Thomas Arnold was an English educator and historian. Arnold was an early supporter of the Broad Church Anglican movement. He was the headmaster of Rugby School from 1828 to 1841, where he introduced a number of reforms.

Thomas Arnold was educated at Winchester and at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He was elected a fellow of Oriel College, Oxford, in 1815. After ordination and marriage he settled at Laleham, Middlesex, in 1819, becoming a tutor to university entrants. During his tenure as Rugby School's headmaster (from 1828 until his death), Arnold gradually raised Rugby to the rank of a great public school.

His chief literary works are his unfinished History of Rome (three volumes 1838-42), and his Lectures on Modern History. Far more widely read were his five books of sermons, which were admired by a wide circle of pious readers including Queen Victoria.