Joel T. Rosenthal is a medieval historian and the author of several scholarly books and articles. He is Distinguished professor and Emeritus of History at the State University of New York in Stony Brook.[1][2] He is a fellow of the Medieval Academy of America and the Royal Historical Society.[3] He gained his doctorate in 1963 from the University of Chicago—where he took seminars under Sylvia L. Thrupp[4]—with a dissertation on Richard, 3rd Duke of York.[5]
Rosenthal's particular interests and specialisms have varied over his career, but have been generally on English social history, including aspects such as noble family life—including women and children—old age, widows, religion, and English personal names. Interests outside and beyond both England and the Late Middle Ages have focused on Anglo-Saxons, Capetians, and pedagogy. He has co-edited books—for example, the Garland Encyclopedia of Medieval England—as well as journals, such as Medieval Prosopography.[3]