Courtier and Swordsman

During the years 1610 to 1612 the threat of war returned to haunt Europe and James I’s critics looked increasingly to Henry, prince of Wales, as a future military and Protestant leader. Chapter 4 looks at Herbert’s engagement with courtly politics and support for his kinsman, Pembroke, who opposed the powerful pro-Catholic and pro-Spanish Howard faction and favoured providing military assistance to fellow Protestants in Europe and seeking alliance with France. It examines Herbert’s determination to secure honour and military experience by fighting as a volunteer in the Protestant army defending Jülich-Cleves in 1610 and the contribution of his military exploits in camp, where he learned the art of making war under Sir Edward Cecil, and his emerging chivalric reputation in England and on the continent. It considers his attempt to defend his honour in a series of duels, including most notoriously with Theophilus Howard, Lord Walden, and Sir John Eyre, and the reaction of the Privy Council and fellow courtiers to the fashion for duelling. It explores Herbert’s involvement in courtly and literary circles; the favour shown him by Anne of Denmark; his friendship with John Donne, Sir Robert Harley, and Sir Thomas Lucy; his commissioning of portraits by leading court artists; and his difficult relationship with members of the Howard family that led, following the rise of Robert Carr, earl of Somerset, as royal favourite and the deaths of Robert Cecil, earl of Salisbury, and Prince Henry, to his withdrawal from court politics.

Changing Times

Returning to England, Herbert found James I’s court and government in disarray but was forced to witness events from the side-lines due to illness. Chapter 6 explores his re-engagement with his family, estates, and court politics and his interest in the religious conflict of the period. It looks at his response to the trial of the earl and countess of Somerset for Sir Thomas Overbury’s murder, the removal of the Howard family from royal office, and the rising influence of the earl of Pembroke and his protégé, Sir George Villiers. It examines Herbert’s intellectual engagement with the soteriological conflict between Gomarists and Arminians in the United Provinces over the doctrine of predestination and his growing interest in Arminian and Socinian religious teaching. The development of his religious thinking is captured in letters written to Sir Robert Harley during 1617 to 1619, critiquing hard-line Calvinist teaching on salvation, and clearly influenced the writing of De Veritate which he drafted during the same period. The chapter ends with his return to court circles and successful application (with the support of Villiers, created earl and later duke of Buckingham by the besotted king) to advance his career as ambassador to the court of Louis XIII following the outbreak of rebellion in Bohemia.

John Prestall: A Complex Relationship with the Elizabethan Regime

<p>This thesis is the biography of John Prestall (c.1527-c.1598) an unsavoury, nefarious, spendthrift, Catholic gentleman from Elizabethan England. A conspirator, opportunist informer, occult conjurer, conman and alchemist, Prestall's biography provides an alternative perspective from which to view Elizabethan history, exposing the dark fringe of the Elizabethan Court and the murky political underworld it attracted. In the polarised politico-religious ferment of late Tudor England, Prestall perennially in debt, utilised his occult powers for his own ruthless self-interest and preservation. Always looking for the best deal, he oscillated between using sorcery and astrology in conspiracies against both Mary I and Elizabeth I, and then traded alchemical promises with members of the Elizabethan establishment for patronage, pardons, and returns from exile. Through an examination of the surviving manuscript correspondence and contemporary print material, this thesis situates Prestall in the broader context of Elizabethan England and uses his life as a conduit linking together a sequence of previously unrelated plots, conspiracies and patronage relationships. Prestall's life, as documented in the manuscripts, was not primarily directed by his Catholic faith which played a secondary role to his search for the best deal and cure for his debt-ridden circumstances. This presents an interesting contrast to members of the Elizabethan regime whose Protestant ideological view of the Catholic-Protestant clash directed many of their actions. This biography explores Prestall's use of conjuring and alchemy to demonstrate the important influence magic had in Elizabethan political conspiracies and Court politics. Within a society whose belief system held magic to be an inherent part of the natural world, Prestall unscrupulously used his astrological and alchemical talents to whatever ends he thought would provide him the biggest payoff.</p>

John Prestall: A Complex Relationship with the Elizabethan Regime

<p>This thesis is the biography of John Prestall (c.1527-c.1598) an unsavoury, nefarious, spendthrift, Catholic gentleman from Elizabethan England. A conspirator, opportunist informer, occult conjurer, conman and alchemist, Prestall's biography provides an alternative perspective from which to view Elizabethan history, exposing the dark fringe of the Elizabethan Court and the murky political underworld it attracted. In the polarised politico-religious ferment of late Tudor England, Prestall perennially in debt, utilised his occult powers for his own ruthless self-interest and preservation. Always looking for the best deal, he oscillated between using sorcery and astrology in conspiracies against both Mary I and Elizabeth I, and then traded alchemical promises with members of the Elizabethan establishment for patronage, pardons, and returns from exile. Through an examination of the surviving manuscript correspondence and contemporary print material, this thesis situates Prestall in the broader context of Elizabethan England and uses his life as a conduit linking together a sequence of previously unrelated plots, conspiracies and patronage relationships. Prestall's life, as documented in the manuscripts, was not primarily directed by his Catholic faith which played a secondary role to his search for the best deal and cure for his debt-ridden circumstances. This presents an interesting contrast to members of the Elizabethan regime whose Protestant ideological view of the Catholic-Protestant clash directed many of their actions. This biography explores Prestall's use of conjuring and alchemy to demonstrate the important influence magic had in Elizabethan political conspiracies and Court politics. Within a society whose belief system held magic to be an inherent part of the natural world, Prestall unscrupulously used his astrological and alchemical talents to whatever ends he thought would provide him the biggest payoff.</p>

John Prestall: A Complex Relationship with the Elizabethan Regime

<p>This thesis is the biography of John Prestall (c.1527-c.1598) an unsavoury, nefarious, spendthrift, Catholic gentleman from Elizabethan England. A conspirator, opportunist informer, occult conjurer, conman and alchemist, Prestall's biography provides an alternative perspective from which to view Elizabethan history, exposing the dark fringe of the Elizabethan Court and the murky political underworld it attracted. In the polarised politico-religious ferment of late Tudor England, Prestall perennially in debt, utilised his occult powers for his own ruthless self-interest and preservation. Always looking for the best deal, he oscillated between using sorcery and astrology in conspiracies against both Mary I and Elizabeth I, and then traded alchemical promises with members of the Elizabethan establishment for patronage, pardons, and returns from exile. Through an examination of the surviving manuscript correspondence and contemporary print material, this thesis situates Prestall in the broader context of Elizabethan England and uses his life as a conduit linking together a sequence of previously unrelated plots, conspiracies and patronage relationships. Prestall's life, as documented in the manuscripts, was not primarily directed by his Catholic faith which played a secondary role to his search for the best deal and cure for his debt-ridden circumstances. This presents an interesting contrast to members of the Elizabethan regime whose Protestant ideological view of the Catholic-Protestant clash directed many of their actions. This biography explores Prestall's use of conjuring and alchemy to demonstrate the important influence magic had in Elizabethan political conspiracies and Court politics. Within a society whose belief system held magic to be an inherent part of the natural world, Prestall unscrupulously used his astrological and alchemical talents to whatever ends he thought would provide him the biggest payoff.</p>

John Prestall: A Complex Relationship with the Elizabethan Regime

<p>This thesis is the biography of John Prestall (c.1527-c.1598) an unsavoury, nefarious, spendthrift, Catholic gentleman from Elizabethan England. A conspirator, opportunist informer, occult conjurer, conman and alchemist, Prestall's biography provides an alternative perspective from which to view Elizabethan history, exposing the dark fringe of the Elizabethan Court and the murky political underworld it attracted. In the polarised politico-religious ferment of late Tudor England, Prestall perennially in debt, utilised his occult powers for his own ruthless self-interest and preservation. Always looking for the best deal, he oscillated between using sorcery and astrology in conspiracies against both Mary I and Elizabeth I, and then traded alchemical promises with members of the Elizabethan establishment for patronage, pardons, and returns from exile. Through an examination of the surviving manuscript correspondence and contemporary print material, this thesis situates Prestall in the broader context of Elizabethan England and uses his life as a conduit linking together a sequence of previously unrelated plots, conspiracies and patronage relationships. Prestall's life, as documented in the manuscripts, was not primarily directed by his Catholic faith which played a secondary role to his search for the best deal and cure for his debt-ridden circumstances. This presents an interesting contrast to members of the Elizabethan regime whose Protestant ideological view of the Catholic-Protestant clash directed many of their actions. This biography explores Prestall's use of conjuring and alchemy to demonstrate the important influence magic had in Elizabethan political conspiracies and Court politics. Within a society whose belief system held magic to be an inherent part of the natural world, Prestall unscrupulously used his astrological and alchemical talents to whatever ends he thought would provide him the biggest payoff.</p>

The Tsar's Happy Occasion

This book shows how the vast, ornate affairs that were royal weddings in early modern Russia were choreographed to broadcast powerful images of monarchy and dynasty. Processions and speeches emphasized dynastic continuity and legitimacy. Fertility rites blended Christian and pre-Christian symbols to assure the birth of heirs. Gift exchanges created and affirmed social solidarity among the elite. The bride performed rituals that integrated herself and her family into the inner circle of the court. This book demonstrates how royal weddings reflected and shaped court politics during a time of dramatic cultural and dynastic change. As the book shows, the rites of passage in these ceremonies were dazzling displays of monarchical power unlike any other ritual at the Muscovite court. And as dynasties came and went and the political culture evolved, so too did wedding rituals. The book relates how Peter the Great first mocked, then remade wedding rituals to symbolize and empower his efforts to westernize Russia. After Peter, the two branches of the Romanov dynasty used weddings to solidify their claims to the throne. The book offers a sweeping, yet penetrating cultural history of the power of rituals and the rituals of power in early modern Russia.

Introduction

This chapter focuses on the wedding rituals and dynasties in Russia. It describes and analyzes the themes explored by Russian polymath and “father of Russian science” Mikhail Lomonosov — ritual, dynasty, religion, royal women, and power (and several more) — as they were expressed in royal weddings from the end of the fifteenth century through the first half of the eighteenth century. The chapter then argues that court politics in Muscovy was marriage politics, and the marriage of the ruler was the critical moment in every generation of the dynasty. Each time the ruler married, the political elite around him reshuffled, with new royal in-laws joining the ranks of the innermost circle of courtiers in the Kremlin. It also notes that royal weddings, like other court rituals, were manipulated by wedding choreographers and sometimes by rulers themselves to project a dynastic message. Finally, and most fundamentally, the chapter rests on a close reading of texts, most notably the rich corpus of Muscovite royal wedding documents. The creation of these texts were genuine events in the political and cultural life of the court, reflecting changes in ruling dynasties, religious attitudes, and political agendas.