Bernard F. Reilly, celebrated historian, author, and emeritus professor at Villanova, dies at 96
He became interested in medieval history while in college and went on to become an expert in Spanish and Portuguese kingdoms in the 11th and 12th centuries.
Bernard F. Reilly, 96, a distinguished expert on medieval history, an activist professor at Villanova University, and a prolific award-winning author, died Saturday, Dec. 11, of congestive heart failure at his home in Broomall.
Dr. Reilly was a professor of history at Villanova from 1955 to 1992, and he taught courses and seminars on the Renaissance, Reformation, High Middle Ages, and other topics. He wrote nearly a dozen books, many of them on the religious and political history of Spain and Portugal in the 11th and 12th centuries, and several were translated into Spanish and Portuguese.
He won the 1986 John Nicholas Brown Prize from the Medieval Academy of America for his 1982 book, The Kingdom of León-Castilla under Queen Urraca, 1109-1126; the 1990 Premio del Rey prize from the American Historical Association for his 1988 book, The Kingdom of León-Castilla Under King Alfonso VI, 1065-1109; and the 2000 Premio del Rey prize for his 1998 book The Kingdom of León-Castilla under King Alfonso VII, 1126-1157.
An academic correspondent with the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and Sciences in Toledo, Spain; a corresponding member of the Portuguese Academy of History; and an honorary fellow of the New York-based Hispanic Society of America, Dr. Reilly also received grants, and published many papers, articles, and book reviews.
“His books on Alfonso VI, Urraca, and Alfonso VII remain the best and have been fundamental for my research,” a fellow historian wrote in an online tribute to Dr. Reilly. Other historians called him “one of North America’s foremost authorities on León-Castilla during the eleventh and twelfth centuries,” and said he “obviously has made a major contribution to our knowledge.”
Simon Doubleday, an award-winning history professor at Hofstra University and Dr. Reilly’s coauthor on a book about the kingdom of León, wrote that Dr. Reilly’s scholarly contributions were “profoundly important for a whole generation of us in the field.”
In 2013, Dr. Reilly published his memoir, A Studied Elegance: Memoir. He dedicated the book to his wife by writing: “To Marge. Who enlivened my youth. Who sustained my maturity. Who comforts my decline.“
Inspired to improve working conditions for his fellow teachers and researchers, he was president of the Pennsylvania division of the Washington-based American Association of University Professors, and, as chairman of the Villanova chapter, helped its professors bargain for better salary and benefits, and more input into the school’s academic life.
“We were in awe of him to some extent,” said his son Bernard Reilly Jr.
Born June 8, 1925, in Audubon, N.J., Dr. Reilly grew up in Philadelphia. He graduated from West Philadelphia Catholic High School for boys, earned a bachelor’s degree from Villanova in 1950, a master’s degree in history at the University of Pennsylvania in 1955, and a doctorate in history at Bryn Mawr College in 1966.
He served with the Army during World War II in the Philippines and with the U.S. occupation forces in Japan. He said afterward that the U.S. bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki inspired him to become a pacifist, and he counseled young men of draft age during the Vietnam War regarding their options to avoid the draft.
He met Margaret Stritch at a high school dance, and they married in 1948. They lived in Southwest Philadelphia, Lansdowne, and Broomall, and had 10 children.
Dr. Reilly and his wife liked to travel and were serious ballroom dancers. He grew roses, played golf after he retired, and stayed close to his high school friends. He was a member of the American Catholic Historical Association, and served as a lector at St. Philomena Roman Catholic Church in Lansdowne, and St. Pius X Church in Broomall.
“I will always be grateful,” said his daughter Mag Felton, “that he thought it was important for his daughters, as well as his sons, to have a college education.”
In addition to his wife, son, and daughter, Dr. Reilly is survived by sons Steven, Dennis, and James; daughters Elizabeth, Katherine Topazio, and Maureen Clark; 19 grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and other relatives. Daughter Theresa, son Paul, a sister, and two brothers died earlier.
Services were Friday, Dec. 17.
Donations in his name may be made to Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, P.O. Box 302, Maryknoll, N.Y. 10545.