London's High Society in the Regency Era: A Business of Pleasure with Dr. Julie Taddeo

In Regency England, the London season—from the end of January, when Parliament reopened, until July—brought members of the titled peerage into the city to conduct government. Meanwhile, their wives held balls and parties to network. Known as the “Ton,” they comprised of a few hundred wealthy families whose strict codes of conduct, fashion, and social customs dictated who and what was socially acceptable. They were the celebrities of the early 19th century, engaged in what was described as "a business of pleasure." 

Exacting rules guided members of the Ton and their families from what they wore, when ladies debuted, how they courted, who they married, where they lived, what they ate, and what work men did—or didn’t do. It was not easy to gain entry to this elite circle, and anything done beyond its rigid proscriptions was enough to render the offender ignored—or worse. Eventually, the Ton was forced to change over time to welcome non-aristocratic members into their ranks or risk dying off.

 Led by Julie Taddeo, a historian of British history at the University of Maryland and frequent Context presenter, this seminar will peer beneath the fantasy perpetuated by romance novels and TV series like "Bridgerton" to closely examine the larger social and political world of the men and women who lived "in the fashionable mode" and whose lives were tightly circumscribed by rules, gossip, and fear of scandal.