Knut Helle

Knut Helle (19 December 1930 – 27 June 2015) was a Norwegian historian. A professor at the University of Bergen from 1973 to 2000, he specialized in the late medieval history of Norway. He has contributed to several large works.

Early life, education and marriage He was born in Larvik as the son of school inspector Hermann Olai Helle (1893–1973) and teacher Berta Marie Malm (1906–1991). He was the older brother of politician Ingvar Lars Helle. The family moved to Hetland Municipality when Knut Helle was seventeen years old.

Helle also made his mark by contributing to larger historical works. In 1982 he published Kongssete og kjøpstad. Fra opphavet til 1536, volume one of Bergen bys historie, the history of Bergen. He was involved in the editorial work of both Aschehougs verdenshistorie and Aschehougs norgeshistorie, general works on global and Norwegian history from the publishing house Aschehoug. In the former series he published volume five—Nomadefolk og høykultur 1000-1300— in 1984, and in the latter series he published volume three—Under kirke og kongemakt 1130–1350— in 1995. He also was a member of the editorial committee of Oslo bys historie and Norsk utviklingshjelps historie, which was published in ten volumes between 1999 and 2005.

Helle was the vice dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Bergen from 1978 to 1980, and chair of the Chr. Michelsen Institute from 1992 to 2001. He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters. He retired from his professorship in 2000.