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Dr Henry Cohn (1936-2021)

HC
"The History Department is deeply saddened by the passing of its Emeritus Reader, Dr Henry J. Cohn. Henry grew up in London and entered University College, Oxford, as a scholar, in 1954. Having taken his BA in 1957 and DPhil in 1963 (with a thesis on the government of the Rhine Palatinate in the fifteenth century), he moved on to a temporary post at Glasgow and a Lectureship in History at Leicester before coming to Warwick in 1967, two years after the foundation of the university​. Here, he immediately gained the respect of his colleagues, serving as acting head in 1969 when still a lecturer and leading the department formally from 1986-89. As he told Bernard Capp and Fred Reid respectively, the latter proved a 'doddle' early on but then turned into a demanding job that required all his managerial and administrative skills. He convened a second-year module on ‘Germany in the Age of the Reformation’ and a Year 3 special subject on ‘The German Peasants’ War 1524-25', taking all his academic duties extremely seriously and setting exacting standards in all student-facing activities right up to his retirement in​ 2003. At the same time, however, Henry remained a distinguished researcher, drawing not least on his knowledge of multiple languages. He had particular interests in the political history of the Holy Roman Empire on the eve of the Reformation (the subject of a monograph on The Government of the Rhine Palatinate in the Fifteenth Century, translated into German in 2013), the German Peasants’ War of 1525 (where he identified anticlericalism as a central factor in a seminal 1979 Past & Present article) and latterly the Imperial Diet (the subject of several recent essays). As a recognized authority in the field of Reformation studies, he served as external examiner to Lyndal Roper, now Regius Professor of History at Oxford. Alongside, Henry took a life-long interest in Jewish history, most recently with a focus on the contested pontificate of Pius XII. At this moment, our thoughts are with his wife Loretta, family and friends. The History Department will remember Dr Henry J. Cohn as an esteemed colleague, dedicated teacher and eminent scholar."
For personal recollections by friends and former colleagues see:
Fri 05 Feb 2021, 09:05

"The Uses of History in Religious Controversies from Erasmus to Baronio"

Dr Stefan Bauer has published a special issue on The Uses of History in Religious Controversies from Erasmus to Baronio, with articles from 7 authors (Renaissance Studies, 35, 2021, no. 1). Warwick students and staff can access the volume through this link, others can access it here.

Wed 03 Feb 2021, 12:48

6 & 8 January 2021 - The annual conference of the British Society for Eighteenth-century Studies

They welcome panel proposals from Eighteenth-century Centres throughout the UK and seek to encourage penal proposals involving postgraduates, research fellows and senior faculty members. The deadline to receive proposals is November 30. If you have an idea for a panel theme, please feel free to get in touch with me so that we can coordinate our proposals. For information about BSECS and the conference, please click here.

Thu 05 Nov 2020, 10:44

Musical Culture and Empire in Eighteenth-Century Britain: a digital concert series

This digital concert series is a University of Warwick Global History and Culture Centre and Early Modern and Eighteenth-Century Centre collaboration with the Oxford-based baroque orchestra, Instruments of Time and Truth.

We will record a programme of high-quality solo performances with short introductory talks to be premiered ‘live’ on social media to enable engagement between performers and audiences in a recognisably concert-like setting. If COVID-19 conditions allow, we will also record a chamber group concert in an eighteenth-century setting to be streamed in the same way. This ‘live’ premier will be a way of approximating a sense of a community coming together to experience music with one another. The concerts will also be recorded for return experiences on the Warwick, IT&T and other music websites. The concerts address the situation of classical musicians during Covid-19, and innovative practices in digital performance. The concert series theme connects eighteenth-century London as a European cultural centre to the city as a centre of empire. A culturally-diverse musical society included composers and performers, audiences and benefactors from Europe and the Atlantic world. ‘Musical Culture and Empire’ brings musical culture to our histories, and the digital concert series supports our musical cultural sector.

Instruments of Time and Truth, described on BBC Record Review as 'an absolutely superb band of instrumental soloists', was founded in 2014 by musicians Gabriel Amherst and Judith Evans to provide a platform for international performers resident in and around Oxford. Established on a community-driven model, the ensemble has both put on a series of innovative explorations of Baroque repertoire, and assumed a significant role in underpinning the tradition of collegiate and community choral excellence in Oxford. IT&T has also performed further afield, putting on performances of Handel’s little-known oratorio “The Triumph of Time and Truth” in London and Tetbury, as well as giving regular concerts in Spain and Malta. In 2019 IT&T's ground-breaking 'InSpires' education project, with its extensive programme of courses, coaching, and individual tuition, was awarded the OMEP Music Partnership Cup at the Music Hub Gala Awards.

Musical Culture

The IT&T orchestra in front of the Sheldonian in Oxford.

Funded by the Humanities Research Fund in collaboration with the Connecting Cultures GRP

Mon 01 Jun 2020, 13:48

BSECS - Call for papers PG & ECR Conference - Postponed until July 2021

Conference poster

Tue 05 May 2020, 10:00

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