The contribution focuses on the role of women within the British Monarchy, in particular on the institutional and social profiles of the British queens between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. If in the Middle Ages and until the sixteenth century, female figures had only sporadically approached the tasks of the Crown, it was precisely with the politically and dynastically complex reign of Henry VIII that decisive figures emerged, such as the Catholic Mary I, who paved the way for the first great season led by a Queen, namely that of Elizabeth I. From the foundation of the British Empire to the constitutional transformations of the «Glorius Revolution», other women have characterized the history of English monarchy, passing from Mary II to the long reign of Victoria, to arrive after the Second World War at the second great Elizabethan season (not only temporally, but also due to the important political changes that guided London from the Dominions to the Commonwealth). And it is precisely in this last phase of the British monarchy that the connections between female figures on the throne (or close to it) and British society have emerged most, as emblematically represented by the “Queen of Hearts” Diana Spencer.
Monarchia britannica al femminile e società civile
gheda p
2025-01-01
Abstract
The contribution focuses on the role of women within the British Monarchy, in particular on the institutional and social profiles of the British queens between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. If in the Middle Ages and until the sixteenth century, female figures had only sporadically approached the tasks of the Crown, it was precisely with the politically and dynastically complex reign of Henry VIII that decisive figures emerged, such as the Catholic Mary I, who paved the way for the first great season led by a Queen, namely that of Elizabeth I. From the foundation of the British Empire to the constitutional transformations of the «Glorius Revolution», other women have characterized the history of English monarchy, passing from Mary II to the long reign of Victoria, to arrive after the Second World War at the second great Elizabethan season (not only temporally, but also due to the important political changes that guided London from the Dominions to the Commonwealth). And it is precisely in this last phase of the British monarchy that the connections between female figures on the throne (or close to it) and British society have emerged most, as emblematically represented by the “Queen of Hearts” Diana Spencer.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
