Denys Hay FRSE FBA (29 August 1915 – 14 June 1994) was a British historian specialising in medieval and Renaissance Europe, and notable for demonstrating the influence of Italy on events in the rest of the continent.
He was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 29 August 1915 the son of Rev W. K. Hay and his wife, Janet Waugh.
He was educated at the Newcastle Royal Grammar School then won a place at Oxford University.
[1] During the Second World War, he served from 1940 in the RASC, and was then seconded to the Cabinet Office as one of the team of war historians set up at the instigation of Winston Churchill.
With MM POstan and JD Scott, he contributed to the volume on The Design and Development of Weapons (HMSO 1964).