Lecture
Special September Lecture – Sceptred Isle -14th Century Britain
Speaker: Helen Carr
Wed, 10 Sep 2025
About the lecture:
In this year’s Special September Lecture, Helen will bring to life the story of human beings who lived during the fourteenth century (1300-1400) and what they imbibed from their environment. Sceptred Isle is about people. Kings and queens, but also common folk who saw portentous signs and symbols in the sky, who believed in fate and fortune as dictated by Fortune’s Wheel spun at random by the goddess, Fortuna. These were people who endured famine, plague, war and regicide. As the Sunday Times put it when adding Sceptred Isle to their 40 books to look out for in 2025, “what a time to be alive”.
NOTE: THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT. + TICKETS MUST BE PAID FOR IN ADVANCE. + THERE IS NO OPTION TO WALK IN ON THE NIGHT + THANK YOU.
Helen Carr is an award-nominated writer specialising in medieval history and public history. Helen reviews non-fiction for the TLS, The Spectator, BBC, Unherd and The New Statesman. She has worked on BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time. Helen is an elected fellow of the Royal Historical Society and is currently with Queen Mary University London. 