|
A University of Manchester Historian has been appointed to one of the most prestigious visiting academic posts in Spain - named in honour of Queen Victoria's granddaughter. Dr Glyn Redworth from the School of Arts, Histories and Cultures will start his year-long tenure as the ‘Queen Victoria Eugenia' Chair in September. Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg - known as Queen Ena in Spain - was queen consort of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. The current King of Spain, Juan Carlos I, is her grandson. Dr Redworth is the world's leading authority on the first female missionary to Britain: the Spaniard Luisa de Carvajal. He was one of the first historians to examine hundreds of letters, writings and poems by Luisa - many of which were left unsorted in boxes at a Madrid convent and is to publish a book on her life, called The She-Apostle in September this year with Oxford University Press. The documents shed new light on the suffering endured by Catholics who refused to attend Church of England services under James I. The Queen Victoria Eugenia Chair was created in 1993 after a agreement between the British Hispanic Foundation and the Complutense University of Madrid - Spain's oldest and most prestigious academic institution. It involves meeting with postgraduates and three public lectures and proffers the nominee the right to nominate two Spanish students to make a study visit to the nominee's home university. Previous incumbents include Britain's pre-eminent Spanish historians Professor Paul Preston and Professor Raymond Carr. Dr Redworth will also take part in official engagements with Foundation patrons, including British Airways, Barclays Bank, the British Council and the British Embassy in Madrid; the Kings Group in Spain and the Spanish Ministry of Culture. Dr Redworth said: "I'm delighted to be appointed as the sixteenth Queen Victoria Eugenia Chair - it's quite an honour and an important symbol of the closeness of Spanish British relations. "The King's sister, the Infanta Margarita, takes a particularly close interest in the Foundation - she is a great-great granddaughter of our own Queen Victoria. "I shall use my three public lectures as an opportunity to give the Spanish public an opportunity to learn more about Luisa de Carvajal, whose life is of great historical importance to both our countries but is hardly known in Spain." Professor Graham Ward, Head of the School of Arts Histories and Cultures said: "I'm delighted that Dr Redworth has been chosen for this most prestigious appointment in Madrid. "It is an excellent illustration of the close links between our two countries." |
