At a prestigious award ceremony today in the University Aula in Bergen, Lyndal Roper received the international research award from the Norwegian Minister of Research and Higher Education Sigrun Aasland. The Holberg Prize is worth NOK 6 million (approx. GBP 482,000) and is awarded annually for outstanding contributions to research in the humanities, social sciences, law or theology.
Lyndal Roper is the Regius Chair of History at the University of Oxford emeritus. She is regarded as one of the world’s leading scholars of early modern European history, with particular expertise on the Reformation period. She is widely credited with opening up new ways of understanding both everyday life and political tensions in this period through her research on witch trials, peasant revolts, and the life and thought of Martin Luther.
In her acceptance speech, the Laureate expressed her deep gratitude and highlighted the Holberg Prize as an important recognition—not only of her own work, but of an entire generation of scholars who have expanded the discipline of history and related fields by incorporating new perspectives on gender, the body, emotions, and human experience.
By bringing these aspects of history to the fore, one can achieve a more inclusive and diverse understanding of the past, Roper noted. She emphasized the value of studying history ‘from below,’ placing the experiences of ordinary people at the centre—particularly those of women. ‘I have wanted a history that isn’t just that of great men, Kings, and battles, and that doesn’t use abstractions like “the Reformation”, “imperialism”, “the household” without taking them to bits,’ said the Laureate in her acceptance speech.
Roper also pointed out that history and the humanities more broadly are essential for developing critical thinking, creativity, and a deeper understanding of the human condition. This is crucial in a time characterized by artificial intelligence and rapid, simplified answers: ‘The humanities challenge us to think about societies as a whole and the structures of power in which we live, and to think in the long term, with a sense of context and of the past, not just about what grabs soundbites today,’ she said.
The Holberg Laureate furthermore highlighted Ludvig Holberg as an important source of inspiration, particularly his ability to portray human beings in all their complexity and to take women seriously as historical actors. ‘We need all their voices in the history we write,’ she said.
Finally, Roper underscored that gender equality has yet to be achieved, and that both academia and society more broadly must continue working to create genuine opportunities for all. ‘All of us have a stake in the future, and even in these challenging times, there is so much to hope for and to do,’ the Laureate concluded.
About the Holberg Laureate
Lyndal Roper was the first woman, and the first Australian, appointed to the Regius Chair of History at the University of Oxford, a position she has held since 2011. She has held a professorship at Royal Holloway, University of London and has also taught at King’s College London, where she earned her PhD in 1985. Roper co-founded the Bedford Centre for the History of Women and Gender in 1999. The Regius Prize at Oxford was created in recognition of her mentorship of younger scholars and dynamic teaching. Roper is a Fellow of the British Academy, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, and a Fellow of the Berlin‑Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. She was awarded the Gerda Henkel Prize for her lifetime achievement in history in 2016.
About the Holberg Prize
Established by the Norwegian Parliament in 2003, the Holberg Prize is one of the largest annual international research prizes awarded for outstanding contributions to research in the humanities, social science, law or theology. The Prize is funded by the Norwegian Government through a direct allocation from the Ministry of Education and Research to the University of Bergen. Previous Laureates include Jürgen Habermas, Manuel Castells, Onora O’Neill, Cass Sunstein, Paul Gilroy, Sheila Jasanoff, Achille Mbembe, and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. Anyone holding an academic position at a university, academy or other research institution may nominate candidates for the Holberg Prize. The nomination deadline is 15 June each year. To learn more about the Holberg Prize, visit holbergprize.org.