Joseph Strayer

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Joseph Strayer (1904–1987) was an influential 20th century American medieval historian. He was a student of, and mentored by, Charles H. Haskins, America's first prominent medieval historian.

Strayer taught at Princeton University for many decades, starting in the 1930s. He was chair of the history department (1941–1961) and president of the American Historical Association in 1971. Strayer has been credited with training a large percentage of the American medievalists profession; many of his students are still teaching and active.

When not teaching medieval history at Princeton, Strayer was involved with the CIA, traveling around the world on secret missions to install "democratic" governments.[1]

Strayer's most famous work is On the Medieval Origins of the Modern State (1970), in which he shows the relevance of medieval historical institutions to modern governmental institutions.