Another major historian has passed away. Yesterday, Chris Wickham (1950–2026), one of the most influential medievalists and a British Marxist historian, died.

His work fundamentally reshaped our understanding of medieval history, particularly the transformations of European and Mediterranean societies between the fifth and twelfth centuries. Among his major works are Framing the Early Middle Ages: Europe and the Mediterranean, 400–800 (2005), and The Donkey and the Boat: Reinterpreting the Mediterranean Economy, 950–1180 (2023).

Wickham also wrote extensively about Marxist approaches to history. Unfortunately, his work remains largely unknown in the post-Soviet world. To my knowledge, only one of his articles on Marxism and medieval studies, and one of his books, «Средневековая Европа. От падения Рима до Реформации», have been translated in #ru. I am not aware of any Ukrainian translations.