I first ran this course at Crayford Manor in January 2003 but the latest manifestation was on Saturday 14th March 2020 at the City Lit just before the great lockdown. Following the attempt by James II to re-establish Catholicism in Britain his daughter and son-in-law were invited to oust him to protect the Protestant church….
From being the ruler of an obscure German electorate George I suddenly became king of on the most powerful nations in the world in his fifties. He was never popular in his new kingdom but established a constitutional monarchy which has survived to today. This course was run at the City Lit on Saturday 16th…
The Lives and Importance of women in Republican and Imperial Ancient Rome and Roman Britain including the importance of the worship of goddesses. This course was run at the City Lit and British Museum on Saturday 2nd March 2019. It covered the contrasting roles of women in different parts of Roman society in the Republic…
Ancient Rome and its encounters with Celtic Britain This course ran at the British Museum and City Lit on Saturday 8th December 2018. Britain was part of the Roman Empire for nearly 400 years from AD 43 to 410 but the association of the two civilisations went back a further century to Julius Caesar’s invasion…
This course ran at the City Lit and the British Museum on Saturday 15th October 2016. I also ran it as a three day course between Saturday 3rd and Saturday 17th November 2018. During the pandemic I ran the course twice online over three evenings: 15th, 22nd and 29th January 2021 and 16th, 23rd and 30th…
Life and times of James VII & II Although his reign was one of the shortest in Britain James had a distinguished career before becoming king and an intriguing one in exile. A Catholic convert he was doomed to fail in Protestant Britain. This course was run at the City Lit on Saturday 10th March…
Transition from Pagan to Christian This lecture was given as part of the Classics Day on Saturday 17th February 2018 at the British Museum and given jointly by lecturers from the museum, the City Lit and University College London. Using objects from the BM such as the Hinton St Mary mosaic, the Esquiline Treasure, the…
Great Voyages from Greek and Roman Myths – Jason, Odysseus and Aeneas A detailed examination of the voyages and their fantastical encounters relating them to reality. This course was run at the National Maritime Museum on Sunday 28th January 2018. It was repeated at the City Lit on Saturday 18th January 2020 and then online…
Life and times of Charles I and Henrietta Maria Charles was never meant to be king but rose to the challenge and he and Henrietta led a glittering court. Sadly they were at odds with Parliament and the people which led to Civil War. This course was run at the Queen’s House Greenwich on Saturday…
The Life and Times of James VI & I This one day course was run at the City Lit on Sunday 26th November 2017. James was already king of Scotland when he succeeded Elizabeth I in 1603. In fact he had been a king virtually his whole life when he became the first monarch of…