Erin Griffey is Professor of Art History at the University of Auckland and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, London. She has published widely on Henrietta Maria and early modern court culture, including the monograph, On Display: Henrietta Maria and the Materials of Magnificence at the Stuart Court (2016), and the edited volumes: Henrietta Maria: Piety, Politics and Patronage (2008) and Sartorial Politics at the Early Modern Court: Fashioning Women (2019). Her current research relates to beauty culture, including the monograph, Facing Decay: Beauty, Aging and Cosmetics in Early Modern Europe (2025).
Through a thematic overview of court culture that connects the cultural with the political, confessional, spatial, material and performative, this volume introduces the dynamics of power and culture in the early modern European court.
Exploring the period from 1500 to 1750, Early Modern Court Culture is cross-cultural and interdisciplinary, providing insights into aspects of both community and continuity at courts as well as individual identity, change and difference. Culture is presented as not merely a vehicle for court propaganda in promoting the monarch and the dynasty, but as a site for a complex range of meanings that conferred status and virtue on the patron, maker, court and the wider community of elites. The essays show that the court provided an arena for virtue and virtuosity, intellectual and social play, demonstration of moral authority and performance of social, gendered, confessional and dynastic identity. This second edition expands the scope with three new chapters exploring the roles of mistresses, the significance of travel, and the place of animals at court. A new prologue from Susan Broomhall frames the collection, while updated chapters throughout incorporate global comparisons that situate European courts within broader international contexts.
With enhanced images bringing the material culture to life, and curated lists of additional sources for each chapter that guide readers toward further exploration, Early Modern Court Culture remains essential reading for all students and scholars interested in the court in early modern Europe.
Lists of figures
List of contributors
Prologue: Provocations on early modern court culture
Susan Broomhall
Introduction
Erin Griffey
Part I: People and political structures: Connecting power
1. Monarchs: Kings and queens regnant, sovereign princes and popes
Ronald G. Asch
2. Consorts and court ladies
Helen Watanabe-O´Kelly
3. Wider kinship networks
Jonathan Spangler
4. Courtiers, ministers and favourites
R. Malcolm Smuts
5. Confessors
Nicole Reinhardt
6. Aristocrats and nobles
Hamish Scott
7. Diplomats
Tracey A. Sowerby
8. Mistresses
Tracy Adams and Christine Adams
Part II: Place and space: Negotiating the court
9. Access
Dries Raeymaekers
10. Princely residences
Elisabeth Narkin
11. Gardens
Paula Henderson
12. Travel
Elisabeth Narkin
Part III: Ceremonial and ritual: Observing tradition
13. Religious rituals and the liturgical calendar in Catholic Europe
Paolo Cozzo
14. Births
Erin Griffey
15. Marriages
Joan-Lluís Palos
16. Coronations
Paul Monod
17. Receptions: Triumphal entries, ambassadorial receptions and banquets
R.L.M. Morris
18. Funerals
Jill Bepler
Part IV: Visual and material culture: Furnishing the palace
19. Metalwork
Sean Roberts
20. Tapestries
Guy Delmarcel
21. Furnishings
Olivia Fryman
22. Portraiture
Lisa Mansfield
23. Display
Andrea Bubenik
24. Porcelain rooms
Meredith Martin
Part V: Adornment
25. Jewellery
Natasha Awais-Dean
26. Male dress
Timothy McCall
27. Female dress
Jemma Field
28. Beauty
Erin Griffey
29. Scent
Holly Dugan
Part VI: Entertainment and knowledge: Performing authority
30. Science
Alisha Rankin
31. Theatre and opera
Sophie Tomlinson
32. Dance
Jennifer Nevile
33. Literature
Tom Bishop
34. Music
Andrew H. Weaver
35. Animals
Sarah Cockram
36. Tournaments and hunting
Glenn Richardson
37. Food and dining
Ken Albala
38. Games, jesters and jokes
Johan Verberckmoes
Index
Praise for the first edition:
'A welcome and thorough comparative exploration of early modern court culture, this volume steers the reader expertly through the power structures, spaces, and cultures of European courts. With an emphasis on the material, the sensory, and the spatial, the essays bring the field of court history up to date and showcase it as a vibrant field of study. A must for every early modern reading list.'
Nicola Clark, University of Chichester, UK
