Author Archives: gabbystorey

A discussion of LGBTQ+ stories and historical spaces

By Holly Marsden The material remains of historic houses and the imagining of their past inhabitants enables the concurrent appreciation by their visitors of the historical specificity and otherness of the past, together with those echoes of the familiar which makes them feel real. Making connections with the ghosts of the past will remain anContinue reading “A discussion of LGBTQ+ stories and historical spaces”

‘You spent fifty thousand on shoes!:’[1] power, gender, and sartorial expression in Versailles

By Holly Marsden Cover Image: BBC Two Canal+’s historical drama Versailles premiered in the UK in May 2016 on BBC Two. It is set during the building of the palace of Versailles, led by King Louis XIV in seventeenth century France. The is frivolous, dramatic and gripping, portraying Louis in his most power-hungry prime: inContinue reading “‘You spent fifty thousand on shoes!:’[1] power, gender, and sartorial expression in Versailles“

Book Review: The Favourite, Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough by Ophelia Field

By Holly Marsden Ophelia Field’s 2002 (revised in 2018) biography of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough is a fascinating insight into the eighteenth-century elite. The biography focuses on the intensity of the relationship between Sarah and Queen Anne, with the two having grown up together in and around the court of Charles II. Sarah was laterContinue reading “Book Review: The Favourite, Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough by Ophelia Field”

Mater Dolorosa: Elisabeth in the Aftermath of Mayerling

By Lucy Coatman Cover Image: Empress Elizabeth at Corfu by Friedrich August von Kaulbach, after 1898, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Friedrich_August_von_Kaulbach_-_Sisi_auf_Korfu.jpg This blog post complements Lucy’s post published earlier this month, and we highly recommend reading it before delving into Elisabeth here.

Exhibition Review: ‘Elizabeth and Mary: Royal Cousins, Rival Queens’ at the British Library

By Johanna Strong All images unless otherwise indicated were photographed at the British Library by Johanna Strong. Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots, form one of the most popularly famous – or rather, infamous – female partnerships of the early modern European world. While most historians of early modern England could provide more detailedContinue reading “Exhibition Review: ‘Elizabeth and Mary: Royal Cousins, Rival Queens’ at the British Library”

Film Review: Mary Queen of Scots

By Johanna Strong Cover Image: courtesy of IMDB, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2328900/. With the winter break behind us, some of us might be hesitant to let that holiday spirit go. With that in mind, this month’s first blog post eases back into the historical world by examining the 2018 film, ‘Mary Queen of Scots’.

The Marriage of Augusta of Saxe-Gotha and Frederick, Prince of Wales

By Amy-Jane Humphries In April 1736, Britain and the Hanoverian royal family celebrated the marriage of the heir apparent, Frederick, Prince of Wales, to Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. With this union, the monarchy found itself in a unique position. For the first time since they had inherited the throne from Queen Anne in 1714, the HanoveriansContinue reading “The Marriage of Augusta of Saxe-Gotha and Frederick, Prince of Wales”

Book Review: The Monstrous Regiment of Women: Female Rulers in Early Modern Europe by Sharon L. Jansen

By Johanna Strong Sharon L. Jansen’s The Monstrous Regiment of Women: Female Rulers in Early Modern Europe is a foundational work in the field of queenship studies and stands in a long series of responses and allusions to John Knox’s infamous First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Regiment of Women (1558). Where KnoxContinue reading “Book Review: The Monstrous Regiment of Women: Female Rulers in Early Modern Europe by Sharon L. Jansen”