Thursday saw the return of our popular Tudor Symposium. Aiming to help Upper Sixth students as they near their final A Level exams next term, the day featured lectures from four distinguished speakers to over 150 visiting students and their teachers, along our own, in the Falkland Islands Memorial Chapel.
The success and growing popularity of the event has been consolidated by our ability to attract some of the leading academics in Tudor history, and this year was no different. The day opened with Lucy Wooding (Lincoln College, Oxford) leading us through the dawn of the Tudor century with wry observations and a precise breakdown of the challenges that the Tudor dynasty faced at its outset. Saira MacNicol, Schools Content Manager at Historic Royal Palaces, based at Hampton Court Palace, followed with a fascinating insight into the workings of the royal court, highlighting some of the key figures of the era, such as Thomas Wolsey and Henry VIII himself.
After delegates enjoyed a picnic lunch in the sun we returned to the afternoon lectures. Kirsten Claiden-Yardley, who worked as a consultant on the set of 'Wolf Hall', helped students understand how different types of evidence can be used to make a judgment on the period - in this case the evidence that survives (or doesn't) from church architecture. The Reformation told through the buildings that experienced it was a powerful lesson in the craft of an historian. The day then concluded with a thoughtful and considered appraisal of the challenges Elizabeth I faced during her reign, presented by one of the top MPhil students currently in Oxford University - Ebrahim Hanifehpour.
With such a comprehensive array of subject knowledge, breadth of coverage and depth of academic excellence, we hope that the day helps send our students off into the Easter revision with a clearer perspective on the history, and renewed enthusiasm and vigour for the last push towards the summer exams. We are, as ever, incredibly grateful to all the speakers who gave of their time and guidance so freely and willingly yesterday.
