Interview with Dr Nicola Clark & Dr. Caroline Dunn: Ladies-in-waiting in the medieval and early modern English court.

The Royal Studies Podcast

In this episode we are joined by Nikki Clark and Caroline Dunn to speak about their work on the role of ladies-in-waiting in the medieval and early modern English court. We’ll hear their reflections on how the role changed over time and what life was like for these women as well as their thoughts about Queen Camilla’s decision to eliminate this position in favour of the new post of ‘companions’.

Dr Nicola Clark is a Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of Chichester. Her first book, Gender, Family, and Politics: The Howard Women, 1485-1558, was published by Oxford University Press in 2018, and she also writes for public audiences, with work featured in History Today and on the History Extra website. She has spoken about her research at events for Historic Royal Palaces, the National Archives, various schools, and academic institutions, and has recently appeared on television as part of the BBC's The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family, and More4's Royal Scandals. Before coming to Chichester, Nicola taught at the University of Winchester and Royal Holloway College, University of London. She has published widely on women’s roles, queenship, the Reformation, and Tudor politics.

Twitter: @NikkiClark86

Selected Publications:

Gender, Family, and Politics: The Howard Women, 1485-1558. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/gender-family-and-politics-9780198784814?cc=gb&lang=en&

“Queen Katherine Howard: Space and Promiscuity Pre- and Post-Marriage, 1536-1541”, Royal Studies Journal 6.2 (2019), 89-103. https://rsj.winchester.ac.uk/articles/10.21039/rsj.202

Dr Caroline Dunn is a scholar of medieval Europe with a particular focus on women’s roles and social networks in late medieval England. Her book, Stolen Women in Medieval England: Rape, Abduction, and Adultery c. 1100-1500 (Cambridge, 2012) offers the first comprehensive overview of women’s experiences with ravishment, which ranged from forcible rape to consensual elopement and adultery, during the English Middle Ages. Professor Dunn’s current research explores the lady-in-waiting in medieval England. Examining these highborn serving women reveals the nuances of soft power, social influence, and economic resources wielded by women who lacked official authority within political institutions or patriarchal households. Dr. Dunn teaches upper level courses on medieval women, crusades and conquests, aristocratic society, and preindustrial food at Clemson University. She received the Dean’s award for teaching excellence in 2011 and the John B. and Thelma A. Gentry Award for teaching excellence in the Humanities in 2019. In 2016 Dr. Dunn co-organized the 5th annual Kings and Queens conference, introducing international scholars to Clemson University for the first time that the gathering was held outside of Europe. Dr Dunn was awarded the 2020 Bonnie Wheeler Fellowship to recognize and advance her scholarship.

Twitter: @SCmedievalist

Selected Publications:

“Serving Isabella of France, From Queen Consort to Dowager Queen.” In Elite and Royal Households in Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Edited by Theresa Earenfight. Leiden: Brill, 2018.

"All the Queen’s Ladies: Philippa of Hainault’s Female Attendants." Journal of Medieval Prosopography 31 (2016), 173-208.

Royal Women and Dynastic Loyalty. Edited by Caroline Dunn and Elizabeth Carney. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.