123: Queenship and Royal Babies with Dr. Michelle Beer

Making of a Historian

We were going to save this one for when the new royal baby came, but I loved the conversation so much I just couldn't wait. In this episode I talk with Dr. Michelle Beer about early modern queenship. Now I used to think that Queens were relatively powerless, but in this conversation Dr. Beer sets me straight. Queens had a lot of power, and used that power in rich and complicated ways. There was politics in what clothes the queen wore, and how the king acknowledged the new royal baby, and how the royal couple were married. For more of Beer's work, check out her new book! Queenship at the Renaissance Courts of Britain, available from Boydell and Brewer press.