Walter Goffart | |
|---|---|
| Born | Walter Andre Goffart February 22, 1934 |
| Spouse | |
| Academic background | |
| Education | |
| Academic advisors | Charles Holt Taylor |
| Influences | |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Medieval studies |
| School or tradition | Toronto School of History |
| Institutions | University of Toronto Yale University |
| Notable students | |
Walter Andre Goffart (born February 22, 1934)[1] is a German-born American historian who specializes in Late Antiquity and the European Middle Ages. He taught for many years in the history department and Centre for Medieval Studies of the University of Toronto (1960–1999), and is currently a senior research scholar at Yale University. He is the author of monographs on a ninth-century forgery (Le Mans Forgeries), late Roman taxation (Caput and Colonate), four "barbarian" historians, and historical atlases.
Two controversial themes in his research concern the Roman policies used when settling barbarian soldiers in the West Roman Empire (Barbarians and Romans and the sixth chapter of Barbarian Tides), and his criticism of the old idea that there was a single Germanic people opposed to the empire in late antiquity, which he believes still influences academics studying the period.