Dr Sheila Sweetinburgh is Lecturer in Medieval & Early Modern Studies at Canterbury Christ Church University and the University of Kent. She is co-director of the Centre for Kent History and Heritage, for which she writes a highly acclaimed weekly blog and organises the annual History Weekends. She has contributed to numerous local history publications including editing two volumes in the Kent History Project: Early Medieval Kent, 800-1220 (2016) and Later Medieval Kent, 1220-1540 (2010) and Maritime Kent through the Ages (2020). She is currently working on a 3-year funded project on Kent's Maritime Communities with Dr Craig Lambert (University of Southampton).
Currently migration remains high on the political agenda but this is not a new phenomenon and the 15th century witnessed considerable movements of people, as well as goods and ideas. Trade was a significant factor concerning who, when, where and why people crossed the seas to Canterbury, and Kent more broadly, but it was not the only motivating factor. The opportunity to enhance one’s social status, as today, was similarly valued. Consequently, we’ll meet a range of artisans and traders who came to late medieval Canterbury, as well as briefly setting the arrival of such aliens in a regional context.