In this talk, Professor Christopher Joby takes us on a journey across 2000 years of history in Norwich and Norfolk, from Boudica and the Iceni to the present day, looking at which languages have been spoken, by whom and with what results. He pays special attention to the arrival of the Dutch and French speaking Strangers in the sixteenth century in Norwich, Lynn, Yarmouth and Thetford, and to the effects on the Norfolk dialect of waves of inward migration.

Professor Joby is the author of the book Multilingualism and the Early Modern City: Language and Society in Norwich (1500–1750) (Liverpool University Press, 2026) Multilingualism and the Early Modern City | Home and will be giving details of a discount on the book during the presentation.

Arrive 7:00pm for 7:30pm start.