MANN, HORACE KINDER

Priest, educator, and historian of the medieval papacy; b. London, England, Sept. 27, 1859; d. Edinburgh, Scotland, Aug. 1, 1928. After being educated at St. Cuthbert's College, Ushaw, Durham, England, he was ordained in 1886. For the next year he taught at St. Cuthbert's Grammar School, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where he became prefect of discipline from 1887 to 1890, and then headmaster, an office he retained until 1917. On the occasion of his sacerdotal silver jubilee in 1911, Pius X bestowed on him the honorary pontifical degree of doc tor of divinity. In 1917 he was appointed rector of the Collegia Beda in Rome and received from Benedict XV the rank of domestic prelate. He remained at the Beda until his sudden death while on vacation. Mann devoted his intellectual activity to the medieval papacy and became the outstanding English historian in this field in the 20th century. His major work is the Lives of the Popes in the (Early) Middle Ages (18 v. in 19, London 1902–32), treating the popes from Gregory I through Benedict XI; the last four volumes were issued posthumously. Although still valuable, the Lives has been largely superseded by later research. Mann wrote also an independent biography of Nicholas Breakspear (HadrianIV) A.D. 1154–1159 (London 1914), Tombs and Portraits of the Popes of the Middle Ages (London 1929), articles for the Catholic Encyclopedia, and numerous essays and reviews. He held memberships in the Accademia d'Arcadia, the Royal Historical Society of Spain, and the R. Società Romana di Storia Patria.

Bibliography: Tablet 152 (London 1928) 186. Who Was Who, 1916–1928 (London 1929) 698. The Catholic Encyclopedia and Its Makers (New York 1917) 111–112.

[r. h. schmandt]