Medievalist William Chester Jordan receives Barry Prize for Distinguished Intellectual Achievement

William Chester Jordan, the Dayton-Stockton Professor of History, emeritus, and the director of the Program in Medieval Studies, has received the 2024 Barry Prize for Distinguished Intellectual Achievement from the American Academy of Sciences and Letters. He is among 10 recipients of the prize, awarded at an Oct. 23 ceremony at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

"Bridging the social, economic, religious, and political dimensions of life, William Chester Jordan has unlocked the mysteries of medieval Europe for contemporary readers," the academy said in its citation. "His scholarship has deepened our understanding of such critical historical events and developments as the Great Famine, the Crusades, the treatment of Jewish populations, the contributions of women to premodern economies, and the legal systems of medieval monarchies."

The citation also spotlighted the impact and importance of historical scholarship. "The Academy honors Dr. Jordan’s distinguished contribution to humanity’s capacity to make sense of its own past, that its present and future may be enriched by a larger understanding of its story."

The AASL is a new learned society, established in 2023, which "encourages the fruitful exchange of ideas within academia and society at large," according to its website.

Jordan has taught at Princeton for 50 years, since earning his Ph.D. in history from the University in 1973. He has received numerous honors, awards and honorary degrees throughout his illustrious career, but the Barry Prize stands out because of the organization's "emphasis on truth and freedom of expressing opinions," he said.

"My impression is that it's trying to make a practical statement that one can actually talk about very difficult issues with civility. And that the classroom is a place where these things can be argued about, and negotiated, without rancor," he said. When Jordan learned he had received the prize, he said he immediately looked up the people who had received it last year — the society's inaugural year. "Even if we don't all agree ideologically, these are people who know how to express their opinions without raising their voices," he said.

He said he was completely surprised that a dozen of his former undergraduate students attended the award ceremony. "I teach English legal and constitutional history, and many of my students become lawyers and go into politics. So, many of them are in Washington, D.C. Every time I turned around, someone would say, 'Professor Jordan, do you remember me?'" One of those former students — Philip Hamburger, a 1979 Princeton graduate who is now a professor at Columbia Law School and CEO of the New Civil Liberties Alliance  — was inducted as a fellow of the AASL at the same ceremony.

Jordan, who has authored or edited 20 books, has written extensively on 13th-century rulership but is also known for a type of scholarship that has been called "history from under," which focuses on the archival study of people often left out of historical accounts. For Jordan, that focus is on marginalized populations of the medieval French past, including Jews and women. His current book project focuses on the economic and social experiences of rural migrant laborers in northwestern continental Europe in what he said is sometimes called "the long 13th century," from about 1180 to the Black Death.

Jordan's awards and honors include the Haskins Medal of the Medieval Academy of America for his book "The Great Famine: Northern Europe in the Early Fourteenth Century," fellowships from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Annenberg Research Institute, and a residency in medieval studies at the American Academy in Rome. He has received Princeton's Behrman Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Humanities and the President's Award for Distinguished Teaching. He is also a fellow and past president of the Medieval Academy of America, and a member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Also in October, the American Historical Society announced that Jordan will receive its Award for Scholarly Distinction at its annual convention in January. The award recognizes "senior historians for lifetime achievement," according to the AHA website.

Winners of the Barry Prize receive a $50,000 cash award and become members of the academy.

In addition to the 10 Barry Award winners, the academy added 60 new members, including eight Princeton faculty:

• Leora Batnitzky, the Ronald O. Perelman Professor of Jewish Studies and professor of religion;
• Clifford Brangwynne, the June K. Wu ’92 Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and director of the Omenn-Darling Bioengineering Institute; 
• Bernard Haykel, professor of Near Eastern studies;
• Alexandru Ionescu, professor of mathematics;
• Frances Lee, professor of politics and public affairs, and co-director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics;
• Stephen Macedo, the Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Politics and the University Center for Human Values;
• H. Vincent Poor, the Michael Henry Strater University Professor; and
• Salvatore Torquato, the Lewis Bernard Professor of Natural Sciences, and professor of chemistry and the Princeton Materials Institute.