At Court
Historically, courts have tended to subvert boundaries between the sexes. Because of a European consort’s role in assuring the succession and enhancing dynastic prestige, her household and apartments could rival in size and splendour those of the monarch. Sometimes she controlled her own finances. A court was therefore the only arena where women could compete with men, on near equal terms, for power and influence.
In a global, non-ideological, gender-conscious age, the appeal of court history is growing. The days when professors could claim ‘only the condition of the working-class matters’, or ‘don’t touch that royal stuff, it may damage your career’, are over.