History Prof Jeffrey Cox delivered lecture, "The Union of the Crowns in 1707"

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Jeffrey Cox
Jeffrey Cox

University of Iowa Professor Jeffrey Cox delivered a lecture on “The Union of the Crowns in 1707” to the Des Moines Scottish Rite University of Freemasonry on Jan. 19.

This year, freemasons are celebrating the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Grand Lodge of England in 1717. Cox’s lecture was intended to provide political background to that event, including the history and significance of the union of the English and Scottish Monarchies in 1707, and the importance of religion and public ceremony in the maintenance of the monarchy from the Act of Supremacy in 1534, establishing Henry VIII as the head of the established Church of England, down to the role of the current monarch, Elizabeth II, in maintaining a sense of British national unity. Will the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland survive in the age of British withdrawal from the European Union, the campaign for Scottish Independence, and renewed claims for Irish national unity?

Cox is a professor in the Department of History, part of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers about 70 majors across the humanities; fine, performing and literary arts; natural and mathematical sciences; social and behavioral sciences; and communication disciplines. About 15,000 undergraduate and nearly 2,000 graduate students study each year in the college’s 37 departments, led by faculty at the forefront of teaching and research in their disciplines. The college teaches all Iowa undergraduates through the college's general education program, CLAS CORE. About 80 percent of all Iowa undergraduates begin their academic journey in CLAS. The college confers about 60 percent of the university's bachelor's degrees each academic year.