At the end of last year, second year A level medieval and early modern history students, along with a handful of keen first year students, took part in the second Reformation Day. This event is organised by the history department in conjunction with Dr Claire Kennan of Royal Holloway University. This year the day was also enriched by a session led by the Head of Medieval Records at the National Archives, Dr Euan Roger.

The aim of the event was to promote better understanding of the Reformation as a topic for the exams but beyond this, to inspire the students to see the wider implications of their historical knowledge to current events including Brexit and the role of the monarchy.

The day was separated into four interactive sessions that related to crucial examination topics; the Catholic Church prior to the Reformation; the causes of the English and German Reformations and the impact of the dissolution of the monasteries, with a fourth session focusing on the records held at Kew relating to the previous content. In the final session, the students were given copies of original source materials and asked to decode the text and implications within them, which is not an easy task!

The day was an excellent chance for the students to engage with university style seminars and lectures as well as historical source materials.

Carys Hoggan, first year student commented, “It was amazing to listen to such experts. Both Claire and Euan were extremely friendly and helpful, from helping to decipher the medieval texts, to giving mini-lectures on different events and beliefs. The whole day was well thought out and definitely taught me a lot.”