scholarly journals THE QUEEN’S QUEENDOM: NEGOTIATING THE RHETORIC OF THE ELIZABETH–ANJOU COURTSHIP (1572–1584)

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-110
Author(s):  
Amritesh Singh
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Body Politic ◽  
Early Modern England ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
The Political ◽  
Elizabeth I ◽  
Male Body ◽  
Gendered Identities ◽  
Male Subjects ◽  
Two Bodies

This article juxtaposes the letters written by Elizabeth I to her last suitor, Francis, Duke of Anjou, with John Stubbs’ virulent tract The discoverie of a gaping gulf (1578) that opposed the match to propose that Elizabeth I challenged her belligerent male subjects in a game of semiotic control. I suggest that Elizabeth I fashioned her own ‘queendom’ – a discursive realm that complemented her political kingdom – where she attempted to formulate a code of masculinity that would celebrate gynaecocracy and facilitate a consummation of her sexuality. I show how, in her correspondence with Anjou, Elizabeth I sought to create a model husband for herself who would be sympathetic and subordinate to her political authority. I tease out the playful intercourse between the amorous and the political in Elizabeth I’s language to argue that she insisted on a unique union of her two bodies (the male body politic and the female body natural) which has largely gone unnoticed in current scholarship. Through a close engagement with Elizabethan rhetorical practices, this article aims to inspire a more nuanced reading of gendered identities in early modern England.

The Cartographic Image of ‘The Country’ in Early Modern England

1979 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 129-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Early Modern England ◽  
The Political ◽  
Elizabeth I ◽  
Renaissance England ◽  
The Common

Some four hundred years ago this month Stephen Limbert, master of Norwich School, stood before the gates of the Great Hospital and addressed his well-turned Latin phrases to an audience almost as eminent as that gathered here today. Elizabeth I and her mobile summer court were on progress, and Norwich, the second city of the kingdom and capital of a region that was both the agricultural and manufacturing heartland of England, was determined to impress its monarch with both its loyalty to the Tudor dynasty and its contribution to the common weal—so it hired an impecunious London hack, sometime soldier and court hanger-on, Thomas Churchyard, to write the script. In part, at least, this no doubt accounts for the frequently reiterated commonplaces of Elizabethan propaganda embodied in such of those pageants and speeches as survived the intermittent downpours that sent both Her Majesty and her municipal hosts scurrying for cover on more than one occasion during her visit. Neither did Master Limbert's disquisition differ in its enthusiasm for Elizabethan rule from those of his metropolitan confrère. ‘It is reported’, he told Her Majesty, ‘that Aegypte is watered with the yerely overflowing of the Nilus, and Lydia with the golden streame of Pactolus, whyche thing is thought to be the cause of the greate fertilytye of these countries: but uppon us, and farther, over all Englande, even into the uttermoste borders, many and maine rivers of godlynesse, justice and humilitie, and other inumerable good things … do most plentifully gush out … from that continuall and most aboundaunt welspring of your goodnesse … With what prayses shall wee extoll, with what magnificent wordes shall we expresse, that notable mercie of your Highnesse, most renowned Queene’, sentiments that earned the former Norwich schoolmaster the Queen's invitation to kiss her ungloved hands, and sentiments that direct our attention to the symbols and image-creating aspects of the political culture of renaissance England.

Theagnus dei, Catholic devotion, and confessional politics in early modern England

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aislinn Muller
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Early Modern England ◽  
The Political ◽  
Elizabeth I ◽  
Critical Part ◽  
Sacred Objects

After 1571 Catholic sacred objects were outlawed in England, and the possession of such objects could be prosecuted under the statute ofpraemunire. Despite this prohibition sacred objects including rosaries, blessed beads, and theagnus dei(wax pendants blessed by the pope) remained a critical part of Catholic devotion. This article examines the role of theagnus deiin English Catholic communities and the unique political connotations it acquired during the reign of Elizabeth I. It assesses the uses of these sacramentals in Catholic missions to England, their reception amongst Catholics, and the political significance of theagnus deiin light of the papal excommunication of Elizabeth I in 1570.

scholarly journals Political Consent, Promissory Fidelity and Rights Transfers in Grotius

Grotiana ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-145
Author(s):  
Laetitia Ramelet
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Sphere ◽  
Political Obligations ◽  
Salient Characteristic ◽  
Solid Foundation ◽  
The Right

Grotius (1583–1645) is now widely acknowledged as an important figure in early modern contractual and consensual theories of political authority and legitimacy. However, as his thoughts on these debates are disseminated throughout his works rather than systematically ordained, it remains difficult to assess what, if anything, constitutes his distinctive mark. In the present paper, I will argue that his works contain a combination of two conceptual elements that have come to constitute a salient characteristic of early modern contract and consent theories: first, a strong obligation to keep one’s promises, and second, an account of perfect promises as transferrals of rights. In the political sphere, this means that citizens who have promised their obedience to the authorities are obligated to keep faith, which provides a solid foundation for political obligations. In addition, their promise implies that authorities receive the right to rule over them, which accounts for the legitimacy of these authorities’ power.

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