The Life & Times of Lady Anne Clifford - Leeds

St John's Church, Leeds, West Yorkshire

Join acclaimed historian Professor Jessica Malay as she explores the extraordinary life of Anne Clifford

Lady Anne Clifford (1590-1676) was a prominent noble woman in the seventeenth century. During her long life she experienced the courts of Elizabeth, James and Charles I. She fought a decades long battle to secure her inheritance of the Clifford lands of the north, providing a spirited and legally robust defense of her rights despite the opposition of powerful men, including James I. She eventually inherited the Clifford lands, and she describes her subsequent struggles to reclaim her authority in these lands still mired in the civil wars. Her autobiographies reveal her joys and griefs within a vivid description of seventeenth-century life. They reveal a personality that was vulnerable and determined; charitable and canny. Her autobiographies provide a window into a vibrant world of seventeenth-century life as lived by this complex and intriguing seventeenth-century woman.

Jessica Malay is Professor of English Renaissance Literature at the University of Huddersfield, and author of Anne Clifford's Autobiographical Writing, 1590-1676. Join her for a fascinating evening as she recounts the life and times of this extraordinary woman.

Tickets £8 on the door. A glass of wine is included.