John Roger Loxdale Highfield (14 February 1922 – 13 April 2017) was an English historian of medieval Europe and fellow of Merton College, University of Oxford.

[1] In 1951 he became Tutor in History at Merton, a post he kept until he retired in 1989, teaching alongside historians Robert Gildea and Philip Waller.

[1] He was also a colleague of J. R. R. Tolkien, for whom he had little respect, describing the author as “very lazy" and “the worst sub-warden ever”, adding that Tolkien-mania left him “baffled”.

[1] In 1953 Highfield began a series of annual history reading weeks in Cornwall, open to all undergraduate historians,[2] a tradition which continues today.

[1] Highfield's scholarship focused on late medieval Spain, in recognition of which he was awarded the Order of Isabella the Catholic in 1989.