Daily schedule
Seminars meet each weekday morning after breakfast.
After lunch, afternoons are free for individual study or exploring the many places of interest in and around the city. Optional plenary excursions and social activities including walking tours will also be available.
The course fee includes breakfasts Monday-Saturday (residential guests only), lunches Sunday-Friday, and three-course dinners Sunday-Thursday. All meals are taken in Christ Church’s spectacular dining hall.
On Friday, there will be a special four-course gala dinner to celebrate the closing of the week.
Seminars and field trip
Monday seminars
France finds herself: The course begins with a brief overview of the period; looking at the main developments in the ‘creation’ of France, partly as a consequence of the Hundred Years War.
The White Hart: We look at the end of the 14th century and the roles of several women in peace efforts between England and France and the vital connection between them created by Isabel of France and the women of her dynasty.
Tuesday seminars
Lancaster and Valois: Consider the roles of women in the effort to create a ‘United Kingdom’ of England and France and their significance in the Valois House of Burgundy, rivals to the kings of France.
Lillies and Roses: We review the women who stood behind the French kings who defeated the English, and the French ‘she-wolf’, Margaret of Anjou in the context of the Wars of the Roses.
Wednesday seminars
The Italian Dream: The military power of France having defeated the English, the course considers the women whose dynastic connections within and beyond the Italian states, made them central to the start of ‘the Italian Wars’.
The Spanish Nightmare: This session focuses on the women who were the mothers and daughters of Louis XII and Francis I and who, in the person of Louise of Savoy effectively rescued France from the greatest danger it faced in a century.
Thursday field trip
We visit The Wallace Collection in London to see a range of items from the medieval to modern period, emblematic of Franco-British relations, and identifying key women of the period portrayed, or referred to, in the collection.
On the return we visit Ewelme Church, Oxfordshire, to see the extraordinary monument to Alice Chaucer, Duchess of Suffolk.
Friday seminars
Artists and Patrons: We look at the patronage of literature, painting, sculpture and other art forms by Louise, Margaret of Navarre, and Madame d’Etampes. We see how such patronage communicated women’s power and influence in the French state.
A Mother’s Burden: We look at the roles of women in the breakdown of royal authority after the death of Henri II and the events that ultimately resulted in the French Wars of Religion in the 1560-80s.
Field trip
Destination: The Wallace Collection, London and Ewelme Church, Oxfordshire
Duration: All day (London in the morning, stop at Ewelme Church on the return to Oxford)
Excursion Rating: Moderate – up to two hours' walk on even ground or up to an hour's walk on rough and/or steep ground or up lots of stairs and steps.
