The World Turn’d Upside Down, /
British Library, London, UK / Bridgeman Images
Royalty
and the
Thursday 23rd March
Saturday 25th March
2.00–4.00 pm Registration
and Afternoon Tea
8.00–9.00 am Breakfast in Hall
4.00 pm Programme Welcome
4.15 pm Introductory lecture. ‘The godly
prince and his critics: the contours of
power from the reformation to the
regicide’ Dr Leif Dixon
6.30 pm Welcome Drinks Reception
in the Upper Library
7.30 pm Dinner in Hall
Friday 24th March
I
n 1576, Queen Elizabeth I gave her
Archbishop, Edmund Grindal, an
apparently straightforward order to
restrict unauthorised religious teaching
in the private residences of some of her
puritan subjects. She could not have
expected the response that she received.
Grindal refused to obey point blank,
saying: ‘Bear with me, I beseech you,
Madam, if I choose rather to offend your
earthly majesty than to offend against the
heavenly majesty of God.’ He then added
the warning: ‘Remember, Madam, that
you are a mortal creature.’ The Protestant
Reformation had given English monarchs
unprecedented power over both secular
and spiritual affairs; and yet, clearly, it
had also empowered English subjects to
question and even resist their authority.
Title page of the second ‘Great Bible’, British Library, London, UK / Bridgeman Images
This conference examines the
complicated legacy and trajectory of the
English Reformation, through the lens
of political power. How successfully were
monarchs able to control their Protestant
subjects? How did they use religion to
project an image of authority? Were their
subjects made more or less obedient
by their Protestant beliefs? Under what
circumstances could they resist, and
indeed succeed?
8.00–9.00 am Breakfast in Hall
Archbishop Grindal reminded the
Queen that he owed his ultimate loyalty
to God, and that his conscience was
more important to him than mere
obedience. He was sacked for his
impertinence. However, the monarch
did not always win such fights over
religious principle. In fact, in 1649,
Charles I lost his head at the hands of
a zealous Protestant opposition who
suspected him of ‘popery’ and of trying
to rule as a tyrant. Clearly, a great deal
had changed since Henry VIII rejected
papal influence over English affairs,
and made himself the most powerful
monarch in our history.
This event gathers together a formidable
array of specialist scholars, who will
examine the dynamics of royal power
in the context of religious change over
the course of the Tudor and Stuart
periods. By looking at contemporary
art and literature, as well as politics
and religious culture, we aim to inform
you and entertain you, as we guide you
through one of the most striking and
unusual phases of English history.
Right: Martyrs Memorial, Oxford. Nikreates / Alamy
9.15 am ‘Was there a popular reformation
under Henry VIII and his son?’
Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch
10.45–11.15 am Morning Coffee
in Blue Boar Exhibition Space
11.15 am 'Loyalty and Resistance in the
Reign of Elizabeth I' Dr John Cooper
12.45–1.30 pm Lunch in Hall
2.00 pm ‘Shakespeare, eloquent
kneeling, and Reformation thinking’
Dr Lynn Robson
3.30–4.00 pm Afternoon Tea
in Blue Boar Exhibition Space
4.00 pm ‘Elizabeth I: the forgotten
years’ Professor John Guy
6.00 pm An opportunity to attend
Evensong in The Cathedral
7.30 pm Dinner in Hall
FORCE MAJEURE
The College reserves the right to make alterations and
substitutions to the programme. It will not be liable
for any non-performance under this contract arising
out of circumstances beyond its control.
9.15 am ‘A new king, a new Church of
England: England and the Jacobean
Succession’ Dr Susan Doran
10.45 – 11.15 am Morning Coffee
in Blue Boar Exhibition Space
11.15 am ‘The reformation: death knell
for medieval art?’ Dr Janina Ramirez
12.45–1.30 pm Lunch in Hall
2.00 pm
Option 1: Oxford historical tour
with Dr Sarah Mortimer
Option 2: Christ Church tour with
Mr Christopher Waterhouse
Option 3: Free time
4.00–4.30 pm Afternoon Tea
in Blue Boar Exhibition Space
4.30 pm ‘Popery by degrees: the
anti-Catholic reaction to Charles I’s
religious policies’ Ms Emma Turnbull
7.00 pm Pre-banquet Reception
in the Ante Hall
7.30 pm Gala Banquet in Hall
Sunday 26th March
8.00–9.00 am Breakfast in Hall
9.15 am ‘The execution of Charles I: religion
and regicide’ Dr Clive Holmes
10.45–11.15 am Morning Coffee
in Blue Boar Exhibition Space
11.15 am ‘The royal supremacy and the
English constitutional crisis,
1529-1689’ Dr David Starkey
12.45 pm Lunch in Hall
2.00 pm Depart
The Unabridged Acts and Monuments Online. www.johnfoxe.org
HOW TO BOOK
The programme fee is £499 per person and
the en-suite supplement is £75 per room. This
includes the full lecture programme, three night’s
accommodation, all meals, wines and refreshments
as programmed. Gratuities are not expected.
Bookings may be made online or by phone for
those without internet access. Full payment must
be made at the time of booking. Online booking is
available on the ‘Visitors and Conferences’ section
of our website.
A 50% refund will be offered in the event of
cancellations made up to and including 30
November 2016. No refunds will be offered in the
event of cancellations on or after 1 December 2016.
All monies are held by Christ Church.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
Facilities at Christ Church are conveniently
located together. Some ground-floor bedrooms
are available and the college has some residential
facilities for wheelchair users, as well as a lift to
the Hall. The Blue Boar Lecture Theatre also has
a sound amplification system with an induction
loop for hearing aid users.
Please direct all enquiries to:
Special Interest Event, The Steward’s Office
Christ Church, Oxford ox1 1dp
Tel: +44 (0)1865 286848
Email: specialinterest@chch.ox.ac.uk
www.chch.ox.ac.uk
The Christ Church
Experience
Christ Church, established by Henry VIII in
1546, is a unique foundation of college and
cathedral. It is home to some 650 undergraduate and postgraduate students and over
a hundred Senior Members. Christ Church
occupies a 150-acre site in the heart of the
city, including the Meadow, a tranquil area of
pasture, preserved for centuries and bounded
by the rivers Isis and Cherwell.
Accommodation is in buildings of architectural and historical interest which reflect the
different centuries since the college’s foundation. Rooms are single or twin-occupancy
and are located on the ground, first, second
and third floors. Many rooms are en-suite,
and all have tea and coffee making facilities,
a telephone, free Wi-Fi internet and a refrigerator. A free laundry room is also provided.
Speaker biographies
Dr Leif Dixon is this programme’s Academic
Director. He is the Director of Studies for History
at Regent’s Park College, Oxford, and a former
British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow
at Cambridge. His first book was Practical
Predestinarians in England, c.1590-1640, published
in 2014. He is currently researching atheism in the
English Reformation.
Dr John Cooper was educated at Oxford and the
University of Pennsylvania, and is now a Senior
Lecturer at the University of York. His book The
Queen’s Agent: Francis Walsingham at the Court of
Elizabeth I was serialised on BBC Radio 4. John is a
Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and Historical
Consultant to the Royal Armouries.
Dr Susan Doran is a Fellow at Jesus College and
St Benet’s Hall. Her most recent publications
are: Doubtful and Dangerous: The Question of
Succession in Late Elizabethan England (2014),
co-edited with Paulina Kewes; and Elizabeth I and
her Circle (2015). Her forthcoming book is Regime
Change: from Elizabeth 1 to James I.
Professor John Guy is a Fellow of Clare College,
Cambridge. His many books include Elizabeth:
The Forgotten Years (2016) and ‘My Heart is My
Own’: the Life of Mary Queen of Scots (2004). He
has presented or contributed to a dozen or more
documentaries for BBC television and Channel 4
as well as appearing frequently on BBC Radio 3
and 4.
Meals are prepared under the direction of the
college’s Executive Head Chef, Chris Simms,
and are served in the magnificent Tudor
Hall. A limited number of dietary requirements may be catered for provided they
are requested at the time of booking. The
Buttery Bar, adjacent to Hall, will be open
before meals and after dinner. House wines,
included in the price, are served at dinner.
Dr Clive Holmes was educated at Cambridge,
and subsequently taught History at Cornell
University in up-state New York (1969-88) and
then in Oxford. He won prizes for his teaching at
both universities. His most recent book was Why
was Charles I Executed? (2009).
Portrait of King Charles I (1600-49)
© Philip Mould Ltd, London/Bridgeman
Images
THURSDAY 23RD MARCH –
SUNDAY 26TH MARCH 2017
Christ Church
OXFORD
Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, DD, FBA,
is Professor of the History of the Church at
Oxford, TV presenter and author. His History of
Christianity: the first three thousand years won
the 2010 Cundill Prize, the world’s largest prize
for history. His latest BBC series was Sex and
the Church. He was knighted in the New Year’s
Honours List of 2012.
Dr Janina Ramirez is an art historian at Oxford
with a side-line in BBC documentaries. She has
written and presented many documentaries for
BBC Four, and also contributes to radio and other
media. Her latest book, The Private Lives of the
Saints: Power, Passion and Politics, was published
in 2015.
Dr Lynn Robson is a Tutor in English Literature
at Regent’s Park College where she teaches
early modern literature. She received a Teaching
Excellence Award from the Humanities Division
in 2015. Her research interests are in popular
literature of the period, crime narratives and
Shakespeare.
Dr David Starkey, CBE, and Fellow of the Royal
Historical Society, is a constitutional historian,
social commentator and television presenter.
He has written extensively on Tudor politics and
presented numerous documentaries on monarchy
through the ages.
Ms Emma Turnbull is an AHRC-funded DPhil
candidate in History at the University of Oxford,
where she also completed her MSt and BA
degrees. Her doctoral thesis examines English
perceptions of foreign Catholic states during the
1620s and 1630s.
Portrait of Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658),
Private Collection/Bridgeman Images
S P E C I AL I N T ER ES T
EVENT
Cover Images: left to Right:
Henry VIII, © Walker Art Gallery,
National Museums Liverpool/
Bridgeman Images
Archibishop Cranmer, Private
Collection/The Stapleton Collection/
Bridgeman Images
Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603),
Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, UK/National
Trust Photographic Library/
P A Burton/Bridgeman Images
Archbishop Laud (1573-1645)/
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of
Cambridge, UK/Bridgeman Images
Execution of Charles I. A
Handkircher out of the King’s Pocket,
shakespearesengland.co.uk
Royalty
and the