Danielle Crosby
HIS 3600
Professionalizing History Majors
Spring 2025
Essay Critique 1​

            I found this essay by contacting one of UCF's subject librarians and spoke with Richard Harrison, who shares similar interests in this specific critique. While I am taking a course on English History, topics of the Renaissance and the role of women during that period come up in conversation, so I chose to look further into the historiography. After expressing my interests, Richard assisted me in searching for an article that covers both topics mixed with women's involvement in politics in Tudor England.​

            In the article "Women and Politics in Early Tudor England," Barbara Harris (1990) explores the upper-class women of the Tudor period and their involvement in society and politics. Men were not the only influential people in late fifteenth and early sixteenth century England. Nevertheless, many ideas are related to them when, in reality, women carry out many significant ideas and relationships within their circles.

            Harris goes out of her way to explain that the point of her article is not to argue that women obtained the same role as men or had as many opportunities handed out to them. She alludes to the fact that not everything in Tudor politics or society was surrounded exclusively by men and encourages historians to include accounts from women to uncover a detailed picture.[1] She speaks on the involvement of upper-class women in various activities typically associated with men of the Tudor period. Participation in political affairs involving arranged marriage or petitions all worked in their favor of networking, whether with other noblewomen, higher-ranking family members, or the court. It was more about how they behaved in political situations and that representing their place in their class might have been more important than these activities being done by a woman. There was an unclear distinction between personal and political matters in Tudor society, allowing women to participate subtly. Since opinions would spread, this could often influence men of higher status in political matters or persuade the royal court. Some women even effectively held official positions.[2]

            The author is trying to address the fact that many people want to jump to conclusions or think that men were in charge of everything according to past societal norms. A popular idea that men ran everything because much of history only covers what they accomplished since they had the upper hand in society and politics. The author wants to bring the audience's attention to misconceptions created over time by the lack of coverage of historical women.

            The articulated evidence in the article closely examines some of the personal yet public relationships that occurred. The article relays stories of maintaining status by keeping strong connections with royalty, such as Henry VIII. Accounts of Lady Anne Russe describe her sending him various gifts, including deer and greyhounds.[3] While discussing marriage arrangements, she claims that the women were the ones to decide, especially widows who needed a replacement for their late husbands as head of the household. Most of the decisions made by nobles in this period were more inclined to marry with a family connection, so it would be typical for a woman to set up their child with a stepsibling. The author explains how this benefits the family and their inheritance, which may include property.[4] This evidence supports the idea that women were strategically working with other people of their status or attempting to reach higher, and by their established relationships, there were times that they influenced men in politics or at the royal court. Instances of women such as Lady Somerset, who were perceived as having too much influence over others, were bound to imprisonment at the Tower of London.[5]​

            As part of the author's support for her evidence, she showed the audience that it was not one or two women who were impacting the court. To be exact, she named ninety-one different women within the article alone.[6] When she uses this style, the article slightly loses focus because if she had stuck to a handful of women and their contributions, the narrative would feel much less compacted with naming as many women as possible.

            Overall, Harris presents compelling evidence to support the main points of her argument. Historiographies often cover accounts taken by men, but they were not the only influential people in late fifteenth and early sixteenth century England. The historical significance of recognizing the role of women in previous periods will give variety and deeper insight into the inner workings of their lives. The article covers many women's stories and their specific contributions to their families and class. If more historians consider articles like these to challenge their research, the conversations will continue to thrive.​

            Barbara Harris is not a stranger to historical writing. She has other published articles alongside her book entitled English Aristocratic Women, 1450-1550: Marriage and Family, Property and Careers in 2002. Harris trained in Tudor-Stuart history with a concentration in English aristocratic women after graduating with a PhD from Harvard University.[7] The viewpoint of her article is that she is trying to speak to other historians and present them with facts and examples of women in the Tudor period because sometimes women's narratives are unincluded or not sought out. Harris wrote this article to say that plenty of women participated in the inner workings of their society, and including those stories can strengthen the historiography of Tudor politics. 

            This article was beneficial to me in helping me better understand the complexities of Tudor society. In their daily lives, they acted in ways that would seem subtle, such as gift-giving, which could go a long way to keep their status secure. Women worked their way into their place as nobility. However, many people do not consider that a possibility. This significant piece makes historians think beyond the known information regarding voices and their representation. People who also study the Tudor period or how women found their places in politics could benefit from this article. Since it covers a myriad of anecdotes, it could lead people in different directions and explore more specific people and their involvement in history. Before this article, I did not know of Lady Somerset and her influence to be so significant to the point of imprisonment; these new ideas could lead me to further research her and her beliefs and how they might reflect the period.

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Bibliography

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"Barbara Harris." UNC Department of History, August 9, 2018. https://history.unc.edu/emeritus/barbara-harris/.

Harris, Barbara. "Women and Politics in Early Tudor England." The Historical Journal 33, no. 2 (June 1990): 259-281.

 

[1] Barbara Harris, "Women and Politics in Early Tudor England," The Historical Journal 33, no. 2 (June 1990): 260, JSTOR.

[2] Harris, “Women and Politics in Early Tudor England,” 274.

[3] Harris, “Women and Politics in Early Tudor England,” 271.

[4] Harris, “Women and Politics in Early Tudor England,” 261.

[5] Harris, “Women and Politics in Early Tudor England,” 280.

[6] Harris, “Women and Politics in Early Tudor England,” 280.

[7] UNC, “Barbara Harris,” August 9, 2018, https://history.unc.edu/emeritus/barbara-harris/.