The Theatre of Death: The Ritual Management of Royal Funerals in Renaissance England, 1570-1625

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Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 1997 - 250 Seiten
English royal funeral ceremony from Mary, Queen of Scots to James I gives fascinating insight into the relationship between power and ritual at the renaissance court.

This book represents the first detailed study into English royal funeral ceremonies of the period, building on earlier scholarship dealing with the French royal funeral and with the social history of death and burial in early modern England. Funeral rituals are approached as performances, and placed in their political, religious and broader cultural contexts, showing them to be a microcosm of cultural change. The impact of the Reformation, with its strongiconophobic strain, on a ritual process which was centred on the display of a life-sized image of the dead monarch, is explored. Later, the counter influence of the Arminianism and Continental art is considered in relation to theapotheosis of the theatre of death under the early Stuarts, with particular reference to the funeral of James I.
Earlier individual funeral occasions are also addressed, with varied focus. The author shows how the obsequiesof Elizabeth I were used to help establish the new Stuart dynasty; the sudden death of the young Henry Stuart, heir to the throne, led to a funeral quite different in atmosphere and political purpose. The death rituals of Mary, Queen of Scots (both the ceremonies staged in the wake of her execution, and the monuments and funeral performances created years later by her son, James) are analysed in depth: the emergent picture of the deliberate manipulation of the Scottish Queen's posthumous image provides a fascinating insight into the relationship between power and ritual at the renaissance court.

Dr JENNIFER WOODWARD gained her Ph.D. from the University of Warwick.__________________

Im Buch

Inhalt

An Introduction
1
The Heraldic Funeral in Renaissance England
15
Funeral Ritual and the Reformation
37
The 1587 Funerals of Mary Queen of Scots
67
The Royal Funeral of Elizabeth I 1603
87
Religion and Culture under the Early Stuarts
118
The Exploitation and Subversion of
129
The Funeral of Prince Henry Stuart 1612
148
The Funeral of Anne of Denmark 1619
166
The Funeral of King James I 1625
175
Epilogue
204
The Funeral Procession of Elizabeth I 1603
210
Bibliography
221
Index
243
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