History
Magnanimity in victory - Velazquez’s message of empathetic understanding between the rival commanders of the Siege of Breda in 1625 reaches out across the centuries to remind us of the constancy of the human condition, but also the hugely contrasting circumstances in which it is set. History students at the RGS aim to study both. The bedrock of the subject is the intellectual curiosity it fosters: what was this siege, how was it fought and even more so why was it fought?
The study of History at the RGS is one of discovery and self discovery, placing it at the heart of the Humanities and representing the core values of a liberal education which inspired the Renaissance founding of the RGS 500 years ago and which continue to inspire us today.
RGS History students now as then, are characterised by a sheer love of learning, a willingness to challenge assumptions and attitudes, to test out interpretations and in discussion indeed allow themselves to be persuaded, but only by good argument.
Over the course of their RGS career boys discover the formative influences of society around them from the roots of Anglo-Saxon culture, through to medieval certainties, the ideological conflicts of the Early Modern era and the industrialisation and democratisation of the Modern period.
They do so both within the classroom as we explore the different periods and events which shape our heritage and beyond, for example, walking the First World Battlefields in search of our Old Boys who fought there or with the sixth form, in East Anglia or the West Country and with the help of History tutors at UEA or Exeter University, tracing the movements and motives of Tudor rebels.
What RGS history students learn to ask is not just what, nor even how, but really, why...