5 reasons you won’t want to miss our York History Weekend

From 18-20 November, BBC History Magazine’s History Weekend festival will be returning to the historic city of York for the second year running. Boasting a line-up of more than 20 eminent speakers including Michael Wood, Suzannah Lipscomb and Janina Ramirez, the festival has plenty on offer for every history fan. With just a fortnight to go, we round up five of the many reasons you should join us…

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Published: November 14, 2016 at 2:00 pm

1) Top speakers

From broadcasters Marc Morris and David Olusoga to acclaimed authors Tracy Borman and Simon Sebag Montefiore, this year’s festival includes talks from some of the leading names in the history world.

Joanne Paul will bust 10 myths about Thomas More, who was chancellor in the reign of Henry VIII; James Sharpe will explore why we stopped punishing criminals in public; and George Goodwin will be discussing Benjamin Franklin’s time in London.

Other highlights include Tom Holland’s talk on Æthelstan and the making of England, and Chris Skidmore’s exploration of why Richard III decided to seize the throne. Juliet Barker, meanwhile, will separate myth from reality to discover the real Charlotte Brontë, asking how much of Mrs Gaskell’s 1857 Life of Charlotte Brontë is true.

_{Marc Morris}

2) Historic York

York Minster, Clifford’s Tower and the York Dungeon are among the many historical attractions to be found in the picturesque city of York.

At York Castle Museum you can stroll down an authentically recreated Victorian Street, visit Dick Turpin’s cell and step inside Jacobean dining rooms. Or why not find out how York became the UK’s home of chocolate, with a guided tour at York’s Chocolate Story? You can also discover more than 300 years of rail history at the Railway Museum.

York Minster, one of Britain’s most impressive medieval buildings, is not to be missed, nor is Clifford’s Tower, which was originally built by William the Conqueror and offers panoramic views over Old York.

3) Atmospheric venues

This year’s festival will take place across two fantastic venues right in the heart of the historic city of York: the Yorkshire Museum, which is surrounded by the York Museum Gardens, and the nearby 14th-century Hospitium building, which is overlooked by the striking ruins of St Mary’s Abbey.

There’s plenty to explore between lectures – the Yorkshire Museum is home to some of Britain’s greatest treasures. Its collections reveal the early history of York and include internationally important Roman, Viking and medieval artefacts, such as the Head of Constantine the Great (a twice life-size statue of the Roman emperor’s head), the Middleham Jewel (a 15th-century gold and sapphire pendant) and the York Helmet (an eighth-century Anglo-Saxon artefact).

Opened in 1830, it was one of England’s earliest purpose-built museums, established to house the collections of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. It was built in the grounds of York’s Abbey, St Mary’s, on land given by royal grant in 1086. The museum was constructed over the remains of some of the Abbey buildings, which can still be seen in the basement.

The Yorkshire Museum. York Museum Gardens are botanic gardens in the centre of York, England. They cover an area of 10 acres (4.0 ha) of the former grounds of St Mary's Abbey, and, along with the Yorkshire Museum, they were created during the 1830s by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. They are held on trust by the City of York Council and managed by the York Museums Trust. The gardens were designed by landscape architect Sir John Murray Naysmith in a gardenesque style, and contain a variety of species of plants, trees and birds. There are several historic buildings in the gardens. They contain the remains of the west corner of the Roman fort of Eboracum, including the Multangular Tower and parts of the Roman walls. In the same area there is also the Anglian Tower, which probably dates from the late Roman period. During the Middle Ages, the tower was expanded and the Roman walls were incorporated into York's city walls. Most of the other buildings dating from the Middle Ages are associated with St Mary's Abbey, including the ruins of the abbey church, the Hospitium, the lodge and part of the surviving precinct wall. The remains of St. Leonard's Hospital chapel and undercroft are on the east side of the gardens. The Yorkshire Philosophical Society constructed several buildings in the gardens during the 19th and early 20th century, including the Yorkshire Museum and its octagonal observatory. The museum houses four permanent collections, covering biology, geology, archaeology and astronomy.

_{Yorkshire Museum. (Lee-Bell Photography)}

4) Book signings

Meet your favourite historians after their lectures – our speakers will be holding book signings at our Waterstones pop-up bookshop, where you can also buy copies of their latest works.

5) Learn leadership lessons from the Tudors and how to please your wife…

Join television historian Suzannah Lipscomb as she takes a light-hearted look at 20 leadership lessons from the Tudors. Suzannah’s talk will include an abundance of fascinating historical gems gathered over years of studying this powerful dynasty.

Meanwhile, cultural historian and Ripper Street consultant Fern Riddell will look at the practical (and impractical) advice the Victorians had for a life of marital bliss. We often think of the Victorians as prudish, but as Fern will reveal, our 19th-century ancestors had a much more modern attitude towards sex and love than we might realise!