MILITARY MONKS: A History of the Knights Templar
16th, 23rd and 30th May
Founded at the time of the First Crusade, in order to protect
Jerusalem and Christian pilgrims visiting the Holy Land, the Knights
Templar became one of the most powerful and wealthy
organisations in Medieval Europe. They were disbanded by the
Papacy in 1308 but their legacy continues to this day.
FROM THE MEDES TO THE MULLAHS: A History of Iran
13th, 20th and 27th June
The history of Iran is long and complex.
Starting around 600 BC with the Medes, the first session will cover
ancient Iran, the exploits of Alexander the Great and the rise of the
Persian Empire.
Later sessions will cover the Safavid Dynasty, the Pahlavi Monarchy
and the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and beyond.
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE: Power Politics Papacy
11th, 18th and 25th July
Voltaire famously said that ‘the Holy Roman Empire was neither
Holy nor Roman, nor an Empire’. In this he was right.
How then did this ‘federation’ of European principalities and
kingdoms with no imperial city come to be described as such?
In this series we will look at the history of this ‘Empire’ that lasted
from AD 800 until AD 1806.
HISTORY OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
Tuesdays 17th, 24th and 31st October
The Ottoman Empire lasted for some seven hundred years. We start
with the arrival of the Turkic tribes into Anatolia in the 13th Century
ending with the dissolution of the Empire following the First World
War. The last session helps us to understand the situation in the
Middle East today.
HISTORY OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE
14th, 21st and 28th November
The Mughal Empire was founded by a Turkic-Mongol warlord in the
13th Century and lasted until it was dissolved in 1857 following the
Indian Uprising. It was a period of great cultural flowering and
produced iconic monuments such as the Taj Mahal and Humayun’s
Tomb.