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Celebrating Canterbury history exhibition by CCCU Masters students

Professor Peter Vujakovic’s brainchild, the Heritage A – Z, has now reached ‘Q’ is for Queen Eleanor of Provence, and you can read a fascinating piece by Professor Louise Wilkinson, with some lovely illustrations at: https://medium.com/the-christ-church-heritage-a-to-z

Paul Bennett, Canterbury UNESCO and Jayne Wackett

Last night a packed lecture theatre of students, staff and the public were treated to a great lecture by Paul Bennett, Visiting Professor of Archaeology in the Centre for Kent History and Heritage at CCCU, but I just want to mention another couple of things before I get to his talk.

Canterbury’s UNESCO World Heritage Site and Medieval Faversham

Last week I was in Belfast giving a paper at Queen’s on ‘Starting a new life in Ricardian and Henrician Canterbury’ at the ‘Migration to the Margin’ conference, while Dr Diane Heath was working on her funding bid regarding ‘Medieval Animals’, so I decided to give the blog an Easter break. However, now that I am back in Canterbury, I thought I would provide a short update on the legacy of ‘Tudors and Stuarts 2019’ before moving on to Canterbury UNESCO matters.

Tudors and Stuarts 2019

So that is the Centre’s fourth History Weekend which is done for another year and shortly we will start in earnest on Medieval Canterbury Weekend 2020. This will be the weekend of Friday 3 to Sunday 5 April with an exciting ‘taster’ lecture the previous Friday evening (27 March). More on this anon but now I want to concentrate on Tudors and Stuarts 2019.

Medieval Bestiaries before J.K. Rowling’s ‘Fantastic Beasts’

This is just a short piece before we come to our busiest weekend of the year. Preparations are continuing and we are looking forward to meeting all our great speakers and those attending Tudors and Stuarts 2019, some for the first time and others who have become our ‘regulars’.

Tudors and Stuarts 2019 and Cinque Ports workshop

Quite a bit of time this week has been taken up with getting ready for the Tudors and Stuarts 2019 on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 April, and this will increase over the coming week until the big weekend. There are still some tickets available, details at: https://www.canterbury.ac.uk/tudors-stuarts or contact the CCCU box office on 01227 782994.

Becket 2020, Cluniac rituals and the Cod’s revenge

We are now gearing up for the Tudors and Stuarts History Weekend on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 April. I have recruited a great group of postgraduates and undergraduates who will be the Welcome Team, and several staff members – both full-time and associates have volunteered to chair various events or ‘back-stop’ the tours. It looks as though it is going to be a busy and exciting time! There are still some tickets available, so if you are interested do check out the website at www.canterbury.ac.uk/tudors-stuarts we shall be delighted to see you.

William Somner, Archbishop Laud and Canterbury

It has been an interesting and busy week, and before I get to the William Somner conference on Saturday, I thought I would just mention that it was great to see the new Juxon Room at Eastbridge Hospital. They have certainly transformed a rather dark room into a light space that means the roof timbers are beautifully exposed to be admired at last. The other exciting feature is the glass floor panels that allow you to see the bridge timbers and the river below. See the photo below.

Princeton and Canterbury – bringing historians together

Before I get to news of events next week, including the William Somner conference on Saturday 23 March, and a report on the Kent History Postgraduates meeting, I have a stop-press announcement to make regarding Tudors and Stuarts 2019. Unfortunately, Dr Clive Holmes has had to withdraw due to ill health. Thus, he will not be able to give his lecture on Oliver Cromwell and witches, but I am exceeding fortunate and grateful that Dr Rebecca Warren from the University of Kent and an expert on the period, has generously agreed to step into the breach. She will cover the same topic but from her own angle and her lecture will be entitled: ‘Protector or Persecutor? Witches, the Devil and Oliver Cromwell’. Obviously, everyone at the Centre wishes Clive a speedy and full recovery.

Mapping places and spaces in Canterbury and Faversham

Before I get to the book launch and a meeting on mapping Faversham through time, I thought I would mention that the CCCU Kent History Postgraduates will be holding their monthly seminar next Wednesday. Our two presentations will be given by Janet Clayton, whom many of you will know is studying Scadbury manor and the surrounding area with special reference to the High Middle Ages, and Abigail Sargent. It will be great to welcome Abigail because she is doing her doctorate at Princeton University in the United States. Currently, she is on an archival research trip studying peasant communities in Kent and Normandy, again looking specifically at the High Middle Ages. Obviously, there will be a report on this seminar next week.