the archbishop in the trial of Edward King, Bishop of Lincoln. Final illness and death An attack of illness in November 1900 seriously impaired Stubbs's health. He was able, however, to attend the funeral of Queen Victoria on 2 February 1901, and preached a remarkable sermon before the king and the German emperor on the following day. His illness became critical on 20 April. He died in Cuddesdon on 22 April 1901. Stubbs was buried in the churchyard of All Saints, Cuddesdon, next to the palace of the bishops of Oxford. Honours and degrees Both in England and America Stubbs was universally acknowledged as the head of all English historical scholars, and no English historian of his time was held in equal honour in European countries. Among his many distinctions he was D.D. and honorary D.C.L. of Oxford, LL.D. of Cambridge and Edinburgh, Doctor in utroque jure of Heidelberg; an hon. member of the University of Kyiv, and of the Prussian, Bavarian and Danish academies; he received the Prussian order Pour le Mérite, and was corresponding member of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques of the French Institute. Stubbs was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1897. Reception of his historical work Until Stubbs found it necessary to devote all his time to his episcopal duties, he concentrated on historical study. He argued that the theory of the unity and continuity of history should not remove distinctions between ancient and modern history. He believed that, though work on ancient history is a useful preparation for the study of modern history, either may advantageously be studied apart. He also believed that the effects of individual character and human nature will render generalizations vague and useless. While pointing out that history is useful as a mental discipline and a part of a liberal education, he recommended its study chiefly for its own sake. It was in this spirit that he worked; he had the faculty of judgment and a genius for minute and critical investigation. He was equally eminent in ecclesiastical history, as an editor of texts and as the historian of the British constitution. Registrum sacrum, Constitutional History, and Select Charters In 1858 Stubbs published his Registrum Sacrum Anglicanum, (with a second edition published in 1897) which sets forth episcopal consecration data in England from 597 CE, which was followed by many other later works, and particularly