1996) was a professor in the department of history at the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA). The collection consists of research notes, the manuscript of
The Bishop Elect,a study in medieval ecclesiastical office (1968), manuscript transcriptions, articles for journals, galley and proof sheets, correspondence, microfilms, UCLA and Wesleyan
University course lecture notes, and UCLA departmental materials. Also included are manuscripts, notes, and correspondence
of Ernst Hartwig Kantorowicz, and materials relating to Kantorowicz that were in Benson's possession at the time of his death.
Language of Materials: English, Latin, German, French and Italian.
Creator:
Robert Louis Benson
Restrictions on Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library Special
Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
COLLECTION CONTAINS DIGITAL MATERIALS: Special equipment or further processing may be required for viewing. To access digital
materials you must notify the reference desk in advance of your visit.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Robert Louis Benson Papers (Collection 496). Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, UCLA.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Papers were acquired from the estate of Robert Louis Benson in July 1997.
Processing Information
The collection was not organized when acquired. As a result, the organization was determined by the processor. The processor
also assigned the folder titles listed in Series 1, 2, and 4.
Biography
Robert Louis Benson was born on August 21, 1925 in Portland, Oregon. After military service in the US Army Air Corps (1943-1945),
he attended the University of California, Berkeley, BA (1950), the University of Munich, (1953-1955), and Princeton University,
where he received his MA (1953) and Ph.D. (1958).
Benson worked as an instructor at Barnard College and Columbia University from 1956 to 1959. He then taught as an assistant
professor (1959-1963), associate professor (1963-1968) and professor (1968-1975) at Wesleyan University (Middletown, Connecticut).
Other positions included: visiting associate professor (1961-1962) at Cornell University; visiting professor at the Free University
of Berlin (1973-1974); and lecturer (summer 1975) at the University of Poitiers. His last position was as a professor (1974-1994)
at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
While at Wesleyan University, Benson served as chair of the Department of History (1970-1972). After his arrival at UCLA,
Benson served on the Publications Committee of the UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (1976-1985) and as editor
of
Viator. Benson was a member of the Institute of Medieval Canon Law, serving on the Advisory Board, the Board of Directors, and as
Secretary Treasurer. He was also Vice-President of the International Society of Medieval Canon Law.
Benson was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Munich (1953-1955), a Fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies
(1964-1965), a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton during Fall 1977, and a Fellow of the Medieval Academy
of America. He was also a Senior Fellow at the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library from 1982-1983. He served as a Corresponding
Member, Zentraldirektion, Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Benson was invited to present the Carlyle Lectures at Oxford University
during the 1989-1990 academic year.
Benson published
The Bishop-elect: A Study in Mediaeval Ecclesiastical Office in 1968. With Giles Constable, Benson co-edited
Renaissance and Renewal in the Twelfth Century (1982) and co-wrote the introduction. Benson also contributed the article, "Political Renovation: Two Models from Roman Antiquity"
to that volume.
Benson died on February 18, 1996 in Los Angeles, California.
Scope and Content
The collection consists of: notes, manuscripts, galley and proof sheets, correspondence, microfilm, UCLA and Wesleyan University
course lecture notes, and UCLA departmental materials of history professor Robert Benson. The manuscripts of
The Bishop Elect, a study in medieval ecclesiastical office and articles for journals are included. Also included in the collection are certain manuscripts, notes, and correspondence
created by Ernst Hartwig Kantorowicz and materials relating to Kantorowicz that were in Benson's possession at the time of
Benson's death in 1996.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Benson, Robert Louis, 1925- --Archives.
Kantorowicz, Ernst Hartwig, 1895-1963 --Archives.
University of California, Los Angeles. Department of History --Faculty --Archival resources.
Genres and Forms of Material
manuscripts for publication.