The Images of Power in the Public Space of Early Restoration England

The article deals with the main features of the public representation of the power images during the early Stuart Restoration. The problem is studied on the material of the solemn entry of the English King Charles II into London on the eve of his coronation, April 22, 1661. Prior to this event, four triumphal arches were built in the city center, using the main symbols and allegories associated with the restoration of the monarchy. Based on a wide range of sources (official descriptions of celebrations, engravings, poetic works and diaries), the authors study the characteristic features of the power images of the early Restoration. Firstly, an important role in the construction of these images was played by the use of the heritage of the Antiquity, mainly of the works of Virgil. England was represented as the new Rome, and Charles II was seen as the new Augustus. Secondly, like the early Stuarts, Charles II sought to present his rule as a new “Golden Age” — the era of prosperity and abundance. The latter, according to the architects of the arches, came to replace the chaos, desolation and discord of the civil wars and of the Interregnum. The symbolism of the arches helps us understand, how the legacy of that period was refracted in official rhetoric and in the minds of the Englishmen of the Restoration era. Finally, the images on the triumphal arches reflected the plans and aspirations of the new government, being a kind of “manifesto” of the new monarchy.

Keywords

Restoration England, publicity, Charles II, triumphal arches, John Ogilby, images of power, London

Received

14.09.2021

Publication date

15.02.2022

Number of characters

48207

Cite

GOST	Knyazev P., Makarova E. The Images of Power in the Public Space of Early Restoration England // ISTORIYA – 2022. – V. 13. – Issue 1 (111) [Electronic resource]. URL: https://history.jes.su/S207987840019015-5-1 (circulation date: 16.05.2024). DOI: 10.18254/S207987840019015-5
MLA	Knyazev, Pavel, Makarova, Elena "The Images of Power in the Public Space of Early Restoration England." ISTORIYA 13.1 (111) (2022) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840019015-5
APA	Knyazev P., Makarova E. (2022). The Images of Power in the Public Space of Early Restoration England. ISTORIYA 13(1 (111)) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840019015-5

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 244

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Gordienko D. O. Korona v ehpokhu restavratsii Styuartov v Anglii: dis. ... kand. ist. nauk. Samara: SGPU, 2005.

2. Dmitrieva O. V. Elizaveta Tyudor. M.: Molodaya gvardiya, 2004.

3. Dyushen M. Gertsog Bekingem. M.: Molodaya gvardiya, 2007.

4. Ivonina L. I. Pridvornaya zhizn' v ehpokhu Karla II Styuarta // Voprosy istorii. 2010. № 11. S. 110—123.

5. Palamarchuk A. A., Fedorov S. E. Antikvarnyj diskurs v rannestyuartovskoj Anglii. SPb.: Aletejya, 2013.

6. Palamarchuk A. Composite Monarchy and Legal Polymorphism in Early Stuart England: a Problem Statement // ISTORIYA. 2018. Vol. 9. Issue 1 (65). URL: https://history.jes.su/s207987840002041-4-1/ DOI: 10.18254/S0002041-4-1

7. Asch R. G. Sacral kingship between disenchantment and re-enchantment: the French and English monarchies 1587—1688. N. Y.; Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2014.

8. Bédoyère G. de la. Carausius, Virgil and the marks RSR and INPCDA // Image, Craft and the Classical World. Essays in honour of Donald Bailey and Catherine Johns / ed. by Crummy N. Montagnac: Mergiol, 2005. P. 187—195.

9. Bowers F. Ogilby's Coronation Entertainment (1661—1689): Editions and Issues // The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America. 1953. № 4. P. 339—355.

10. Burroughs S. The Building's Face and the Herculean Paradigm: Agendas and Agency in Roman Renaissance Architecture // Journal of Anthropology and Aesthetics. 1993. Vol. 23. P. 7—30.

11. Connell Rh. Secular Chains: Poetry and the Politics of Religion from Milton to Pope. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016.

12. Cummings B. The Book of Common Prayer: The Texts of 1549, 1559, and 1662. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.

13. Curran J. E. Roman invasions: the British history, Protestant anti-Romanism, and the historical imagination in England, 1530—1660. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2002.

14. De Krey G. Restoration and revolution in Britain: a political history of the era of Charles II and the Glorious Revolution. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.

15. Doelman J. King James I and the Religious Culture of England. Woodbridge: Brewer, 2000.

16. Double Agents: Cultural and Political Brokerage in Early Modern Europe / ed. by Keblusek M., Noldus B. V. Leiden: Brill, 2011.

17. Eames M. John Ogilby and his Aesop // Bulletin of the New York Public Library. 1961. Vol. 65. R. 73—88.

18. Eerde K. S. van. John Ogilby and the taste of his times. Folkestone: Dawson, 1976.

19. Fordham H. G. John Ogilby (1600—1676): His Britannia, and the British Itineraries of the Eighteenth century // The Library. 1925. № 2. R. 157—178.

20. Hammond P. The Making of the Restoration Poetry. Cambridge: Brewer, 2006.

21. Harris T. Charles II and his kingdoms, 1660—1685. L.: Penguin, 2006.

22. Harris T. London crowds in the reign of Charles II: propaganda and politics from the Restoration until the exclusion crisis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

23. Jenkinson M. Culture and Politics at the Court of Charles II, 1660—1685. Woodbridge: Boydell, 2010.

24. Kamil N. Fortress of the Soul: Violence, Metaphysics, and Material Life in the Huguenots’ New World, 1517—1751. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005.

25. Keay A. The magnificent monarch: Charles II and the ceremonies of power. L.: Continuum, 2008.

26. Keeble N. H. The Restoration: England in the 1660s. Oxford-Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2002.

27. Lynch G. C. J. The History of Gauged Brickwork. L.: Routledge, 2016.

28. Malcolm J. L. Charles II and the Reconstruction of Historical Power // The Historical Journal. 1992. № 35. P. 307—330.

29. Miller J. The Restoration and the England of Charles II. L.: Longman, 1997.

30. Mowl T., Earnshaw B. Architecture without Kings: The Rise of Puritan Classicism under Cromwell. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1995.

31. Parry G. The Golden Age restor’d: the Culture of the Stuart Court, 1603—1642. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1981.

32. Parry G. The Seventeenth Century: The Intellectual and Cultural Context of English Literature, 1603—1700. L.: Routledge, 2014.

33. Peacey J. Print, Publicity, and Popularity: The Projecting of Sir Balthazar Gerbier, 1642—1662 // Journal of British Studies. 2012. Vol. 51. P. 284—307.

34. Rose J. Godly Kingship in Restoration England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014.

35. Rosenthal L. Gender, Politics, and Allegory in the Art of Rubens. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.

36. Sawday J. Rewriting a Revolution: History, Symbol, and Text in the Restoration // The Seventeenth Century. 1992. № 7. R. 171—199.

37. Sharpe K. Reading authority and representing rule in early modern England. L.: Bloomsbury Academic, 2013.

38. Sharpe K. Rebranding Rule: the Restoration and Revolution monarchy, 1660—1714. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2013.

39. Sharpe K. Selling the Tudor Monarchy: Authority and Image in Sixteenth-century England. New Haven, Conn.; L.: Yale University Press.

40. Stainton L., White C. Drawing in England from Hilliard to Hogarth. L.: British Museum Publications, 1987.

41. Stevenson C. Occasional Architecture in Seventeenth-Century London // Architectural History. 2006. Vol. 49. P. 35—74.

42. Strong R. Coronation: From the 8th to the 21st Century. L.: Harper Perenninal, 2006.

43. Strong R. The Spirit of Britain: A Narrative History of the Arts. L.: Pimlico, 2000.

44. Tautz B. Das Bild des Kaisers Augustus in der Naturalis historia des Plinius. Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, 1999.

45. Weiser B. Charles II and the politics of access. Woodbridge: Boydell, 2003.

46. Worden B. Literature and Politics in Cromwellian England. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.