Susan Doran

Susan Michelle Doran FRHistS (born 7 February 1948) is a British historian whose primary studies surround the reign of Elizabeth I, in particular the theme of marriage and succession. She has published and edited sixteen books, notably Elizabeth I and Religion, 1558-1603, Monarchy and Matrimony and Queen Elizabeth I, the last part of the British Library's Historic Lives series.

Doran is Professor of Early Modern British History at the University of Oxford and Senior Research Fellow at Jesus College. She was a Fellow of St Benet's Hall prior to its closure in 2022.

Academic career
Doran read History at St Anne's College, Oxford before obtaining a PGCE and beginning a teaching career at St Paul's Girls' School in Hammersmith. In the 1970s Doran completed a PhD at University College London, with her thesis being a political biography of Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex. Beginning in 1986 she taught early modern British and European history at St Mary's University College in Strawberry Hill, serving as head of the History Department for several years. When she left the college in 2001, she was Reader in History.

Doran returned to the University of Oxford as a lecturer at Christ Church in 2002. In 2004 she was elected a Fellow of St Benet's Hall, Oxford, and in 2009 was elected a Senior Research Fellow at Jesus College, Oxford. In 2016 the university awarded her the title of Professor of Early Modern British History. In 2018 Doran served as acting Master of St Benet's Hall while Werner Jeanrond was on sabbatical.

Doran is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and an Honorary Fellow of the Historical Association.

Broadcasting
Doran has appeared in many historical documentaries and podcasts as an expert commentator.

Doran has participated in numerous Tudor history documentaries produced by the BBC. In 2016 she appeared in an episode of A Timewatch Guide focused on Elizabeth I, presented by Vanessa Collingridge. In 2020 she appeared in Royal History's Biggest Fibs, presented by Lucy Worsley, discussing the Spanish Armada and the relationship between Elizabeth I and Philip II of Spain. She also appeared in 2021's The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family, discussing Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn.

Other documentary appearances include the 2010 National Geographic film Secrets of the Virgin Queen and an episode of the 2015 Yesterday series Medieval Murder Mysteries focused on the death of Amy Robsart. In 2018 she acted as a historical consultant for an episode of Britain's Most Historic Towns, presented by Alice Roberts, exploring the city of Norwich in the Tudor period.

In April 2024 Doran was the guest for the first ever live recording of Suzannah Lipscomb's podcast Not Just the Tudors at the Gloucester History Festival's spring weekend, where she discussed the succession of James I to the English throne.

Personal life
Doran is married to Alan Doran. They have two children together, including the writer Bathsheba Doran, and three grandchildren.

Book chapters

 * 'Why did Elizabeth not marry?', in Julia M. Walker, ed., Dissing Elizabeth: negative representations of Gloriana (Duke University Press, 1998)
 * 'Three late-Elizabethan succession tracts', in Jean-Christophe Mayer, ed., The struggle for the succession in late Elizabethan England: politics, polemics and cultural Representations (Paul Valéry University Montpellier 3, 2004)
 * 'The politics of Renaissance Europe', in Paul Hammond and Andrew Hadfield, eds., Shakespeare and Renaissance Europe (Arden Press, 2004)
 * 'James VI and the succession', in Ralph Houlbrooke, ed., James VI and I: ideas and government (Ashgate Publishing, 2006)
 * 'Elizabeth I and Catherine de' Medici', in Glenn Richardson, ed., Contending kingdoms: England and France, 1430-1700 (Ashgate Publishing, 2007)
 * 'Elizabeth I: an Old Testament queen', in Anna Whitelock and Alice Hunt, eds., Rethinking Tudor Queenship: Mary and Elizabeth (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010)
 * 'Elizabeth I and her favourites: the case of Sir Walter Ralegh', in Donald Stump, Linda Shenk and Carole Levin, eds., Elizabeth I and the "sovereign arts": essays in literature, history, and culture (University of Arizona Press, 2011)
 * 'Tudor kings and queens', in Ian Archer, Felicity Heal and Paulina Kewes, eds., The Oxford handbook of Holinshed's Chronicles (Oxford University Press, 2012)
 * 'Queen Elizabeth I of England: monarchical leadership in action', in Peter Kaufman, ed., Leadership and Elizabethan culture (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013)
 * 'Elizabeth I and counsel', in Jacqueline Rose, ed., The politics of counsel in England and Scotland, 1286-1707 (British Academy and Oxford University Press, 2016)
 * 'Monarchy and masculinity in early modern England', in Christopher Fletcher and Rachel Moss, eds., Handbook of masculinity and political culture (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017)
 * 'Did Elizabeth I's gender really matter?', in Anna Riehl Bertolet, ed., Queens matter: early modern studies in honour of Carole Levin (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017)

Journal articles

 * 'The finances of an Elizabethan nobleman: Thomas Radcliffe, third earl of Sussex', Historical Research 61 (1988)
 * 'Politics and religion at Elizabeth I's court: the Habsburg marriage negotiations 1559-1567', English Historical Review 104 (1989)
 * 'Juno versus Diana: Elizabeth I's marriage in plays and entertainments 1561-81', The Historical Journal 38 (1995)
 * 'Revenge her foul and most unnatural murder? The impact of Mary Stuart's execution on Anglo-Scottish relations', History 85 (2000)
 * 'Elizabeth I's religion: the evidence of her letters', Journal of Ecclesiastical History 51 (2000)
 * '1603: a jagged succession', Historical Research 93:261 (2020)
 * 'Dynastic history from a Catholic perspective', British Catholic History 35:1 (2020)