Sanctuary offered safety to fugitives, regardless of their guilt or innocence, for a certain period – usually forty days (a quarantine). It held as a legal right until Henry VIII began its abolition. But the memory of it survives in the form of Sanctuary Cities, Universities and Colleges of Sanctuary. However, the principle of offering safety to refugees, forced migrants and arrivants in general has come under extreme strain, to say the least,  from anti-immigrant policies, fuelled by some vocal elements of public opinion.  Meanwhile the concept of sanctuary itself has increasingly shifted from a place of openness to a private stronghold, from a commons of equality to a bastion of individual rights.

Marina will look at the history of sanctuary, the significance of its present flouting and abandonment, and its potential reconfiguration to meet exacerbated current conditions.

Details: Thursday 27 November 2025, ‘Sanctuary, Safety, and Sacrilege, 15:30 – 17:00, All Souls Criminology Seminar Series, Wharton Room (All Souls College) + online

Register your attendance here