Malcolm Charles Barber (born 4 March 1943) is a scholar of medieval history, described as the world's leading expert on the Knights Templar. He is considered to have written the two most comprehensive books on the subject, The Trial of the Templars (1978) and The New Knighthood: A History of the Order of the Temple (1994). He has been an editor for The Journal of Medieval History and written many articles on the Templars, the Cathars, various elements of the Crusades, and the reign of Philip IV of France.
Born in 1943, Barber attended Walpole Grammar School in Ealing from 1954 to 1961, followed by the University of Nottingham from 1961 to 1966, where he received his bachelor's degree in 1964. He attended the British School at Rome from 1965 to 1966, and received his PhD in 1968 from the University of Nottingham.
Barber was a Professor of Medieval European History in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University of Reading in the UK, until his retirement in September 2004.