" This Saxon Land Made Whole". King Aethelstan at Eamont With Sarah Foot

This lecture will set the events of 927 and their significance both for the reign of AEthelstan and the history of the British Isles in broad context.

The implications of the West Saxon king's bloodless conquest of the north and his acceptance at Eamont of the submission of other rulers from the islands secured the king's control were wide ranging and enduring.We shall explore how the expansion of AEthelstan's realm sat within his wider strategies for ruling a people still recovering from decades of war, and its implications for his own sense of the nature of his kingship and the ways in which his circle chose to represent him.

Further, the lecture will assess the development of ideas of both English and British identity in the aftermath of the unification of people under a single monarch.Professor Sarah Foot is the Dean of Christ Church, the first woman to be chosen for the role in Christ Church's almost 500-year-long history.

Until her appointment in July 2023, she held the title of Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Oxford University and served as a Residentiary Canon at Christ Church.

Her teaching and research have focused on women in religion, medieval monasticism and the early history of the English Church.

She is the author of the first recent biography of Athelstan published in 2012 by Yale University Press: Athelstan, The first King of England.1H 30mVisit https://www.eamont927.co.uk/ for full information on the weekend event