The HA loves a good history lecture (just check out our general activities), so we are delighted to be a sponsor of the Gloucester History Festival. That sponsorship takes the form of shared promotion and a shared passion for history for everyone.

The Gloucester History Festival has its roots in the fascinating past events of the town itself. Lying on the River Severn, it has held important trading roles from Roman times onwards. It has a castle; it was the site of parliaments in the Medieval period; and there is an important cathedral, where Henry III was crowned king at the age of ten years old in 1216.

As an important city of the UK, the community and the local leadership were caught up in the English Civil War. On 10 August 1643, the Royalist Army laid siege to the city, as they tried to seize control of the Severn Valley from the Parliamentarians.

However, the town resisted, under the leadership of Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Massey, including sending out regular raiding parties to attack the Royalist troops. Eventually, the Royalists began to mine the walls of the city and were close to bringing it to defeat, when the third Earl of Essex, Robert Deveraux, and his Parliamentarian forces arrived and Charles I was forced to end the siege on 5 September 1643. For the following centuries, 5 September was celebrated in the town as the day on which the siege was lifted, but the custom died out in the nineteenth century.

In 2009, the annual Gloucester Day was revived, and that has helped to lead to the now-impressive Gloucester History Festival.

The festival has been growing steadily over the years and has been nurtured by the professional historian Janina Ramirez, who is President of the Gloucester History Festival. Janina is familiar to many at the HA as someone who has spoken at branches, as well as being a keynote speaker at our Harrogate Conference in 2016. In addition, she is a bestselling author of history books for adults and historical fiction for children (Young Quills winner in 2019), as well as being an academic at Oxford University.

Despite being incredibly busy, working on the Festival is obviously one of her passions:

“The Festival helps people in Gloucester to connect to the rich history that is all around them. But that doesn’t make it limited or parochial; instead, by embracing the history of their area, they are opening themselves up to exploring bigger, more diverse ideas and thoughts around the past and how we all relate to it and fit into it – and we demonstrate that by the broad range of speakers and talks that are on offer.

“The schools element of the programme is really important, as it helps young people see the many ways that history is reflected in their local area and in the people who live there.

“I want the Gloucester History Festival to inspire other towns and cities to look at the history around them and to use that as a way to spark an interest in the past that connects them to the present and modern ideas of society and relationships.”

“For the HA, the Festival is a great way to engage with being truly passionate about our subject, and we are very excited about how we can all work together.” Rebecca Sullivan, CEO of the Historical Association

This is the first year in which all the sessions and all the talks are being live-streamed, as well as happening live. The HA will be there to talk to like-minded people about our activities and introduce a speaker. If you want to see the programme for 2024, it is downloadable from the Gloucester History Festival website.

Our Public Engagement and Outreach Manager, Paula Kitching, will be introducing the talk by Helen Castor on behalf of the Historical Association on Sunday 22 September 2.00-3.00pm

Book for: The Eagle & the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II & Henry IV Helen Castor £12 / £6 Livestreamed

HA Members can enjoy an exclusive booking offer for another of the Festival's events - look our for details in your member emails.