A University of Worcester historian will explore 17th century beliefs in the supernatural as part of a school’s inaugural annual lecture.
Professor Darren Oldridge
Professor of Early Modern History, Darren Oldridge, will give a lecture at the event at The King’s School, in Worcester, on Thursday (May 22), at 6.30pm. The event is titled ‘God and the Devil in Civil War England’ and Professor Oldridge will speak on ‘Richard Baxter and the Devil’.
He will be speaking alongside Dr Jason Kerr, Associate Professor of English at Brigham Young University, who will address the topic of ‘Worcestershire's 'Mere Christian': the Life and Limits of Richard Baxter’.
The event, which has a theme this year of religion and history, focuses on the career of local churchman, Richard Baxter, who witnessed many of the upheavals of the 17th century, and became deeply interested in the supernatural.
This will be the inaugural year of the Higgins Lecture, which aims to invite academics into the school to speak each year. The Higgins Society is the Sixth Form Academic Society at King’s Worcester.
Professor Oldridge said: “Baxter was a fascinating character who witnessed in his long life many of the upheavals of the 17th century. He was a committed parliamentarian in the Civil War and served for a time as a chaplain in the New Model Army. Later he came to support the restoration of the monarchy.
“Baxter was also deeply interested in the supernatural and collected accounts of otherworldly happenings from his acquaintances. These included the appearance of good and evil spirits, as well as cases of witchcraft. Many of his tales related to Worcestershire, where he served as a minister for many years. I look forward to sharing some of these spooky narratives in my talk.”
Professor Oldridge said one of Baxter’s tales concerned a royalist soldier seeing an apparition of a monstrous animal on College Green, near Worcester Cathedral.
“The Civil War was a time when sightings of ghosts, angels and demons were unusually common,” he said. “In the later 1600s, Baxter was one of many ministers who sought out evidence of the invisible kingdom of spirits. They did so mainly to prove the reality of the soul and the afterlife. Baxter wrote a great deal about the Devil, who he believed was constantly seeking opportunities to lead people into sin and damnation. My talk will focus on this.”
Tickets cost £2. There will be a drinks reception at 6pm. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the ticketing website.