Natalie Tomas

I am a social and cultural historian of Renaissance Italy with  particular interests in 15th and 16th century Florence, particularly women and gender.  I am interested in how women use and get positions of political power, their participation in public space, representations of  women rulers and female members of a ruling families, by contemporaries and later historians, and the role of women in state formation in eatly modern Florence and Italy.
My current project examines the participation of Maria Salviati de'Medici and Eleonora of Toledo, Duchess of Florence in the formation of the ducal state under Cosimo I. I am particularly interested in how their personal relationships with Cosimo and members of his court and administration influenced their involvement in creating the Florentine ducal state.
Address: Adjunct Senior Research Fellow
School of Philosophical, Historical and International Studies
20 Chancellor Walk
Monash University
Clayton Campus
Victoria, Australia 3800