| Summary: | This thesis reconstructs and analyses the life and agency of Elisabeth Parr, marchioness of Northampton (1526-1565), with the aim of increasing understanding of women’s networks of influence and political engagement at the mid-Tudor courts, c. 1547-1565. Analysis of Elisabeth’s life highlights that in the absence of a Queen consort the noblewomen of the Edwardian court maintained and utilized access to those in power and those with political significance and authority. During the reign of Mary Tudor, Elisabeth worked with her natal family to undermine Mary’s Queenship and support Elizabeth Tudor, particularly by providing her with foreign intelligence. At the Elizabethan court Elisabeth regained her title (lost under Mary I) and occupied a position as one of the Queen’s most trusted confidantes and influential associates. Her agency merited attention from ambassadors and noblemen as well as from the Emperor Maximilian and King Erik of Sweden, due to the significant role she played in several major contemporary events, such as Elizabeth’s early marriage negotiations. This research is interdisciplinary, incorporating early modern social, political and cultural historiographies, gender studies, social anthropology, sociology and the study of early modern literature. The chronology of Elisabeth’s activity is drawn chiefly from primary material. Research has uncovered c. 110 individual original documents directly relating to Elisabeth - many of which have not previously been printed elsewhere. Through the use of digital resources and extensive archival research, this thesis makes an intervention in the history and historiography of the reigns of Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I: the reintegration of Elisabeth’s activity into these reigns reveals the lacunae in scholarship on early modern women.
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