Mary, Queen of Scots in the Querelle about women’s education

With Armel Dubois-Nayt (Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin)

The Paris Early Modern Seminar is pleased to host this Zoom seminar on behalf of the International Consortium of Centres for Early Modern Studies.

When: Friday 4 April, 10.00-11.30 am Paris GMT

Where: Online; register here for the link

Abstract

Mary Stuart has been the subject of much controversy among historians since the sixteenth century. These debates can be explained in part by the religious or national standpoints of the authors involved, which have been discussed at length. This has not necessarily been the case of their gender biases, i.e. the way in which they consider the difference between the sexes. And yet those prejudices play a decisive role in the reconstruction of the character of the Queen of Scots and her history. The aim of this talk will be to show how discourses on the difference/inequality of the sexes, which form the querelle des femmes, can enrich our understanding, if not of this queen and her actions, then at least of how they are narrated. To do so, it will focus on one specific topic of discussion: women’s access to education. It will clarify the terms of the debate on women’s education as they were formulated in early Renaissance before turning to Mary Stuart’s contribution to the debate in her exercise book and her self-fashioning as a learned lady. Finally, it will recreate the debate on Mary’s scholarly achievements between the philogynist Brantôme and the misogynist John Knox.