Thomas Arnold (1795-1842) was a British educator and historian. He was educated at Winchester and Corpus Christi College, Oxford. There he excelled at Classics and was made a fellow of Oriel in 1815. He was involved in many controversies, educational and religious. He was an early supporter of the Broad Church Anglican movement. As a churchman he was a decided Erastian, and strongly opposed to the High Church party. He was headmaster of Rugby School from 1828 to 1841, where he introduced a number of reforms. His 1833 Principles of Church Reform is associated with the beginnings of the Broad Church movement. His chief literary works are his unfinished History of Rome (three volumes) (1838-42), and his Lectures on Modern History. In 1841, he was appointed Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford. His other works include: History of the Later Roman Commonwealth (1845) and The Christian Life: Its Course, its Hindrances and its Helps (1844).