Hanna Sinclair

My DPhil thesis investigates the perception of foreignness and national identity during dynastic marriage celebrations between France, Ferrara, and Florence in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, particularly the nuptials of Maria de’ Medici and Henry IV in 1600. These events, which united political interests and ensured dynastic continuity, were also significant moments of cultural interaction.  However, unlike recent scholarship, which has emphasised the positive cultural exchange that took place during such mergers, I will be researching the perceived differences, strangeness, and possible antipathy expressed regarding the other party, as well as stereotypes evident in the accounts of the celebrations.  My hypothesis is that despite the lack of consolidated states, there was a strong concept of national consciousness in both the Italian and French courts, especially in regard to the other.  

My wider research interests concern the cultural history of Cinquecento Italy, and Europe more broadly.  I am particularly interested in the creation, promulgation, and material manifestations of authority; persecutions of minorities and illicit sexuality; court culture; rituals and spectacle; and material culture.  While studying Florence has proved too strong to resist, I am partial to the other duchies and principalities in northern Italy, especially Ferrara.  I have published articles on Gasparo Contarini’s De magistratibus as utopian literature, and Alfonso I d’Este's personal iconography of strength and prudence (based on my MSt dissertation).

I am the co-convenor of Oxford’s Court Studies seminar, which meets on alternate Monday afternoons during term time, at Jesus College.  

For more information, please see my History Faculty page.