All enquiries to Caroline Jacobs, Secretary  email: jacobscme@gmail.com phone: 07988171708

Unless otherwise stated, meetings take place at Newport Minster, St Thomas’ Square, NEWPORT, IW PO30 1BG, starting at 7.30pm and finishing at approximately 9.00pm.  Doors open at 7.00pm

Associate branch membership: £10 per year.  Talks free to national HA members and students, visitors £3.

Branch Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HistoricalAssociationIW

 

 

Isle of Wight Programme 2025 - 2026

 

 

Thursday, 9^th October

Henry VI and the Origins of the Wars of the Roses

Dr James Ross , Reader in Medieval History, University of Winchester

Dr Ross's lecture will focus on Henry VI, king of England from 1422-61, and the ways in which his priorities as king diverged sharply from what was expected of medieval monarchs, and how his fitful engagement with government - in an age of personal kingship - was perhaps the worst of all worlds for the realm he ruled. The extent to which this led to the bloody outbreak of the Wars of the Roses will be evaluated.

 

Thursday, 13^th November, 2.45pm **PLEASE NOTE EARLIER START TIME*

The Blood in Winter - the outbreak of the Civil War in 1642 

Dr Jonathan Healey, Associate Professor in Social History, Kellogg College, University of Oxford

In 1642, England fell into Civil War. Before this epoch-making collapse, there was a political crisis that saw King Charles I lose control of his capital. It was a time of political intrigue, the gathering of armed forces, and mass protests on the streets of London and Westminster. This talk tells the story of that crisis - the breakdown that brought on the English Civil War, and looks at some of the characters who navigated, and helped to make, this critical moment in history.

 

Thursday, 11^th December, 2.45pm **PLEASE NOTE EARLIER START TIME*

Too Busy to Retire: Admiral Lord Mountbatten on Her Majesty’s Service, 1965-1979

Professor Adrian Smith, Emeritus Professor of Modern History, University of Southampton

Contrary to popular assumption, after retiring as Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Lord Mountbatten had a close working relationship with the Wilson Government, on issues ranging from Rhodesia’s UDI to prison security.  The 1970s saw Mountbatten still close to the Royal Family and travelling widely; while aggressively defending a version of events in which every decision he ever made was right, not least the 1942 Dieppe raid and the partition of India.  Adrian Smith, Mountbatten’s biographer, explores a crowded retirement and a post-assassination afterlife in which controversy scarcely abated.

 

Thursday, 15^th January BY ZOOM

Ælfthryth, the First Queen of England

Professor Levi Roach, Professor of Medieval History and Diplomatic, University of Exeter

The history of pre-Conquest England, when it’s told at all, tends to be a story of great men and their deeds.  By contrast, this paper offers a gendered angle on a transformative moment in English history: the second half of the tenth century, when a unified kingdom of England was first established. The broad contours of these developments are known well enough, but less attention has been given to the role of royal women within the process. Using the figure of Æfthryth, the first royal consort to bear the title of ‘queen’, it shows the essential role of women in the dramatic events of these years.

 

Thursday 12^th February BY ZOOM

The Other Hindenburg Disaster: Paul von Hindenburg and German Politics

Dr Colin Storer, FHEA, FRHist, Associate Professor in Modern European History, University of Warwick 

Plucked from obscurity at the beginning of the First World War, Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934) rose to be supreme commander of the armed forces of the Central Powers and, together with Erich Ludendorff, controlled the political as well as military destiny of Germany and its allies. Dodging responsibility for German defeat in 1918, Hindenburg was instrumental in popularising the ‘stab-in-the-back’ myth and was twice elected president of the Weimar Republic as a national unity candidate. Although he surprised many contemporaries during his first term by supporting the republic, he remained ambivalent towards democracy and played a fatal role in the political crisis of 1932-3 by appointing Hitler Chancellor and ushering in the Third Reich. This talk examines the life and career of Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg with a particular focus on the fatal role that he played in German politics.

 

Thursday 12^th March

The Social Spread of the Egalitarian Handshake in Britain 1700-1850

Professor Penelope Corfield, President of the International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies 

The egalitarian handshake has a long history, but it began to spread into daily use only in the urban/commercial world of Western Europe from the eighteenth century onwards. This lecture takes Britain as a case history - and traces key users of the gesture, including merchants confirming a deal - and radical Quakers confirming their spiritual equality. But some traditionalists strongly objected to the salutation.  So the handshake glided only slowly into daily use - and not without controversy. The lecture ends by noting the handshake's continuing international spread, giving it not only a long history but an expanding future too. 

 

Thursday, 9^th April 

Spanish Princess or Queen of England?  The Image, Identity and Influence of Catherine of Aragon at the Courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII

Professor Maria Hayward, Professor of Early Modern History, University of Southampton

This talk explores how Catherine of Aragon established herself at the courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII.  While keen to preserve her Spanish identity, Catherine also presented herself as a loyal wife during her marriages to Arthur and Henry VIII. In this illustrated talk we will look at how she used clothing and her portraiture to shape her image.