Nicholas Munn (QMUL) - 2021-22 Students
n.l.munn@qmul.ac.uk

Conflicting Masculinities: Gender and Politics in Fifteenth-Century Venice

My project focuses on applying gender theory, specifically the concept of masculinity, to the politics surrounding the doge of Venice. By using masculinity as a focus, my research is able to uncover the deeper significance that gender played in Venetian politics and how this was used to temper the power of the doge. The thesis incorporates a multifaceted approach to understanding the role of gender, with a particular focus on the ritual place of the doge in Venetian society, and how the doge was simultaneously presented as the epitome of Venetian manhood while being emasculated by the political elite. My research draws on the concept of there being ‘two-bodies’ of the doge, the private individual and the public head of state, and explores how the masculine identity of these said bodies conflicted.

Primary supervisor: Prof. Miri Rubin, QMUL
Secondary supervisor: Dr Patrick Lantschner, QMUL

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