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Courts and Politics in an Age of Turmoil, c.1780â1830
Series: - Rulers & Elites, Volume: 22
How did courts navigate reform, revolution, warfare, and restoration between 1780 and 1830? Not only does this volume reveal reforming princes, plotting royals, and the careers of household dignitaries; it also examines the political and social roles of women at court and the experiences of regime change and exile. Reconsidering the history of monarchy and the court in the early nineteenth century, Courts and Politics in an Age of Turmoil broadens the definition of politics to include court sociability and women. It concludes that historians of the nineteenth century can no longer take for granted the political marginalization of the court.
Contributors include Nigel Aston, Jeroen Duindam, Kristine Dyrmann, MikoÅaj Getka-Kenig, William D. Godsey, Vincent Haegele, Philip Mansel, Heidi Mehrkens, Fabian Persson, Quinten Somsen, Thibaut Trétout, Damien Tricoire, Charles-Eloi Vial, and Joost Welten.
Contributors include Nigel Aston, Jeroen Duindam, Kristine Dyrmann, MikoÅaj Getka-Kenig, William D. Godsey, Vincent Haegele, Philip Mansel, Heidi Mehrkens, Fabian Persson, Quinten Somsen, Thibaut Trétout, Damien Tricoire, Charles-Eloi Vial, and Joost Welten.
Jeroen Duindam (Leiden) examines the comparative history of courts and rulers, in early modern Europe and from a global perspective. Among his works are Dynasty. A Very Short Introduction (2019); Dynasties: A Global History of Power 1300-1800 (2016); Vienna and Versailles (2003); and Myths of Power (1995).
Quinten Somsen obtained his PhD at Leiden University in June 2025 with a dissertation entitled Asserting Princely Power in Hesse-Kassel and the Dutch Republic: The Courts of Landgrave Wilhelm IX and Stadholder Willem V in Comparison (c. 1770â1806). His main fields of interest are the political history of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation and the Dutch Republic. He was a member of the Monarchy in Turmoil team at Leidenâs Institute for History. He will join the History Department at the Radboud University in Nijmegen as a lecturer for the 2025/26 semester.
Joost Welten is Research Associate at the Institute for Habsburg and Balkan Studies at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. He is currently writing a monograph on the Habsburg dynasty during the revolutionary and Napoleonic period. His publications include Dansen rond de troon van Willem I: de hoven in Den Haag en Brussel (2023) and Die vergessenen Prinzessinnen von Thorn (1700-1794) (2021).
Quinten Somsen obtained his PhD at Leiden University in June 2025 with a dissertation entitled Asserting Princely Power in Hesse-Kassel and the Dutch Republic: The Courts of Landgrave Wilhelm IX and Stadholder Willem V in Comparison (c. 1770â1806). His main fields of interest are the political history of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation and the Dutch Republic. He was a member of the Monarchy in Turmoil team at Leidenâs Institute for History. He will join the History Department at the Radboud University in Nijmegen as a lecturer for the 2025/26 semester.
Joost Welten is Research Associate at the Institute for Habsburg and Balkan Studies at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. He is currently writing a monograph on the Habsburg dynasty during the revolutionary and Napoleonic period. His publications include Dansen rond de troon van Willem I: de hoven in Den Haag en Brussel (2023) and Die vergessenen Prinzessinnen von Thorn (1700-1794) (2021).
List of Illustrations
Notes on Contributors
1 Introduction: the Political Role of the Royal Household in the Age of Revolution and Restoration
âJeroen Duindam
2 Princely Courts, Urban Culture and the Public Sphere: the Palais-Royal of the Duc dâOrléans in Paris before the French Revolution
âDamien Tricoire
3 âThe Most Occupied Prince in Europeâ: a Comparative Analysis of Court Attendance in the Dutch Republic and Hesse-Kassel (c.1770â1806)
âQuinten Somsen
4 Managing Monarchy in Turbulent Times: Lord Salisbury as Lord Chamberlain at the Court of George III, 1783â1804
âNigel Aston
5 Court Factions and Female Political Networks: Elite Women at the Danish Court during a Time of Turmoil, 1784â1797
âKristine Dyrmann
6 Personal Power in Personal Rule: Female Courtiers in Sweden, 1770â1830
âFabian Persson
7 Courtiers, a âMinister-Favouriteâ and Politics in Austria during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
âWilliam D. Godsey
8 Joseph Bonaparte and the Courts of Naples and Spain
âVincent Haegele
9 Between the Crown and the Chambers: Blacas, Decazes, Madame du Cayla and Polignac, Favourites of Louis XVIII and Charles X
âPhilip Mansel
10 âEntre Chambres et Antichambresâ: the Political Dimension of the French Court during the (Second) Restoration (1815â1830)
âThibaut Trétout
11 The Political Relevance of a Restoration Era Court: King William I and His Courts in Brussels and the Hague (1813â1830)
âJoost Welten
12 A Loyal Elite in the Making: Nobles and the Transformations of the Polish Royal Court, 1760â1830
âMikoÅaj Getka-Kenig
13 Two Grand Masters of the Hunt and the Duke of Brunswick
âHeidi Mehrkens
14 Charles X and His Court: Politics and Fidelity during the July Revolution
âCharles-Ãloi Vial
Bibliography
Notes on Contributors
1 Introduction: the Political Role of the Royal Household in the Age of Revolution and Restoration
âJeroen Duindam
2 Princely Courts, Urban Culture and the Public Sphere: the Palais-Royal of the Duc dâOrléans in Paris before the French Revolution
âDamien Tricoire
3 âThe Most Occupied Prince in Europeâ: a Comparative Analysis of Court Attendance in the Dutch Republic and Hesse-Kassel (c.1770â1806)
âQuinten Somsen
4 Managing Monarchy in Turbulent Times: Lord Salisbury as Lord Chamberlain at the Court of George III, 1783â1804
âNigel Aston
5 Court Factions and Female Political Networks: Elite Women at the Danish Court during a Time of Turmoil, 1784â1797
âKristine Dyrmann
6 Personal Power in Personal Rule: Female Courtiers in Sweden, 1770â1830
âFabian Persson
7 Courtiers, a âMinister-Favouriteâ and Politics in Austria during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
âWilliam D. Godsey
8 Joseph Bonaparte and the Courts of Naples and Spain
âVincent Haegele
9 Between the Crown and the Chambers: Blacas, Decazes, Madame du Cayla and Polignac, Favourites of Louis XVIII and Charles X
âPhilip Mansel
10 âEntre Chambres et Antichambresâ: the Political Dimension of the French Court during the (Second) Restoration (1815â1830)
âThibaut Trétout
11 The Political Relevance of a Restoration Era Court: King William I and His Courts in Brussels and the Hague (1813â1830)
âJoost Welten
12 A Loyal Elite in the Making: Nobles and the Transformations of the Polish Royal Court, 1760â1830
âMikoÅaj Getka-Kenig
13 Two Grand Masters of the Hunt and the Duke of Brunswick
âHeidi Mehrkens
14 Charles X and His Court: Politics and Fidelity during the July Revolution
âCharles-Ãloi Vial
Bibliography
This volume will be essential for political historians of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century and for court history. While it might appeal to the general public, researchers, teachers, and students are the primary audiences, through academic libraries or open access. Keywords are: Monarchy, royal court, revolution, restoration, courtiers, women, political history, sociability.