The Great Fire: Reconsidered
Wren Suite, St Paul’s Cathedral
3 September, 2016

The Great Fire of London has long been held as a watershed moment in London’s history. Over the course of four days in September 1666, an infernal blaze claimed over 13,000 houses, 87 churches and 52 livery halls, and rendered an estimated 70,000 people homeless. Yet while cellars still burned there were whispers at court that the conflagration might actually be ‘the greatest blessing that God ever conferred’ upon King Charles II because it had crippled the ‘rebellious’ City of London; forever opening its gates to royal power.

Three hundred and fifty years on, The Great Fire: Reconsidered aims to re-examine the impact of the Great Fire of London and explore its wide-ranging legacy. This interdisciplinary conference will focus on the political, cultural and architectural impact of the fire; the way in which the ever-adapting Restoration stage laboriously and brilliantly reworked the topography of London to accommodate specific needs of its audience; and the religious ramifications of heightened anti-papist feelings.

We are inviting proposals for 20-minute papers on any of the aforementioned themes across all disciplines from established scholars, graduate students and early career researchers.

Papers proposals of up to 250 words, accompanied by a short biography should be submitted to Gabriella Infante (gabriella.infante@kcl.ac.uk) and Rebecca Rideal (thehistoryvault@gmail.com) by Thursday 30 June.