Maude Violet Clarke: Belfast historian who made her mark at Oxford

Born in Belfast in 1892, Maude Violet Clarke became one of the leading medieval historians of her generation. Educated at Queen's University Belfast and Oxford, she taught at Queen's before joining Somerville College, Oxford, where she became a Fellow and later Vice-Principal.

Her research explored medieval Parliament, Richard II and the political history of the fourteenth century. Her major work Medieval Representation and Consent was published after her death, while her Fourteenth Century Studies appeared in 1937.

A remarkable scholar from Belfast, Clarke died in Carnmoney in 1935, aged only 43.