Professor Jessica Malay: Creating a Courtier: The young Anne Clifford

Saturday 29 April, 1.30 - 2.30pm, OS.0.01, Michael Berry lecture theatre, Old Sessions House

Anne Clifford is best known for her reconstruction of portions of Westmorland and Yorkshire, including rebuilding five castles, after inheriting the vast Northern lands of the Cliffords in the 1640s. However, her life as a courtier during the reigns of Elizabeth, James and Charles I, is often overlooked. Anne Clifford spent sixty years in the south, often closely involved in the courts of these monarchs. This talk will explore her early training in courtiership under the guidance of her mother Margaret Countess of Cumberland and her aunt Anne, Countess of Warwick. It will explore her experiences as a child courtier and her understanding of the role of an aristocrat in contributing to political milieu of the period.

Reverend Professor Jessica Malay, FRHistS, is Associate Dean of Research at the University of Huddersfield. She has written widely on Renaissance women, and is a leading expert on the work and life of the Lady Anne Clifford (1590-1676). She is the editor of Anne Clifford’s Great Books of Record (2015) and also Anne Clifford’s Autobiographical Writing 1590-1676 (2018). She is currently writing a biography on Lady Anne.