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Join bestselling author, historian and novelist Dr Alison Weir for a vivid portrayal of the remarkable medieval duchess Katherine Swynford in this enthralling talk about her life.

Learn about Katherine’s extraordinary story as passionate lover to John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster, her courtly influence and why many of her contemporaries considered her enigmatic, intriguing and even dangerous. Upon becoming a knight’s orphan, Katherine was adopted by Queen Philippa’s household, beginning an education and lifestyle accustomed to the Royal Court, not ordinarily accessible to someone from her level of society. She later became sister-in-law to Geoffrey Chaucer, a witness to the Peasant’s Revolt of 1381 and named a Lady of the Garter.

Having famously rescued Katherine from the footnotes of history, Alison will peel back meticulously researched layers of her story to reveal an astute, influential medieval woman.

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Dr Alison Weir’s gifted storytelling in person and deepen your understanding of Katherine Swynford’s extraordinary life and legacy, previously written out of history.

This talk will include a 20-minute interval, 15-minute audience Q&A and book signing in partnership with Hunting Ravens Bookshop. A broad selection of Alison’s books will be available to purchase, including her latest spellbinding Tudor novel The Boleyn Secret, newly released in paperback in February 2027.

About the Author

Dr Alison Weir is the top-selling female historian (and the fifth-bestselling historian overall) in the United Kingdom, and has sold over 3 million books worldwide and done more than 1190 events. She has published twenty-two history books, her most recent being Queens at War, the fourth volume of her England’s Medieval Queens quartet. Alison has also published seventeen historical novels, including the Six Tudor Queens series about the wives of Henry VIII, which was launched in 2016 to great critical acclaim; each of the six books was a Sunday Times top-ten bestseller. Alison’s latest novel is The Boleyn Secret (May 2026). She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an honorary life patron of Historic Royal Palaces. In 2023, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Bishop Grosseteste University at Lincoln.