1st Edition

Elizabethan Triumphal Processions

By William Leahy Copyright 2005
    184 Pages
    by Routledge

    184 Pages
    by Routledge

    Until now, scholarly analysis of Elizabethan processions has always regarded them as having been successful in their function as propaganda, and has always found them to have effectively 'won over' the common people - that group of the population at whom they were chiefly aimed. Both her Royal entries and progresses were regarded as effective public relations exercises, the population gaining access to the Queen and thus being encouraged to remain loyal subjects. This book represents a new approach to this subject by investigating whether this was actually the case - that is, whether the common people were actually won over by these spectacular rituals. By examining original documents that have thus far been ignored, as well as re-examining others from the perspective of the common people, the book casts a new light on Elizabethan processions.

    Contents: Introduction: 'Triumphal processions'; Theorising processions; 'Her spiritual, mystical, transforming power': Elizabeth on procession and the common audience; 'Tyme hath brought me hether': readings of Elizabeth on procession; Conclusion: 'The true picture of the past flits by': re-reading a procession painting; Appendices; Bibliography; Index.

    Biography

    William Leahy is Director of Studies in the Department of English at Brunel University, UK.