New events will be added to this programme as the year progresses; please check back for updates which will also be announced via social media.
Friday 6 February 2026 at 6.00 pm
Professor Charles West (University of Edinburgh)
‘‘‘Alike in Appearance but not in Scope”: Queens and the Making of Medieval Europe’
RHS Lecture, at the Institute of Historical Research, Senate House, London, and Online
Tuesday 10 February 2026 at 5.30 pm
Professor Vinita Damodaran (University of Sussex)
‘Decolonising the Natural History Collections of Empire’
Joint Royal Historical Society-German Historical Institute London Lecture, at Mary Ward House, London and Online
Thursday 18 February 2026 at 5.45 pm
Professor David Stack (University of Reading)
‘Well-being: a Historian’s Perspective’
Part of the Society’s visit to historians at Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Sheffield
RHS Lecture, Sheffield Hallam University
Thursday 26 March 2026 at 12.30 pm
‘Historical Context: Modern Iran’
Panel discussion in a new occasional series, ‘Historical Context’. With speakers Professor Maziyar Ghiabi (University of Exeter), Dr Louise Kettle (University of Nottingham) and Dr Johan Franzén.
Online Webinar
Thursday 26 March 2026 at 2.00 pm
‘After December’s Restart, What Next for REF2029 and for History?’
An online meeting for Directors of Research / REF Leads for the History Unit of Assessment
Thursday 16 April 2026, 10.00 am – 5.00 pm
‘Shaping Societies, Improving Lives: the Impact of Archives and Historical Research’
History and Archives in Practice, 2026
Annual event in association with The National Archives and the Institute of Historical Research
Conference, University of Sheffield
Friday 1 May 2026 at 5.30 pm
Professor Sasha Handley (University of Manchester)
‘‘The Haunting at the Rectory: Ghost Stories and Women’s Lives in Early Modern England’
RHS Lecture, University of Warwick
Wednesday 13 May 2026 at 6.00 pm
Professor Miri Rubin (Queen Mary, University of London)
‘Black/Beautiful: Meanings of Blackness in a Biblical Verse’
Part of the Society’s visit to historians at Aberystwyth University.
RHS Lecture, Aberystwyth University
Thursday 11 June 2026 at 2.00 pm
UK Historical Societies, annual network meeting
Institute of Historical Research, London
Friday 12 June 2026 at 1.00 pm
‘Historical Context: Labour in Crisis?’
Panel discussion in a new occasional series, ‘Historical Context’. With speakers Dr Lise Butler (City St George’s), Professor Glen O’Hara (Oxford Brookes), Professor Rohan McWilliam (Anglia Ruskin) and Professor Emily Robinson (Sussex).
Online Webinar
Wednesday 1 July 2026 at 6.00 pm
The RHS Prothero Lecture: Professor Rebecca Earle (University of Warwick)
‘The Last Voyage of the Santiago: A Ship and its World in the Age of Revolution’
In-person and Online: Mary Ward House, Tavistock Place, London
followed by the Society’s Summer Party, 2026
Tuesday 4 August 2026 at 2.00 pm
‘The Crisis in UK HE: the Future for History’
With the Institute of Historical Research, History UK and the Historical Association.
Open event for discussion on advocating for history and the historical profession
Online panel
Thursday 24 September 2026 at 1.00 pm
‘Historical Context: The Climate Crisis’
Panel discussion in a new occasional series, ‘Historical Context’. With speakers Dr Dagomar Degroot (Georgetown University), Professor Sadiah Qureshi (University of Manchester) and Dr Elly Robson Dezateux (University of Oxford)
Online Webinar
Friday 25 September 2026 at 6.00 pm
Professor Glen O’Hara (Oxford Brookes University)
‘In All Our Footsteps: Rights of Way and Access to the Land in England and Wales since 1949’
RHS Lecture, at the Institute of Historical Research, Senate House, London, and Online
Wednesday 7 October 2026 at 6.00 pm
Dr Meleisa Ono-George (University of Oxford)
‘Visualizing Difference: Amelia Newsham and the Art of Race-Making’
Part of the Society’s visit to historians at the University of Strathclyde.
RHS Lecture, University of Strathclyde
Tuesday 3 November 2026 at 6.00 pm
2026 RHS Public History Lecture: Sathnam Sanghera
‘What History is NOT’
In association with Gresham College, London
Friday 27 November 2026 at 6.00 pm
2026 RHS Anniversary Lecture: Professor Hanna Diamond (Cardiff University)
‘From Cabaret Star to Gaullist Spy: Josephine Baker’s Secret War’
Preceded by the Society’s Anniversary Meeting (AGM)
Friday 4 December 2026 at 4.00 pm
2026 RHS International Fellows’ Lecture: Professor Amy Froide (University of Maryland, Baltimore County)
‘The Charitable Corporation Scandal of 1732 and the Female Shareholders who stood up to Financial Fraud’
Online and in association with the Economic History Society
Tuesday 8 December 2026
Professor Martin Thomas (University of Exeter)
‘The World Remade by Decolonisation?’
Part of the Society’s visit to historians at the University of the West of England, Bristol.
Friday 11 December 2026 at 1.00 pm
‘Historical Context: Brexit Ten Years On’
Panel discussion in a new occasional series, ‘Historical Context’. With speakers Professor Martin Johnes (Swansea), Professor Yasmin Khan (Oxford), Dr Robert Saunders (Queen Mary, University of London), and Iain Quinn (Florida State)
Online Webinar