Category Archives: English Consorts: Power, Influence, Dynasty

Fall 2023 University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies Course: Behind the Crown: The Monarchy from Victoria to Charles III

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I will be teaching an eight week course on Tuesday afternoons in October-November 2023 at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies – Behind the Crown: The Monarchy from Victoria to Charles III. Click here for more information and to register.

ABOUT THIS COURSE

The personal lives of royalty are a popular subject for fiction in novels, films and TV series but the real history is more interesting. Each generation of royalty must respond to the challenges of their times to keep the monarchy relevant and engaged with public opinion. Join Carolyn Harris, historian, commentator and author of Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting for a lively discussion of the history, politics and cultural significance of the monarchy in the UK and Canada.  

Click here for more information and to register for “Behind the Crown: The Monarchy from Victoria at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies

Palgrave Macmillan Annual Book Sale – All Hardcovers for $24.99 until April 19.

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My 2015 Royal Studies Award winning book, Queenship and Revolution in Early Modern Europe: Henrietta Maria and Marie Antoinette and co-edited volumes, Later Plantagenet and the Wars of the Roses Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty; Tudor and Stuart Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty; and Hanoverian to Windsor Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty are all available from Palgrave Macmillan for $24.99. The sale continues until April 19.

Click here to purchase Queenship and Revolution in Early Modern Europe: Henrietta Maria and Marie Antoinette

Click here to purchase Later Plantagenet and the Wars of the Roses Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty

Click here to purchase Tudor and Stuart Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty

Click here to purchase Hanoverian to Windsor Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty

New Book: Hanoverian to Windsor Consorts: Power, Influence and Dynasty

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Hanoverian to Windsor Consorts: Power, Influence and Dynasty, edited by Aidan Norrie, J.L. Laynesmith, Danna R. Messer, Elena Woodacre and myself is now available in hardcover and e-book from Palgrave Macmillan. The book includes new research and perspectives on all the consorts to the Hanoverian, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Windsor monarchs in Britain and the Commonwealth, examining three hundred years of royal history. I wrote the introduction to the volume and introductions to the sections on Hanoverian and Windsor Consorts as well as the final chapter about Camilla, Catherine and the future of the role of the royal consort.

Hanoverian to Windsor Consorts: Power, Influence and Dynasty at Palgrave Macmillan

Hanoverian to Windsor Consorts: Power, Influence and Dynasty on Amazon

Royal Studies Podcast Interview: Hanoverian to Windsor Consorts: Power, Influence and Dynasty

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In a recent interview on the Royal Studies podcast, I discussed my experience co-editing Hanoverian to Windsor Consorts: Power, Influence and Dynasty as well as the lives and legacies of royal consorts from the eighteenth century to the present.

Click here to listen to Interview with the Editors (Vols. 1 & 4)–English Consorts: Power, Influence & Dynasty in the Royal Studies podcast.

Royal Studies Podcast: English Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty

by CarolynHarris | Leave a comment

I discussed the English Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty series with co-editors Elena Woodacre, Aidan Norrie, and Joanna Laynesmith on the Royal Studies Podcast including key themes in the history royal consorts, and the challenges of co-editing a book series that includes chapters on every English/British royal consort from 1066 to the present day!

Click here to listen to English Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty on the Royal Studies Podcast

Click here to purchase the first volume in the series to be published: Tudor and Stuart Consorts: Power, Influence and Dynasty, edited by Aidan Norrie, Carolyn Harris, J. L. Laynesmith, Danna R. Messer and Elena Woodacre.

Fall 2022 Course at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies: Women in Power

by CarolynHarris | Leave a comment

My course about the history of Women in Power from the Classical World to the 21st Century will be offered in class at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies on Tuesday afternoons in Fall 2022 from October 11 to November 29.

Click here for more information and to register

ABOUT THIS COURSE

Powerful women have presented themselves as warrior queens, rulers by divine right, wives and mothers and, most recently, as elected officials. We’ll examine the most significant female political figures in history, including Boadicea, Queen Isabella, Queen Elizabeth I, Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher and Hillary Clinton. Through lively lectures and discussions, you’ll learn the story of women in political life. Why are women still underrepresented in political life? Join Carolyn Harris for a fascinating look at the often-neglected place of women in power from Cleopatra to Angela Merkel.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

  • Survey changing attitudes toward women and political power throughout history.
  • Explore how female leaders have presented themselves to the public.
  • Understand how powerful women are portrayed in popular culture and the media.
  • Compare the experiences of female leaders around the world.
  • See how the history of women in power influences female political leadership today.

Click here for more information and to register

New Book: Tudor and Stuart Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty

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Tudor and Stuart Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty edited by Aidan Norrie, Carolyn Harris, J.L. Laynesmith, Danna R. Messer and Elena Woodacre is now available from Palgrave Macmillan.

This book examines the lives and tenures of all the consorts of the Tudor and Stuart monarchs of England between 1485 and 1714, as well as the wives of the two Lords Protector during the Commonwealth. The figures in Tudor and Stuart Consorts are both incredibly familiar—especially the six wives of Henry VIII—and exceedingly unfamiliar, such as George of Denmark, the husband of Queen Anne. These innovative and authoritative biographies recognise the important role consorts played in a period before constitutional monarchy: in addition to correcting popular assumptions that are based on limited historical evidence, the chapters provide a fuller picture of the role of consort that goes beyond discussions of exceptionalism and subversion. This volume and its companions reveal the changing nature of English consortship from the Norman Conquest to today.

Click here to purchase Tudor and Stuart Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty

English Consorts: Power, Influence, Dynasty books now available for pre-order

by CarolynHarris | Leave a comment

Two of the volumes in the English Consorts: Power, Influence, Dynasty series are now available for pre-order. More information is available here:

Later Plantagenet and Wars of the Roses Consorts: Power, Influence and Dynasty, edited by Aidan Norrie, Carolyn Harris, J. L. Laynesmith, Danna R. Messer and Elena Woodacre, Palgrave Macmillan, 2022.

Tudor and Stuart Consorts: Power, Influence and Dynasty, edited by Aidan Norrie, Carolyn Harris, J. L. Laynesmith, Danna R. Messer and Elena Woodacre, Palgrave Macmillan, 2022.