Robert O. Bucholz
Professor
Robert O. Bucholz (D. Phil., University of Oxford, 1988; A.B. Cornell University, 1980) is a professor of history at 黑料门University Chicago, where he teaches courses on the history of early modern Great Britain, the city of London and Western Civilization.
Professor Bucholz is a leading authority on the history of the British court, the social history of early modern England, and the emergence of London as global cultural center during and after the sixteenth century. He has written numerous articles and book chapters which have appeared in The Court Historian, the Journal of British Studies, and other publications. Bucholz’s most recent book, (Cambridge University Press, 2012) with J. P. Ward, has been described as a “remarkably successful attempt to describe how the city reached the cusp of 'modernity,' how it emerged from relative obscurity in the middle of the sixteenth century to become . . . 'the greatest city in Europe.'” His best-selling (3rd ed. Wiley-Blackwell, 2019), co-authored with N. E. Key, traces the transformation of England during the Tudor–Stuart period, from a feudal European state to a constitutional monarchy and the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth. Bucholz’s examination of the British court appears in (Stanford University Press, 1993); (University of Nebraska Press, 2009), edited with C. Levin; and Officials of the Royal Household, 1660-1837, edited with Sir John Sainty. His most recent work examines the changing ideals regarding body image in seventeenth-century England and their impact upon the imperial court. Bucholz has appeared frequently as a public speaker and in local, national, and international media outlets to comment on historical and royal topics ranging from the Tudors to the Titanic, Plague and Fire in London to royal births, weddings and funerals.
Bucholz is completing two books: Courtiers: A Social and Cultural History of the British Court, 1660-1784 (contracted to Oxford University Press); and Density's Children: Transgressive Bodies in Early Modern England, 1550-1750. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the American Branch of the Society for Court Studies and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
Professor Bucholz is widely-known for his teaching, in particular for his courses (2009); (2006); and (2003), all distributed by The Great Courses. He received the LSGA/ Maroon and Gold Faculty Member of the Year Award (2015), the Langerbeck Faculty Research Mentor Award (2021), the Provost's Award for Excellence in Teaching Freshmen (2013), was the 黑料门Nominee for the Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching in 2004 and 2008, the 黑料门Honors Program Teacher of the Year in 1998 and 1999, and the inaugural recipient of the Edwin T. and Vivijeanne F. Sujack Award for Teaching Excellence in 1994.
Professor Bucholz is the Project Director of the , which provides authoritative career information for every person who served in a salaried position in the British royal household between the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 and the death of Queen Victoria.
Research Interests
Early-modern Britain, British Court and Royal Household 1660-1901, Early-modern London
Courses Taught
HIST 101 The Evolution of Western Ideas and Institutions to the Seventeenth Century
HIST 102 The Evolution of Western Ideas and Institutions since the Seventeenth Century
HIST 258A: Blood, Heresy, and Treason Under the Tudors and Stuarts
HIST 265A: The First World War
HIST 318A: Early Modern England, 1485-1760
HIST 318C - London 1550 – 1715
HIST 376H: Honors Colloquium
Constructing the Queen: Images of Elizabeth I, with Regina Buccola, Newberry Library Undergraduate Seminar, 2003.
London Town and Bath Spa: Two Constructions of Eighteenth Century Urbanity, with Caryn Chaden, Newberry Library Undergraduate Seminar, 2000.
Order and Disorder in Early Modern England 1450-1750 (graduate and undergraduate versions)
University Seminar
Publications/Research Listings
with J. P. Ward (Cambridge University Press, 2012).
“The Stomach of a Queen or Size Matters: Gender, Body Image, and the Historical Reputation of Queen Anne” in , ed. C. Levin and R. Bucholz (University of Nebraska Press, 2009).
, with N.E. Key (Basil Blackwell, Ltd., 2004; 2nd ed. Wiley-Blackwell, 2009, 3rd ed. Wiley-Blackwell, 2019).
, ed. With Sir John Sainty, 2 vols. (Institute of Historical Research, 1997-98).
(Stanford University Press, 1993).