TUESDAY April 30th, 2024 (4:30-6:00pm Boston | 22:30 Madrid)
In Person (Observatorio) & via Zoom
RSVP: RSVPObservatorio or info-observatory@fas.harvard.edu
Often regarded as America’s first “scientific” historian, Henry C. Lea (1825-1909) is best remembered for histories of the Inquisition, especially that focused on Spain’s Inquisition, which remains a foundational text. But what attracted Lea to a subject many of his contemporaries judged abhorrent? How did he manage to collect the archival sources required to write such a study? Was his methodology as “scientific” as alleged? These and other issues relating to Lea’s multi-faceted life—as literary critic, publisher of medical books, political activist, philanthropist, and historian—are the focus of this lecture by Prof. Richard Kagan. They also offer an introduction to his forthcoming The Inquisition’s Inquisitor: Henry C. Lea of Philadelphia.
Richard L. Kagan is Academy Professor and Arthur O. Lovejoy Professor Emeritus of History at Johns Hopkins University. His research has focused on the intellectual and legal history of the Spanish Empire. Prof. Kagan's many contributions to the study of the art, culture, and history of Spain and the broader Hispanic World have given him international recognition. They include Urban Images of the Hispanic World, 1493-1793 (2000), Spain in America: The Origins of Hispanism in the United States (2002), Clio and the Crown: The Politics of History in Medieval and Early Modern Spain (2009), The Spanish Craze: America’s Fascination with the Arts and Cultures of the Hispanic World, 1779-1939 (2019), as well as the above-mentioned biography of historian Henry Charles Lea. He is a member of the American Philosophical Society and of Spain's Real Academia de la Historia.
Language: English