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Imagining Henry VIII: Cultural Memory and the Tudor King, 1535-1625

Rankin, Mark
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1179496104

Abstract Details

2007, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, English.
Tudor and early-Stuart writers refashioned the posthumous reputation of King Henry VIII during the reigns of Henry’s royal successors in response to ongoing debate over the interconnected themes of English religious and national identity. Henry’s legacy as a potential supporter of these notions was ambivalent owing to the shifting policies in religious affairs that he displayed during his own lifetime. This ambivalence enabled writers to manipulate Henry into either a partisan supporter or strong opponent of competing religious and political ideologies after his death. From the publication of the first complete English Bible in 1535 to the death of James I in 1625, writers discussed Henry VIII from widely divergent perspectives and agendas. For example, counselors and propagandists flattered both Henry and his successors in order to obtain patronage and shape the direction of policy. Catholic opponents employed Henry’s reputation as a benchmark for their own approach to the English church by condemning him as a violent and lustful tyrant. Protestant writers under Elizabeth themselves struggled to understand Henry’s ambivalent cultural legacy. Many paired Elizabeth and her father in dynastic arguments in order to stress that Elizabeth should continue Henry’s policies even when those policies conflicted with the queen’s own views. Other writers longed for a return to the reign of Henry VIII as an alternative to present troubles. Nostalgia coupled with humor reminded readers of the nation’s successes under Henry. Following the accession to the throne of James VI and I in 1603, playwrights such as William Shakespeare and others exploited Henry VIII as dynastic model for the Stuart monarchy. In so doing, they represented Henry according to the political agendas of their respective royal patrons. Shakespeare and John Fletcher’s Henry VIII, for instance, portrayed the Tudor monarch as a precursor to James’s own relationship with the religious policies of mainstream Protestantism. In particular, Henry provided an anachronistic model for James I as a king who rises above factional conflict. These versions of Henry contained high topical appeal, since James struggled with Parliamentary factionalism during the opening decade of his reign.
John King (Advisor)
403 p.
Henry VIII, King of England; Kings and rulers in literature
Henry VIII; Great Britain&160; &8211; History; Reformation; Protestantism; Catholicism

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Rankin, M. (2007). Imagining Henry VIII: Cultural Memory and the Tudor King, 1535-1625 [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1179496104

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Rankin, Mark. Imagining Henry VIII: Cultural Memory and the Tudor King, 1535-1625. 2007. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1179496104.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Rankin, Mark. "Imagining Henry VIII: Cultural Memory and the Tudor King, 1535-1625." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1179496104

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1179496104
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.