COURSE DESCRIPTION The 18th century was the great age of the English country house. It was the age of Robert Adam, of Thomas Chippendale and of Capability Brown. It was also the age of the Grand Tour, of collecting and of manufacturing and trading revolutions. In this course, we’ll survey changing architectural styles and developments in furnishings and interior decoration. We’ll also explore some of the art that adorned the rooms of the country house and view the gardens and landscapes that extended from them. Along the way, we’ll discover a fine cast of characters, including owners, architects, designers and craftsmen, all of whom have fascinating stories to tell. This is a course about style and elegance – with some splendid English eccentrics thrown in along the way.
COURSE DESCRIPTION In November 1530, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey died in disgrace at Leicester Abbey, a dramatic fall for someone who had once been one of the most powerful and influential men in England. Wolsey was very significant in the early development of Henry VIII’s kingship and one cannot understand Henry without Wolsey. The course considers the early life and career of Wolsey before discussing the nature of his relationship with Henry VIII. We’ll look at Wolsey’s dominance over the Tudor state and church and his marked influence in the foreign policy of that state. We’ll review the wealth, the opportunities and, ultimately, the insoluble problems which that dominance brought him, together with his artistic and educational patronage. We’ll conclude with a discussion of the reasons for his fall from power, the events that followed during the last year of his life, and his significance in English history. The Rise and Fall of Thomas Wolsey: England’s Renaissance Cardinal
Participants will receive a suggested reading list for this course prior to the program.
COURSE EXCURSION Enrolled participants wil experience a full day at Blenheim Palace and Rousham Gardens.
TUTOR Dr. Gillian White began her career at the Warwickshire Museum and then worked for the National Trust as curator/collections manager at Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, about which she then wrote her Ph.D. Since then, she taught part-time at Leicester University for several years in the Centre for the Study of the Country House and continues to teach history of art history in the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education, as well as freelance lecturing.
Participants will receive a suggested reading list for this course prior to the program.
COURSE EXCURSION Enrolled participants will experience a full day at Hampton Court Palace.
TUTOR Dr. Glenn Richardson is a professor of early modern history at St Mary’s University, Twickenham in London. He is the author of several books on Renaissance monarchs and on late-medieval and Renaissance international relations. His most recent book was “Wolsey” and he is currently working on a biography of Francis I of France, as well as a book on the battle of Pavia in 1525. He has taught many Oxford University Department for Continuing Education courses on aspects of the Renaissance and the monarchies of England, France and related topics.
The World of the 18th Century Country House
6 ∙ MSU ALUMNI
ODYSSEY TO OXFORD ∙ 7
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