Staff profile

Research

My research is motivated by an interest in understanding the relationship between human experience and the state. How do people interact with the state in their daily lives, how do they perceive and conceive of their interactions with the state, and how do they seek to modify the state to suit their purposes? This research has been conducted along three overlapping strands: research into the French royal court with an emphasis on how it was shaped by courtiers, merchants, and financiers; research into peacebuilding after the Wars of Religion and the role of the state within this process; and thirdly research into the relationship between the state and hospitality practices. While my work on the court and peacebuilding has focused on France, my research into hospitality draws on my Japanese language skills to compare hospitality practices in early modern France and Tokugawa Japan.

My first book, The Courtiers and the Court of Louis XIII, 1610–1643 (Oxford, 2025), presents the first comprehensive analysis of the royal court of Louis XIII, examining the court from institutional, political, cultural, economic, and military perspectives. The book offers a fresh outlook on the development of royal courts by decentring the monarch and his ministers, emphasising instead the role of courtiers (both low and high ranking), merchants, and financiers in driving this development. In so doing, the book draws attention to individuals’ agency in shaping the institutions of the state and more generally the institutions in which they operate. I have recorded public facing podcasts on this research for Not Just the Tudors and New Books Network.

Through its exploration of court society, the legacy of civil war, and the importance of hospitality, my research asks important questions that remain highly relevant to our society today: how do humans relate to power, how can we mend fractured societies, and how can we welcome foreigners and strangers?

Profile

I am a visiting research fellow at the University of Groningen (Netherlands), an honorary fellow of Durham University, and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. I serve as Deputy Chair of the European Branch of the Society for Court Studies and as the book reviews editor of the peer-reviewed journal, The Court Historian.

I have previously held lectureships at Durham University, the University of Oxford (Balliol College), and the University of St Andrews. I hold a PhD from the University of St Andrews, and a MPhil and a MA from the University of Oxford.

• Early Modern Diplomacy
• Festival Culture
• France c. 1500-1800
• Hospitality
• Marginalization
• Peacebuilding
• Princely Courts
• Tokugawa Japan
• Travel
• Violence

• 2025: Book Reviews Editor for The Court Historian:
• 2024: Deputy Chair of the European Branch of the Society for Court Studies:

Authored book

• The Courtiers and the Court of Louis XIII, 1610–1643
  
  Jaffré, M. W. S. (2025). The Courtiers and the Court of Louis XIII, 1610–1643. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/9780198957645.001.0001

Chapter in book

• A Household Affair: Henri iv’s Royal Printers, 1589–1595
  
  Jaffré, M. W. (2019). A Household Affair: Henri iv’s Royal Printers, 1589–1595. In A. S. Wilkinson & G. J. Kemp (Eds.), Negotiating Conflict and Controversy in the Early Modern Book World (pp. 217-233). https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004402522_014

Journal Article

• The royal court and civil war at the founding of the Bourbon dynasty, 1589–95
  
  Jaffré, M. W. (2017). The royal court and civil war at the founding of the Bourbon dynasty, 1589–95. French History, 31(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/fh/crx003