Memorialising Premodern Monarchs : Medias of Commemoration and Remembrance

This book examines the legacies and depictions of monarchs in an international context, focusing on both self-representation and commemoration by others. Spanning ancient India through to eighteenth-century Russia, this volume offers several case studies to demonstrate trends and patterns in how different societies chose to commemorate and remember their rulers in a variety of mediums. Contributions highlight several lesser known rulers, alongside more famous ones such as Henry VIII of England, to develop a deeper understanding of how memory and monarchy functioned when drawn together. __Memorialising Premodern Monarchs__ brings to the fore the importance of memory and memorialisation when considering the legacies and records of past rulers and their societies, and allows a deeper reflection on how these rulers live on through the historical record and popular culture. Acknowledgements 7 Contents 8 Notes on Contributors 10 List of Figures 14 Introduction: The Memorialisation of Monarchs in an International Context 17 Representations of Rulers in Art and Architecture 19 Commemoration in Literature and Popular Media 21 The Importance of Memorialisation 23 Bibliography 24 Part I: Representations of Monarchs in Art and Architecture 26 “The Whole Stature of a Goodly Man and a Large Horse”: Memorialising Henry VIII’s Manly, Knightly and Warrior Status 27 Bibliography 46 Primary Sources 46 Secondary Sources 47 Unpublished Thesis 50 Internet Resources 50 Papal Commemoration, 1300–1700: Institutional Memory and Dynasticism 51 Liturgical Commemoration 52 Encouraging Dynasticism Via Commemoration 54 Papal Tombs 56 Papal Self-commemoration and Damnatio Memoriae 59 Strategies of Commemoration: Portraits, Arms, and Objects 63 Commemoration by Lay Papal Relatives 67 Conclusion 68 Bibliography 75 Primary Sources 75 Secondary Sources 75 Online Sources 78 Island Queens: Appropriated Portraits of Royal Samoan Women 79 Bibliography 99 Primary Sources 99 Secondary Sources 100 King Sigismund III Vasa’s Column in Warsaw: A Memorial in Honour of the King, A Representation of Power, and a Commemoration of the Father 102 Introduction 102 The Column’s History 107 The Monument and Its Origins 112 Florentine Inspirations 117 Bibliography 128 Primary Sources 128 Secondary Sources 128 Personal or Perfunctory? Philippa of Hainault’s Legacy Through Religious Patronage and St Katharine’s by the Tower 131 Queenly Religious Patronage 132 St Katharine’s by the Tower 136 Personal Piety 140 Conclusion 143 Bibliography 148 Unpublished Primary Sources 148 Published Primary Sources 149 Secondary Sources 149 The Heroes Who Turned Into Stones and Songs: The Memory of the Monarch Reflected in the Old Tamil Caṅkam Literature 153 Introduction 153 Heroic Death in the Old Tamil Caṅkam Literature 157 The Promises of the Upper Sphere 160 Funerals of the Kings 162 Memorial Stones for the Heroes 163 The Memory of the King in the Caṅkam Literature 166 Bibliography 175 Primary Sources 175 Secondary Sources 176 Part II: Commemoration in Literature and Popular Media 178 Memories and Memorials of Literature and Art at the Turn of the First Millennium 179 Memorialising Ottonian Monarchs 180 Female Rulers: Spiritual Portraits and Generations 181 Image 1 [Fig. 2] (The Gospels of Saint-Géréon, W 312, fol. 22r): Lamb, Otto III, Theophanu and Adelheid18 183 Images 2 and 3 (Gospel Book from Metz, MS 9395, fols 15r and 15v): Adelheid, Christ and an Abbot; Liber Generationis with Lamb28 185 Image 4 [Fig. 3] (Pericopes Book of Henry II, MS 4452, fol. 2r): Henry II, Christ, and Kunigunde36 187 Dating the Images and Implications 187 Return to Image 1 [Fig. 2] (W 312, folio 22r) 187 Return to Images 2, 3 (MS 9395, fols 15r and 15v) and Image 4 [Fig. 3] (MS 4452, fol. 2r) 190 Conclusion 193 Bibliography 201 Manuscripts and Primary Sources 201 Secondary Sources 202 Memory and Kingship in the Manuscripts of Matthew Paris 207 Bibliography 229 Primary Sources 229 Secondary Sources 229 Maria Theresia and Catherine II: The Bodies of a Female Ruler in Propaganda, Criticism, and Retrospect 231 Introduction 231 The Bodies of Legitimacy 232 The Problems of Using and Overcoming the Female Body in Female Rule 235 Motherhood and Motherliness 238 Symbolic Commemoration 240 The Challenges of Dissecting Stereotyped Symbols on a Multilevel Basis 242 Conclusion 246 Bibliography 251 Primary Sources 251 Secondary Sources 251 Mighty Lady and True Husband: Queen Margaret of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden in Norwegian Memory 254 Margrete and the Royal House of Norway 257 Margrete in Textbooks 258 Margrete in a Novel 261 Margrete for Children 264 Conclusion 266 Bibliography 271 Primary Sources 271 Secondary Sources 272 Oh to be a Queen: Representations of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Isabella of Angoulême, Two Scandalous Queens, in Popular Fiction 274 Introduction 274 Reception, Context, and Audience 276 Eleanor and Isabella in Historiography 280 Eleanor and Isabella’s Legends 281 Eleanor, The Second Crusade, and Sexual Scandal 283 Isabella: A Scandalous Queen 286 Eleanor and Family Politics 287 Isabella and Family Life 289 Conclusion 290 Bibliography 296 Primary Sources 296 Secondary Sources 297 From “She-Wolf” to “Badass”: Remembering Isabella of France in Modern Culture 300 The Making of a “She-Wolf” 301 The “She-Wolf” in Popular History 302 Maurice Druon’s Les Rois maudits, and Isabella in Fiction 305 Online Re-evaluations 307 “Iron Lady” 309 “Badass” 310 Conclusion 313 Bibliography 318 Primary Sources 318 Secondary Sources 318 Online Sources 320 Index 322 This book examines the legacies and depictions of monarchs in an international context, focusing on both self-representation and commemoration by others. Spanning ancient India through to eighteenth-century Russia, this volume offers several case studies to demonstrate trends and patterns in how different societies chose to commemorate and remember their rulers in a variety of mediums. Contributions highlight several lesser known rulers, alongside more famous ones such as Henry VIII of England, to develop a deeper understanding of how memory and monarchy functioned when drawn together. Memorialising Premodern Monarchs brings to the fore the importance of memory and memorialisation when considering the legacies and records of past rulers and their societies, and allows a deeper reflection on how these rulers live on through the historical record and popular culture. Gabrielle Storey is a historian of Angevin queenship, gender, and sexuality, with a specialism in co-rulership. She completed her doctorate at the University of Winchester, UK. She is currently working on a biography of Berengaria of Navarre, and a monograph on Angevin co-rulership. She is the founder of Team Queens, a digital global queenship project