06 December 2025, 19:30 – 21:30
The Spark of the Reformation: 500th anniversary of Robert Barnes’ Sermon
- LocationSt Edward King & Martyr C Of E Church, Peas Hill, Cambridge, CB2 3PP
- CostFree of charge
- Event typeLecture with musical segments | Option to join online via the St Edward's YouTube channel
Bookings to attend in person have now closed but you can still watch the event online via YouTube. Please note that the event will not appear on the YouTube channel until Saturday 6 December.
Join us for a lecture with Professor Alec Ryrie on Barnes’ midnight Mass sermon that kindled the fire of the English Reformation.
‘Casting the First Stone of England’s Reformation: Christmas Eve 1525 in St Edward’s, Cambridge’
On Christmas Eve 1525, an Augustinian friar named Robert Barnes preached a sermon in St Edward’s Church. What he said was provocative, but it was the context that made it explosive. It not only led to his arrest and imprisonment, a dramatic escape after faking suicide, setting him on the road that would end with burning at the stake fifteen years later. It also set in train a sequence of events that made it possible for Henry VIII to break Catholic England and begin to build something new in its place, eventually taking England’s religion somewhere that would have appalled both the friar and the king.
The event will be followed by a reception with mulled wine and mince pies, which all attendees are welcome to join.
Speaker
Professor Alec Ryrie (1990)
Alec Ryrie is Professor of the History of Christianity at Durham University and a Fellow of the British Academy. Since reading History at Trinity Hall (1990-3), he studied at St Andrews and Oxford, taught at the University of Birmingham, and has been Professor of Divinity at Gresham College, London and President of the Ecclesiastical History Society. He is author of a series of books on the Reformation in England and Scotland and on the history of Christianity up to modern times, including Being Protestant in Reformation Britain (2013), Protestants (2017), Unbelievers: An Emotional History of Doubt (2019) and The Age of Hitler and How We Will Survive It (2025).
Programme
This is a hybrid event. You can book to attend in-person or watch the event online via YouTube. Please note that the event will not appear on the YouTube channel until Saturday 6 December.
~ 19:30 | Welcome and introduction ~
Ms Mary Hockaday – Master, Trinity Hall
The Revd Dr Mark Scarlata – Vicar-Chaplain, St Edward’s Church
~ Musical segment ~
~ Lecture from Professor Alec Ryrie FBA: Casting the First Stone of England’s Reformation: Christmas Eve 1525 in St Edward’s, Cambridge ~
On Christmas Eve 1525, an Augustinian friar named Robert Barnes preached a sermon in St Edward’s Church. What he said was provocative, but it was the context that made it explosive. It not only led to his arrest and imprisonment, a dramatic escape after faking suicide, setting him on the road that would end with burning at the stake fifteen years later. It also set in train a sequence of events that made it possible for Henry VIII to break Catholic England and begin to build something new in its place, eventually taking England’s religion somewhere that would have appalled both the friar and the king.
~ Question and Answer session ~
~ Musical segment ~
~ 21:00 | Refreshments ~
You are invited to join the post-lecture reception (mulled wine and mince pies)
Location
St Edward King & Martyr C Of E Church, Peas Hill, Cambridge, CB2 3PP
Accessing the venue
- For those with limited mobility there is vehicular access for drop-off and pick-up only on King’s Parade
- There is a wheelchair ramp for access to St Edward’s Church
- The nearest parking is at the Grand Arcade, Corn Exchange Street, Cambridge, CB2 3QF
Photography
We like to take photographs at our events to use in our digital and print communications. If you do not wish to have your photo taken, please let us know in advance or on the day.