St Albans at the Reformation | Online Talk

In 2020, the UK witnessed the full, nationwide closure of churches and other places of worship for the first time in centuries.
Faith leaders and their communities have proved themselves creative, tech savvy and above all, resilient, in finding alternative spaces and means of communication to keep their shared religion alive. This experience perhaps prompts us to recall another moment in our history when congregations were shut out of their churches. Between 1536 and 1540 more than 700 churches of monks, friars and nuns were closed by authority of the crown. The abbey of St Albans was itself given up to the king on 5 December 1539. This talk will tell the story of this sudden break in the long tradition of worship at the abbey church and of how the churchmen and congregation who knew it as their own came to recover it.

Speaker: Prof. James G. Clark, Professor of History at the University of Exeter and author of The Dissolution of the Monasteries. A New History (Yale: 2021).

Date & Time: Thursday 11 March, 7.30-9pm

Price: £10 (students £6)

Venue: Online via Zoom.

If you’d like to attend the event but are not free to join us live, please do buy a ticket and you’ll receive the joining details (in case your plans change) and an email detailing how to get in touch for a recording of the talk.

Joining on Zoom on the night

As this talk will be hosted over Zoom, participants will need access to a device which has audio in order to be able to hear. You can also join by dialling in using a telephone, but won't be able to see the speaker or any visual aids.

Instructions for joining the talk will be sent via email between 5-5.30pm on the day of the event. If you have not received these details by 5.30pm, please call 01727 890205.

For more information visit https://www.stalbanscathedral.org/Event/st-albans-reformation