Queens & Power in Medieval and Early Modern England

by Levin, Carole; Bucholz, Robert

• ISBN13: 9780803229686
• ISBN10: 0803229682
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-03-01
• Publisher: Univ of Nebraska Pr

Summary

InQueens and Power in Medieval and Early Modern England, Carole Levin and Robert Bucholz provide a forum for the underexamined, anomalous reigns of queens in history. These regimes, primarily regarded as interruptions to the "normal" male monarchy, have been examined largely as isolated cases. This interdisciplinary study of queens throughout history examines their connections to one another, their constituents' perceptions of them, and the fallacies of their historical reputations. The contributors consider historical queens as well as fictional, mythic, and biblical queens and how they were represented in medieval and early modern England. They also give modern readers a glimpse into the early modern worldview, particularly regarding order, hierarchy, rulership, property, biology, and the relationship between the sexes. Considering topics as diverse as how Queen Elizabeth's unmarried status affected the perception of her as a just and merciful queen to a reevaluation of "good Queen Anne" as more than just an obese, conventional monarch, this volume encourages readers to reexamine previously held assumptions about the role of female monarchs in early modern history.

Author Biography

Carole Levin is Willa Cather Professor of History at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She is the author of Dreaming the English Renaissance: Politics and Desire in Court and Culture and The Heart and Stomach of a King: Elizabeth I and the Politics of Sex and Power. Robert Bucholz is a professor of history at Loyola University. He is the author of several books, including The Augustan Court: Queen Anne and the Decline of Court Culture, and the coauthor (with N. E. Key) of Early Modern England, 1485–1714: A Narrative History.  Contributors: Charles Beem, Robert Bucholz, Sarah Duncan, Timothy G. Elston, Elaine Kruse, Amber Harris Leichner, Carole Levin, Michele Osherow, Anna Riehl, Linda S. Shenk, Marjorie Swann, John Watkins, Michelle A. White, and Richardine Woodall.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction: It's Good to Be Queen	p. xiii
"Greater by Marriage": The Matrimonial Career of the Empress Matilda	p. 1
Widow Princess or Neglected Queen? Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII, and English Public Opinion, 1533-1536	p. 16
"Most godly heart fraight with al mercie": Queens' Mercy during the Reigns of Mary I and Elizabeth I	p. 31
Princess Elizabeth Travels across Her Kingdom: In Life, in Text, and on Stage	p. 51
Marriage à la Mode, 1559: Elisabeth de Valois, Elizabeth I, and the Changing Practice of Dynastic Marriage	p. 76
Queen Solomon: An International Elizabeth I in 1569	p. 98
The Virgin and the Widow: The Political Finesse of Elizabeth I and Catherine de' Medici	p. 126
Crafting Queens: Early Modern Readings of Esther	p. 141
"Shine like an Angel with thy starry crown": Queen Elizabeth the Angelic	p. 158
Shakespeare's Queen Cleopatra: An Act of Translation	p. 187
"She is the man, and Raignes": Popular Representations of Henrietta Maria during the English Civil Wars	p. 205
Sex and the Single Queen: The Erotic Lives of Elizabeth Tudor in Seventeenth-century England	p. 224
The "Stomach of a Queen," or Size Matters: Gender, Body Image, and the Historical Reputation of Queen Anne	p. 242
Two Poems	p. 273
Selected Bibliography	p. 277
Contributors	p. 311
Index	p. 317
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