Lecture: The Light Ages: the monks and machines of Medieval St Albans
Event Information
About this Event
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If you have any questions, please email Gill Girdziusz via lectures@stalbanshistory.org
The lecture
Speaker: Dr Seb Falk
John of Westwyck was born on an Abbey manor and entered the cloister when St Albans was perhaps the most powerful monastery in England. Sent to Tynemouth, he joined the ill-fated 1383 ‘Bishops Crusade’ and later worked as an astronomer in London. His eventful life gives us a rare insight into the medieval worldview. Based on his bestselling book, The Light Ages, Dr Falk will use John Westwyck’s story as an accessible introduction to the impressive and creative sciences of the Middle Ages.
Dr Seb Falk is an historian at Cambridge University, and a BBC New Generation Thinker. His book, The Light Ages, published by Allen Lane, is referred to in The Spectator as “Riveting … a brilliant study of medieval astronomy and learning”.