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
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
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
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
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 6.00pm
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
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: 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
Friday 25 September 2026 at 6.00 pm
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
The Society’s visit to historians at the University of Strathclyde, with guest public lecture by Meleisa Ono-George (University of Oxford), Title tbc
Tuesday 3 November 2026 at 6.00pm
2026 RHS Public History Lecture: Sathnam Sanghera
‘What History is NOT’
In association with Gresham College, London
Friday 27 November 2026 at 6.00pm
2026 RHS Anniversary Lecture: 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 4.00pm
2026 RHS International Fellows’ Lecture: Amy Froide (University of Maryland)
‘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
December 2026, date to be confirmed
The Society’s visit to historians at the University of the West of England and the University of Bristol, with guest public lecture.