Seminars
Participants are taught in small seminar groups of up to 12 students, and receive two one-on-one tutorials with their tutor.
Sunday
Seminar 1: The background: the role, status and powers of queens consort, and their historical significance
Seminar 2: Emerging into the light of history: queens consort from the pre-Conquest period to the mid-12th century
Monday
Seminar 3: The devil’s brood: Eleanor of Aquitaine and the early Plantagenets
Seminar 4: Passionate love and fearsome hatred: Eleanor of Castile and Isabella of France
Tuesday
Seminar 5: Widowhood and war: Catherine of France, Margaret of Anjou, and the developing dynastic struggle
Seminar 6: A divisive mother and a unifying daughter: Elizabeth Woodville and Elizabeth of York
Wednesday
Seminar 7: Trying to govern an unruly land: Margaret Tudor, Marie de Guise, and their predecessors in Scotland
Seminar 8: Play-acting and popery: Anne of Denmark and Henrietta Maria
Thursday
Seminar 9: Ignored, neglected, adored: Catherine of Braganza and Mary of Modena
Seminar 10: Imprisoned and divorced: Sophia Dorothea of Celle; and ‘One of the most influential consorts’: Caroline of Ansbach
Friday
Seminar 11: Motherhood and madness: Charlotte of Mecklenburg and Caroline of Brunswick
Seminar 12: From Alexandra to Camilla: queens consort in the modern world
Programme timetable
The daily timetable will normally be as follows:
Saturdays
14.00–16.30 - Registration
16.30–17.00 - Orientation meeting
17.00–17.30 - Classroom orientation for tutor and students
17.30–18.00 - Drinks reception
18.00–20.00 - Welcome dinner
Sundays – Fridays
09.00–10.30 - Seminar
10.30–11.00 - Tea/coffee break
11.00–12.30 - Seminar
12.30–13.30 - Lunch
13.30–18.00 - Afternoons are free for tutorials, individual study, course-related field trips or exploring the many places of interest in and around Oxford.
18.00–19.00 - Dinner (There is a formal gala dinner every Friday to close each week of the programme)
A range of optional social events will be offered throughout the summer school. These are likely to include: a quiz night, visit to historic pubs in Oxford, visit to Christ Church for Evensong and after-dinner talks and discussions.