Professor Maria Hayward BA, MA, PhD, LSE
Professor of Early Modern History; Ancient History Co-ordinator; Deputy Head of Department
I am a professor of early modern history with a particular interest in early modern textiles and clothing, especially in the context of the Tudor and Stuart courts.
I graduated with a history degree before completing the post graduate diploma in textile conservation at the Textile Conservation Centre (TCC), Hampton Court Palace. After working as a conservator and completing a PhD in History at the LSE, University of London, I worked at the TCC, both at Hampton Court and after it joined the University of Southampton in 1999 and was based on its Winchester campus. During this time, I was Head of Studies and Research, as well as Director of the AHRC Research Centre for Textile Conservation and Textile Studies (2004-2007). In 2004 I was elected as a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and in 2008 I transferred to History.
My research focuses on early modern material culture and on textiles and clothing in particular. I am interested in the social and cultural value of clothing and how this can be politically significant, especially in the court context. My research has looked at the individuals engaged in the production of clothing, as well as attempts by monarchs to regulate what their people wore. More broadly I have looked at the role of clothing and furnishings at the Tudor and Stuart courts.
My publications consist of numerous articles, chapters in edited volumes and books, including The 1542 Inventory of Whitehall: The Palace and its Keeper (2004), Tapestry Conservation: Principles and Practice, edited with Frances Lennard (2005) Dress at the Court of King Henry VIII (2007), Rich Apparel: Clothing and the Law in Henry VIII’s England (2009), The Great Wardrobe Accounts of Henry VII and Henry VIII (2012), The 1547 Inventory of Henry VIII: Volume 2 Textiles and Dress, edited with Philip Ward (2012), The First Book of Fashion edited with Ulinka Rublack (2015) and Stuart Style: Monarchy, Dress and the Scottish Male Elite (2020).