Study in Oxford
Fifteen Centuries of British Monarchy
This seminar is currently filled for the 2024 program. Please see information about our literature and culture seminar.
The British Monarchy is central to the United Kingdom’s unwritten constitution. This course looks at its development since AD 597-603, when Aethelberht of Kent accepted baptism and produced the first English law code. It charts the evolution of royal power, at first very much contingent on the strength of individual kings, and the development of institutions. It looks at the role of major figures from Alfred the Great to Elizabeth II in this evolution. Finally it considers the present and future under Charles III, who has, like a number of his ancestors, succeeded a much-admired and very long-lived ruler, and must put his own stamp on the office of Sovereign.
Advance Reading
Ann Lyon: Constitutional History of the UK, Routledge, 2nd ed. 2016
Course Outline
Week One
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Monday
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· Beginnings – Early Anglo-Saxon Kingship · Response to the Viking Invasions – Governmental structures develop |
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Tuesday
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· The Norman Conquest – a new beginning, or more of the same? · Stephen and Henry II · Magna Carta |
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Wednesday
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· Henry III and Simon de Montfort · Edward I and expansion of royal power |
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Thursday
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· Uneasy on their thrones – Edward II and Richard II · Meanwhile, in Scotland · Monarchy in crisis – the 15th century in England and Scotland |
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Friday
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· The Tudors |
Week Two
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Monday
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· The crucible of the monarchy – the 17th century o The Civil Wars o Restoration o Revolution and Revolution Settlement |
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Tuesday
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Stability at last – the 18th century and emergence of constitutional monarchy |
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Wednesday
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· The 19th century and beginnings of public service monarchy |
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Thursday
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· The 20th century o Establishment of public service monarchy and retreat from the political sphere o Crisis and recovery – the Abdication |
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Friday
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· What next? Monarchy in the 21st century |
About the Tutor
Ann Lyon has had a passion for history as long as she can remember. After 25 years as a Lecturer in Law she now combines history and law as a constitutional historian with a particular interest in the British Monarchy. She has been a tutor in the Department for Continuing Education since 2018, initially teaching a course on British Constitutional History, more recently on Modern Legal Controversies – the more controversial the issue the better! Away from work she is an instructor with the Cadet Forces, a local councillor, and tries to write historical fiction.