The Mostyn Family in France and Italy

Award

PhD Research Studentship

Supervisors/Schools:

Professor Andrew Hiscock (School of English)
Dr. Laura Rorato (School of Modern Languages)
Professor Tony Claydon (School of History, Welsh History and Archaeology)

Description of Project:

This research project will focus upon the Mostyn archive. This archive constitutes a huge and diverse academic resource linked with the aristocratic Mostyn family. It is based at a number of locations across Mid- and North Wales and its documentation and artefacts extend in time from the Middle Ages to the contemporary period. In line with the College of Arts and Humanities’ commitment to innovative research, we do not propose a narrow thematic, chronological span or personal focus for this project, but instead will select the candidate according to the innovative qualities of his/her proposal with reference to the study of the Mostyns’ travel and dealings with Continental Europe, most especially France and Italy.

Every member of the supervisory panel is committed in their research and teaching to the study of the evolution of European culture from the late medieval to the modern periods. This research project will offer the opportunity not only to study the development in authority and power of an aristocratic family, but also to consider the status of material artefacts, the visual arts, personal correspondence and documents relating to estate management in such research enquiries. Given the richness and diversity of the Mostyn archive, the subject area of the successful candidate would be governed by their existing historical, literary and linguistic expertise – the latter might notably be supplemented by further language training in the School of Modern Languages at Bangor University.

Given the nature of the Mostyn archive, it is clear that fields of enquiry into art collection, reading practices, the law, industrial development, elite tourism, religious confession could form pre-eminent areas of possible research for the successful candidate. It is envisaged that this project would rely on archival research being pursued at the Bangor University Archive, the National Library of Wales, and the Mostyn Estate itself, as well as regional archives.

Supervisory Team

Professor Andrew Hiscock (School of English) has maintained a lively interest in comparative (esp. Franco-English) literary research since being awarded his doctorate. He has published widely on literary subjects from the late fifteenth century to the end of the seventeenth century. His last monograph was entitled The Uses of this World: Thinking Space in Shakespeare, Marlowe, Cary and Jonson and he edited the 2008 double issue of the Yearbook of English Studies devoted to Tudor literature. His forthcoming monograph is entitled Reading Memory in Early Modern Literature and concentrates upon the period of literary production 1520-1620.

Dr. Laura Rorato (School of Modern Languages) is Senior Lecturer in Italian. Her research interests include the representation of the city in contemporary Italian fiction, cultural memory and the relationship between visual arts and literature. She has published various articles and three co-edited volumes: Da Calvino agli ipertesti: prsopettive della postmodernità nella letteratura italiana (Cesati Editore, 2002), La forma del passato (Peter Lang, 2007) and The Essence and The Margin (Rodopi, 2009). She has also recently completed a monograph on the image of Caravaggio in film and literature.

Professor Tony Claydon (School of History, Welsh History and Archaeology) is professor of early modern history and has specialised in the politics, religion and culture of late Stuart England. He is author of major studies of William III’s propaganda, and of English attitudes to international Protestantism and Christendom as reflected in print culture, 1660-1760.

For full details of the terms and conditions of this award see

Queries prior to a formal application concerning this research project should be addressed to:
Professor Andrew Hiscock (School of English): a.hiscock@bangor.ac.uk
Dr. Laura Rorato (School of Modern Languages): l.rorato@bangor.ac.uk
Professor Tony Claydon (School of History, Welsh History and Archaeology): t.claydon@bangor.ac.uk

Application:

The application deadline is noon on Friday 30 April 2010. For more information on how to apply, please visit here

Applicants will be contacted during the month of June 2010 with information relating to their submissions.