Alfred J. Andrea

Alfred John Andrea (born November 18, 1941) is an American historian of medieval and world history.

He is professor emeritus of History at the University of Vermont, former president of the World History Association, and Distinguished Professor at the University of the Peloponnese in Greece.

His scholarship has focused on the crusades, papal–Byzantine relations, the Silk Road, and the historiography of world history. He has been a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation since 1965.

Biography Andrea was born on November 18, 1941. He received his A.B. magna cum laude from Boston College in 1963 and earned his Ph.D. in history from Cornell University in 1969, with a dissertation titled Pope Innocent III as Crusader and Canonist: His Relations with the Greeks of Constantinople, 1198–1216.

Andrea joined the faculty of the University of Vermont in 1967, where he taught until 2001, rising from assistant to full professor and holding administrative roles including Director of Graduate Studies, Interim Chair, and Director of Undergraduate Studies.

He also served as a President of World History Association from 2010 to 2012.

His awards include the World History Association’s Pioneer of World HistoryAward (2014), the Phi Delta Kappa Award for Distinguished Teaching (2009), and the Centennial Medal for Distinguished Scholarship from Saint Michael’s College (2004). He has been a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation since 1965.

On 19 October 2022, the University of the Peloponnese in Kalamata, Greece, conferred upon him the title of professor honoris causa in recognition of his contributions to the study of the Crusades and world history. On 3 November 2022, the Academia Via Serica at Keimyung University in Daegu, South Korea, named him Distinguished Professor for his scholarship on the Silk Road. He authored the Encyclopedia of the Crusades (2003) and served as editor-in-chief of the 21-volume World History Encyclopedia (2011). and authored The Medieval Record: Sources of Medieval History (2nd rev. ed., 2019), which he regards as a personal favorite. He also co-edited Seven Myths of the Crusades (2015) with Andrew Holt and coauthored Sanctified Violence: Holy War in World History (2021), and authored Expanding Horizons: The Globalization of Medieval Europe, 450–1500 (2024).

Selected publications

Books and reference works