Event Details

The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV.

The event is part of the 46th Litfest, Lancaster’s long-established literature festival, when acclaimed medieval and Tudor historian Dr Helen Castor will talk of the struggle between Richard II and his first cousin, Henry Bolingbroke.

The lecture is part of a growing partnership between Lancaster University and Litfest which has led to the creation of the Lancaster International Lecture Series, developed through a collaboration between Dr Delphine Grass, from the University’s School of Global Affairs, the University’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Bill Swainson, from Litfest.

This year, on March 12 in The Faraday Lecture Theatre at 6.30pm, the History Lecture will explore The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV.

When they were still children, Richard was crowned King Richard II with Henry at his side, carrying the sword of state: a 10-year-old lord in the service of his 10-year-old king.

Dr Castor will be in conversation with Lancaster University’s Dr Sophie Thérèse Ambler from the University’s Department of History.

A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Fellow Commoner of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, Dr Castor has written several books including the prize-winning Blood & Roses and She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England before Elizabeth.

Dr Ambler is a Reader in Medieval History at Lancaster University, a Director of the University’s Centre for War and Diplomacy and a Research Fellow at The Ruskin at Lancaster University. She is the author of The Song of Simon de Montfort.

The free Lecture is a collaboration between Litfest and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), supported by the History Department at Lancaster University.

Tickets are free but places must be reserved through the Litfest website.