Interview with the organizers of Kings & Queens 15

In this episode, host Ellie Woodacre interviews three of the organizing team for the Kings & Queens 15 which will be held from September 2 to 4, 2026 in Prague, hosted by the Czech Academy of Sciences. We discuss the inspiration behind the theme of KINGS, QUEENS AND DYNASTIES IN PERIL, key moments in dynastic history and tips for those planning to attend the conference. 

The call for papers for K&Q15 is open now--the deadline for submissions is 31 January 2026. For the call for papers and more information on the conference, see this dedicated page of the Royal Studies Network website.  

 GUEST BIOS: 

Assoc. Prof. PhDr. Dana Dvořáčková-Malá, Ph.D. is a senior researcher at the Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague (CAS). She is a founder and head of the Research Centre on Courts and Residences in the Institute of History CAS. She focuses on the court studies, court literature, the history of everyday life and experimental history in the Middle Ages. She has published a number of books, for example in 2011 The Royal Court of Wenceslas II, in 2014 Přemyslid court. Life Princes, Kings and Knights in the Middle Ages (with Jan Zelenka et al.), in 2019 Child and Childhood. From Middle Ages on the Threshold of Enlightenment (et al.) and in 2021 The Court as a Theme. Research of royal society in the Czech Middle Ages – historiography, concepts, considerations; in 2015 she translated the medieval epos Wilhelm von Wenden. The last topic she addresses is research into court households and general household, not only in the Middle Ages.  

Mgr. Zuzana Vařáková is a PhD student in Philosophy and History of Science at the Faculty of Science at Charles University and Secretary of the Research Centre on Courts and Residences at the Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague. Her research focuses on animal studies, the history of science, and the transfer of knowledge. She is currently writing her dissertation on the early formation of zoological knowledge in the Bohemian Lands, while also leading a project on historical zoonoses. 

Michaela Žáková, Ph.D., is a research associate at the Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague. She specialises in nobility, gender, and philanthropy in the long 19th century, with a focus on women’s roles and agency. Her books The Theresian Institute of Noblewomen at Prague Castle and Poor Aristocrats explore how noblewomen in the Habsburg monarchy sought to maintain their social status under changing conditions. Her research has been recognised with several distinctions, including the Josef Pekař Prize and awards supporting early-career scholars, granted by the Czech Academy of Sciences.  

Errata: Keynote speakers Professors Robert Aldrich and Cindy McCreery are based at the University of Sydney, not Oxford.