England′s Empty Throne – Usurption & the Language of Legitimation 1399–1422 - Hardcover

Strohm, Paul

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300075448 ISBN 13: 9780300075441

Publisher: Yale University Press, 1998

Synopsis

After the dethronement and subsequent murder of Richard II, the usurping Lancastrian dynasty faced a challenge. Interrupting a long period of Plantagenet rule, Henry IV and Henry V needed not only to establish physical possesion of the English throne, but to occupy it symbolically as well. In this revisionary book, Paul Strohm provides an account of the Lancastrian revolution and its aftermath. Integrating techniques of literary and historical analysis, he explores the new dynasty's quest for legistimacy and the importance of symbolic activity to the making of kingship. Strohm reveals the Lancastrian monarchs as masters of outward display, persuasively "performing" their kingship in a variety of novel ceremonies. Henry IV is crowned with a newly discovered coronation oil. The murdered Richard II is reburied. Opinion is courted and deceived with invented chronicles, false prophecies, and bogus genealogies. Strohm's account of the Lancastrian quest for legitimacy and the uses of symbolic power aims to illuminate our understanding of a period of unprecedented political upheaval.

About this title

Review

""England's Empty Throne" . . . confirms Paul Strohm's extraordinary ability to disclose and interpret elements of social and political contestation in texts produced in late medieval England, even (or especially) when such disclosure seems farthest from the overt intent of their composers or sponsors." "Arthuriana""

"Paul Strohm's strikingly original . . . book offers rich opportunities for thinking about the relationships between textual analysis and historical understanding. . . . [His] analysis of Lancastrian texts and imagination will undoubtedly prove immensely energizing in medieval English literary and cultural studies. If its full implications for medieval history are also recognized and explored, its impact will be even more profound and enduring." Review of English Studies"

"[Henry IV's] usurpation stands exposed as a scandalous rupture in the line of succession. Strohm's powerfully argued book deals with the usurper's efforts to mend the rift with lies and propaganda, and explores the unpredictable and often fantastical forms in which the Lancastrian repressed staged its return." Times Literary Supplement"

"England's Empty Throne . . . confirms Paul Strohm's extraordinary ability to disclose and interpret elements of social and political contestation in texts produced in late medieval England, even (or especially) when such disclosure seems farthest from the overt intent of their composers or sponsors." Arthuriana"

Edition details

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300075448
• ISBN 13: 9780300075441
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 286