2019 - 2020 Talks

A talk that compares British historical experience with that on the continent of Europe between 1918 and 1939.

This talk will explore the significance of the Diet of Worms, when Martin Luther defied Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

The cottage orné, or ornamental cottage, is an English invention of the mid-18th century and is the only architectural genre to cover the entire social spectrum.

The Royal Hospital Chelsea; over three centuries of service to old soldiers, the Army and the nation.

An analysis of the war in Egypt, Arabia, Palestine, and Syria between 1914 and 1918, with particular focus on the character, role, and achievements of T E Lawrence.

We’ll take a walk down Hogarth’s ‘Gin Lane’, exploring the realities behind this notorious episode of Enlightenment history.

British involvement in the modernisation of Japan, the end of the Shogunate and its replacement by rule by the Emperor.

Was William Rufus a ‘bad king’ by medieval standards?

Its place in world trade and importance in national and local history.

The meteoric career of an icon of English History re-assessed. Simon de Montfort became Earl of Leicester and brother-in-law of Henry III (1216-1272); Crusader, international celebrity, he ultimately perished in civil war, challenging royal rule in the name of Reform.

An exciting revisionist perspective on the reign of one of England’s most notorious kings, emphasising the important role of Sherborne and its abbey in these years.

This talk highlights the range of typologies or stereotypes employed to depict the lives of early modern queens on film.