University of Lincoln students are eligible for free places at a lecture by Dr Thomas Asbridge on the remarkable Battle of Lincoln.
This battle, whose 800th anniversary falls this year, reshaped the course of English history: in May 1217, a year after the death of King John, his nine-year-old heir King Henry III had been abandoned by most of the English barons in favour of French prince Louis, who had almost succeeded in taking the English throne from the boy-king. When all seemed lost, the tables were turned within Lincoln’s medieval walls, as one of Henry’s few remaining supporters, the veteran commander and fabled knight William Marshal, led his outnumbered forces to victory against the French and their baronial allies.
Dr Thomas Asbridge’s lecture will explain how Marshal led his outnumbered forces to victory and set the battle in its wider historical context, tracing the broader, long-term impact of these events from the reissuing of Magna Carta to the birth of English national identity. Dr Asbridge is Reader of Medieval History at Queen Mary, University of London whose major published works include The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, The Power Behind Five English Thrones (2015) and The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land (2010). Thomas also wrote and presented a BBC Two documentary, The Greatest Knight: William Marshal, and a landmark three-part documentary series The Crusades for BBC Two. He is also the historical consultant behind Lincoln’s 2017 Battles & Dynasties exhibition at the Collection.
The lecture takes place on Friday 26th May at 7.30pm in the perfect venue of Lincoln Cathedral, around which the Battle of Lincoln raged exactly 800 years ago.
More details about the lecture can be found here: https://lincolncathedral.com/forthcoming-events/magna-carta-lecture-2/
If you would like to take up the offer of a free place (normally £6) at this historic lecture about an event which put Lincoln at the epicentre of English history, please email Carenza Lewis at clewis@lincoln.ac.uk with your full name to be added to the guest list.