Course Description

Instructor: Michael McDavid, BA, MA European History, MA Library Science

When Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom died in 1901, forty-two grandchildren had been born to her nine children. Some of them died very young; many lived relatively anonymous lives; and others became major public figures. Examples include King George V, who essentially created the modern British monarchy; German Kaiser Wilhelm II, who recklessly led and lost an empire; the Empress Alexandra, who married the last tsar and lost her life in the Russian Revolution; and Queen Marie of Romania, who guided her adopted country through World War I. With all these first cousins plus several more, we will examine their backgrounds and private lives to see the forces that shaped their personalities -- then we’ll place them in the context of their times and the roles they played.

Michael’s special areas of interest are 19th-century Europe and the role of monarchy as a political and social institution.