The 'Little Palaces' of St James's: Ladies, Lords, and Political Association under the later Stuarts. (10th February 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Harris, Frances
• Editors: Gaunt, Richard A.; Hayton, D.W.
• Is Part Of: Parliamentary history. Volume 39:Part 1(2020)
• Page Start: 25
• Page End: 33
• Publication Date: 2020-02-10
• Subjects: assemblies -- card playing -- Charles Montagu, Lord Halifax -- clubs -- coffee houses -- duchesse de Mazarin -- gambling -- Lady Fitzhardinge -- Lady Pulteney -- Sidney, Lord Godolphin; History -- Periodicals; 328.4109
• DOI: 10.1111/1750-0206.12476
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0264-2824

Abstract

Abstract: Clubs, coffee houses, and taverns, the most widely studied sites of political gathering in later Stuart London, largely excluded women. This essay argues that places of 'intermixed conversation' which existed alongside them should also be taken into account, and considers several examples of regular, semi‐private assemblies, chiefly hosted by elite women (including duchesse de Mazarin, Lady Pulteney, and Barbara Villiers, Lady Fitzhardinge) and frequented by both sexes for the overt purpose of card playing, which were also significant places of political association at this period.