The tale of two very different rulers - a gripping story of power and legitimacy – is sure to intrigue at the 2025 Lancaster History Lecture at Lancaster University.

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.

This year the theme at Litfest, from March 7 to 17, is ‘The World Into Words’. The hugely varied programme explores how heritage and environment can be brought into focus via powerful words and stories.

Lancaster University lecturers will moderate several events during the festival. These will include a creative writing showcase with Dr Oliver Langmead, a poetry pamphlet reading event hosted by Dr Eoghan Walls and a guided walk, with Professor Imogen Tyler, examining Lancaster’s ‘Slavery Business’.

For International Women’s Day, on March 8, Litfest has commissioned a revealing talk by Eleanor Levin about the incredible ‘Historical Women of Lancaster’, when she will be in conversation with Corinna Peniston-Bird, a Professor of Gender and Cultural History at Lancaster University. Two walks, on March 8 and 22, will complement Eleanor’s talk, as she tracks the lives of these remarkable women through Lancaster landmarks.

Litfest will offer a flexible hybrid format (in-person events and livestream on the day or on catch-up later) and tickets for the main festival events will be £5 in person, and £3 online.

To find out more see the 2025 Litfest digital programme and book now through www.litfest.org

Later in the year, a special event, run in conjunction with the University’s Lancaster Arts, will see leading Palestinian writer Raja Shehadeh, acclaimed author of Palestinian Walks and his wife and co-author Penny Johnson, discuss their new book Forgotten: Searching for Palestine's Hidden Places and Lost Memorials: a profound meditation on memory and what we choose to memorialise.

When Raja first started hill walking in Palestine, in the late 1970s, he was not aware that he was travelling through a vanishing landscape. He will also talk about his life, his work as a human rights lawyer, his love of walking and his many acclaimed books.

This takes place on April 2 at the Nuffield Theatre at Lancaster University and is a paid-for ticketed event for which early booking is strongly advised.

And on May 15, in another collaboration between Litfest and the University’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, supported by seven University departments, environmental campaigner Bella Lack will present the 2025 Lancaster Environment Lecture (free of charge) on campus at Lancaster University.

Drawing on her book Children of the Anthropocene, Bella will show how the futures of young people, especially, hang in the balance as they face the harsh realities of the climate crisis.

Booking in advance through the Litfest website is recommended for what is sure to be an important and illuminating event.