Event Type: Local / Community

Takes Place: 1st May 2026

Time: 19.00

Venue: Templeman Library Lecture Theatre, University of Kent

Description: The Medieval Canterbury Weekend in 2026 is moving to the University of Kent at Canterbury. It will take place between Friday 1 May and Sunday 3 May 2026 and we will be using the Templeman Library Lecture Theatre and a neighbouring lecture theatre in the Grimond Building. The lectures showcase recent research on the ‘Middle Ages’, making it readily accessible to a wide audience. Among the exciting internationally known scholars and well-known, more popular historians who have been invited are Helen Castor, Marc Morris, Rachel Koopmans, David Carpenter, and Caroline Barron, who will cover a wide range of topics across the period from religion, including the cult of saints, to medieval kings and the problems faced by them and their subjects across often turbulent times. Lectures are classified under four themes: ‘Royalty and Nobility; ‘War and Politics’; ‘Religion and the Arts’ and ‘Social History’. This Canterbury History Weekend is organised by the Canterbury Association for Medieval & Early Modern Studies (CAMEMS) and Kent MEMS. Those attending the talks book their chosen events using a pick-and-mix approach. Free parking and bookstall throughout the weekend.

How to book: The website has a description of all the lectures, details on how to book, discounts and other useful information. Those attending the talks book their chosen events using a pick-and-mix approach. Tickets: £10/person per event. Discount: for those buying 10 or more tickets in one transaction, then each ticket is £8/person per event. Student ticket: £5/person/per event (NB/ with a max of 5% of the tickets for any of the talks).

Price: £10

Tel: see website

Email: enquiries@history-weekends.org

Website: https://history-weekends.org/

Organiser: Sheila Sweetinburgh

Lecturer: Helen Castor and many more

Comments: Any surplus from the Canterbury History Weekend goes into the CAMEMS bursaries fund to help postgraduates at Kent MEMS who are studying medieval and early modern research topics for higher degrees.