About
John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton, was born in Naples in 1834. From a Catholic family, he studied in Munich under Ignaz von Döllinger, whose critical historical method deeply influenced him. A Liberal MP (1859-1866), he was raised to the peerage in 1869. Editor of liberal Catholic journals, he opposed papal infallibility. In 1895, he became Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge, where he planned the Cambridge Modern History. He is famous for his aphorism on power corrupting. He died in 1902.
* 1834-01-10 — † 1902-06-19
Major works
- The History of Freedom in Antiquity (1877)essay
- The History of Freedom in Christianity (1877)essay
- Democracy in Europe (1878)article
- The Cambridge Modern History (1902)collaborative work
- Lectures on Modern History (1906)lectures
Key milestones
- 1869Raised to the peerage as 1st Baron Acton.
- 1895Appointed Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge.
- 1887Wrote his letter to Mandell Creighton containing the aphorism on power.
Themes
LibertyPower and corruptionHistory and critical methodLiberal CatholicismDemocracy
Sources: archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk · britannica.com · en.wikisource.org