'Anniversaries and the Early Modern Period'

2017 marks the 500th anniversary of Luther's Ninety-Five Theses and the symbolic starting point of the Protestant Reformation. The exhibitions, conferences, and public histories surrounding this event are hot on the heels of a host of other anniversaries and commemorations of the early modern past in recent years, including the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, the 350th year since the Great Fire of London, the 500th year of Thomas More's Utopia, and a half-millennium since the building of Hampton Court Palace. What is the significance of especially round-number anniversaries for enabling us to engage with the early modern age? Are these anniversary events emblematic of a wider cult of commemoration, or is there something about the more distant past which makes commemoration an especially pertinent means of gripping public and academic attention?

The Cabinet of Curiosities, supported by CREMS, will be hosting three scholars from York and King's College London to discuss these ideas and others surrounding the public remembrance of the early modern period.

We welcome staff, students and members of the public.