1511 Lunch 2025

The Master and Fellows of St John’s College are pleased to invite you and a guest to our inaugural 1511 lunch on Saturday 10 May.

Established in 1511 through a bequest from Lady Margaret Beaufort, St John’s has been shaped over the centuries by the generosity of benefactors, helping it become the institution it is today. This event is our opportunity to thank you for the invaluable role that you play in supporting the College.

Programme

12pm: Welcome drinks in the Masters’ Lodge garden

1pm: Lunch in the Senior Combination Room

3.30pm: Choose from two different afternoon activities. Please note that places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

Option 1: ‘The Triumph of Fashion: A Global History’ by Professor Ulinka Rublack in the Old Music Room (details below)

Option 2: Tour of the Gardens by Head Gardener David Austrin

4.30pm: Tea and coffee in the Old Divinity School

5.30pm: Event closes

(optional) 6.30pm: Evensong in the Chapel

Do contact Donor Relations Officer, Kathryn-Anne Masters on k.masters@joh.cam.ac.uk for any questions you might have.

Afternoon session

3.30–4.30pm
The Triumph of Fashion: A Global History

Professor Ulinka Rublack is a Professor of Early Modern History at Cambridge University and Fellow of St John´s College. Her recent books include The Astronomer & the Witch: Johannes Kepler’s Fight For His Mother (Oxford University Press: 2015) and Dürer´s Lost Masterpiece: Art and Society at the Dawn of a Global World (Oxford University Press, 2023). Rublack´s books are translated into seven languages and her book on Johannes and Katharina Kepler inspired a novel, a film and a new monument for Katharina. She is a Fellow of the British Academy and has been won multiple prizes for her work. Ulinka is currently writing a global history of fashion, from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment.

Global history increasingly aims to chart cultural changes, and my talk argues that from 1100 onwards, larger areas of the globe related to each other through their interest in fashion. The first part of my talk provides some examples for this emergence of fashion as a global phenomenon. Its second part turns to the importance of global accessories. A final part examines the question of how these developments reshape questions about cultural difference, ecologies and the ethos of textile production which are crucial for contemporary discussions about the future of fashion.

3.30-4.30pm
Tour of the Gardens
Head Gardener, David Austrin, will lead an hour long walking tour of the gardens of St John’s.