King's College London

Words by Professor Alice Rio and the Department of History

'Jinty, as she was known, was an immensely important figure in the department, and at King’s more generally. She joined it in 1970, and became a professor in 1993. She published extensively on early medieval history, especially on the Frankish kingdoms, focusing among other things on political ritual and political thought, family and gender. She was the author of Charles the Bald (Longman, 1992), and King and Emperor: A New Life of Charlemagne (Penguin, 2019), and there are several collections of her most important articles: Politics and Ritual in Early Mediaeval Europe (1987); The Frankish World, 750–900 (1996); Rulers and Ruling Families in Early Mediaeval Europe (1999); Courts, Elites and Gendered Power in the Early Middle Ages(2007).

Jinty was a tremendously important figure outside King’s too: she became the first female president of the Royal Historical Society in 2001 (until 2005); President of the Ecclesiastical History Society (1993-4) and Vice-President of the British Academy (2000-1); and she received a DBE in 2006 in recognition of her services to History. Jinty helped developed intellectual connections throughout Europe, believing that history scholarship was an essentially cosmopolitan, trans-national enterprise. She was a powerful advocate for equality within King’s and beyond.

The Jinty Nelson Award for Inspirational Teaching & Supervision in History at the Royal Historical Society reflects her strong commitment to teaching and to supporting young people. During her time at King’s she supervised dozens of PhD students, and she was a source of support and inspiration to many others, whether students or colleagues.'

The thoughts of all at King's are with all who knew Professor Dame Nelson, and we will be sharing plans of memorials in due course.