PUBLISHING THE STUARTS: OCCASIONAL LITERATURE AND POLITICS FROM 1603 TO 1625 REBECCA A. CALCAGNO SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2011 © 2011 REBECCA A. CALCAGNO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT PUBLISHING THE STUARTS: OCCASIONAL LITERATURE AND POLITICS FROM 1603 TO 1625 REBECCA A. CALCAGNO This dissertation examines occasional events at the Jacobean court through the literature written about them—the largely understudied and yet voluminous occasional works published in inexpensive formats during the first Stuart reign. Through a series of contextualized readings of key occasional events and texts, I argue that these poems and pamphlets not only move beyond the epideictic to engage in key political debates, but also that they present competing visions of the Stuart realm and illustrate the international frame of its court. By examining the relationship between occasional works and the “real” events which they discuss, I show how writers sought to persuade the public to accept their political viewpoints through fictional representations of the Stuarts. More importantly, I demonstrate the need to look beyond representations of the Stuarts sponsored by the Stuarts such as masques to fully understand their iconography. Attending to the contexts which shaped occasional literature and the meaningful ways in which authors yoked descriptions of state events to commentaries on political issues, demands a new history of occasional events at court and a new understanding of the Stuart court as polycentric in nature and international in scope. Scholars have long acknowledged the importance of occasional events at court, but dismissed the printed works published about them as ephemeral propaganda. To understand the court, they turned instead to manuscript correspondence and entertainments such as masques, from which they created an image of the Stuarts as a patriarchal family centered on James. By studying representations of the Stuarts in printed works intended for an audience comprised of more than the royal family, nobles, and courtiers, I seek to show a different vision of the Stuarts, one that is international, multi-centric, popular, and poly-vocal. Each chapter focuses on a major court event and the literary response to it: the 1606 state visit to London of the Danish king Christian IV; the death of Henry, Prince of Wales, in London in 1612; the wedding of Elizabeth, daughter of James VI & I and his consort Anna of Denmark, to Frederick, Count Palatine, in London in 1613; and the funeral of Anna in London in 1618. Offering densely contextualized readings of representative occasional works, I argue that authors used these events to envision idealized relationships between, respectively, Britain and Denmark; Britain and France; Britain and Germany; and, England and Scotland. In each case, they picture one member of the royal family establishing and maintaining these relationships. In other words, they imagined different members of the royal family in critical positions of power, and as mediating, through these events, a wide range of religious and political controversies. By examining representational wars over the images of various members of the Stuarts, I hope to offer a complex portrait of a royal family at the center of international debates. These representations which insist on the multiplicity and internationality of the Stuart courts reveal a complex set of cultural and political exchanges across Europe. CONTENTS Note on Quotations and Abbreviations ii Acknowledgements iii Introduction 1 1 “Monarches . linkt in amitie”: Britain, Denmark, and the 1606 State Visit of Christian IV 29 2 “Vpon whose life my hopes did whole relye”: Britain, France, and Prince Henry 76 3 A Matter of Precedence: Britain, Germany, and the Palatine Match 121 4 The “first, Crowne-vnited” Queen: Anna of Denmark and the Union of Great Britain 175 Epilogue 226 Bibliography 229 Appendices 261 i NOTE ON QUOTATIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS Quotations from early modern books are given in old spelling and cited by signature rather than page number. I use the following abbreviations in footnotes: DNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. http://www.oxforddnb.com. OED Oxford English Dictionary Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. http://dictionary.oed.com. STC A. W. Pollard and G. R. Redgrave, A Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, & Ireland and of English Books Printed Abroad 1475-1640. 2nd ed. Rev. W. A. Jackson, F. S. Ferguson, and Katharine F. Pantzer. 3 vols. London: The Bibliographical Society, 1976-91. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Much like the early modern plays that first drew me to study seventeenth century British literature, the creation of this dissertation has been collaborative. I would like to thank those who have made this project possible. Julie Crawford has supported me throughout my graduate career, from mentoring my MA thesis to sponsoring this dissertation. She has always pushed me to be better, asking difficult questions and demanding argumentative clarity. She has generously given her time to read numerous drafts and this project has benefited immensely from her intelligence, expansive knowledge, and keen critical eye. I am grateful to her for all she has done. I acknowledge a particular debt to Alan Stewart who has spent countless hours discussing this dissertation with me and reading (too) many drafts of it. His wit, insight, and encouragement kept me writing when I might otherwise have given up. Whatever is worthwhile about this project likely started with a conversation in Alan’s office. I cannot thank him enough for his generosity and patience. I admired Jean Howard long before I arrived at Columbia and working with her has only increased my admiration. She is a model for scholars and a giving mentor. I thank her for the time she has spent working with me. David Kastan has appreciated my quirky interests, listening to synopses of shark movies and proposed projects on unusual deaths on the early modern stage. Far more importantly, he has offered support and advice over the years. I thank him for sharing his brilliance with me. Peter Platt commiserated with me during critical phases while I was writing—for that and for having read and supported the dissertation, I express heartfelt gratitude. I thank Anne Lake iii Prescott for having commented upon my dissertation with the careful eye of an editor, correcting my grammar when necessary and providing witty remarks that made editing the dissertation less painful than it might otherwise have been. I was lucky to have worked with an amazing group of graduate students at Columbia who both challenged me and made graduate school enjoyable. Of them, Adam Hooks deserves special mention. He has enlightened me in any number of ways and his friendship had made my time at Columbia more fun than it should have been. The members of the early modern cohort inspired me with their knowledge and insight. They include Patricia Akhimie, Frederick Bengtsson, Allison Deutermann, Musa Gurnis, Lianne Habinek, Brynhildur Heiðardóttir Ómarsdóttir, András Kiséry, Ivan Lupic, Sara Murphy, Christine Varnado, William Weaver, and Matthew Zarnowiecki. Last, but by no means least, I thank two medievalists, a Victorian scholar, and a modernist who have enriched my life and scholarship immeasurably: Brantley Bryant, Jon K. Williams, Helen Pilinovsky, and Jen Buckley. I thank those institutions whose financial support enabled me to complete this dissertation. The government sponsored me for four years with the Jacob K. Javits Fellowship. Columbia awarded me the Marjorie Hope Nicolson Fellowship, a Medieval Renaissance Summer Fellowship, and the Lizzette Andrews Fisher Fellowship. I was able to research at the Folger Shakespeare Library thanks to a grant-in-aid and at various institutions in London and Stratford with the help of a Gilman Fellowship. Before I came to Columbia, I had the great fortune to study at King’s College, London where I met a brilliant group of scholars who continue to inspire me. I am forever indebted to Gordon McMullan who sparked my interest in graduate studies and encouraged me to pursue a doctorate. Special thanks go to Anne Gill for her intelligent conversations and generous iv hospitality. She and her husband Peter enabled several research and conference trips to London that my budget would otherwise have prevented. Kevin Quarmby generously read drafts of sections of the dissertation. Lucy Munro never ceases to impress and motivate me with her keen insight and voluminous knowledge. DeeAnna Phares and Eric Langley showed me early on that scholarship (and graduate school) could be fun. Beyond the walls of the academy, I have received support from a fantastic group of people. I thank Violet Kramer for her cheerful spirit and unfailing belief in me. Jason Siegel provided a series of necessary distractions and some much needed dancing. Jonas Oxgaard helped keep me sane with his intelligence and good humor. Peggy Mullins Tortoriello, who died before seeing this project’s conclusion, never doubted that I would succeed. My grandparents Joan and Joseph McNally, who also died during the course of this project, expressed the same unfailing belief in me. I miss them every day and would not be who I am without them. My Aunt Eileen Magliacane has always been there when I needed her. My sister Cristen is my best friend—she is too special for any set of adjectives to adequately describe and everything is better when she is a part of it. My brother Joseph may not have gotten me that set of throwing knives he promised in an I.O.U. several Christmases ago, but he brings happiness and laughter into my life which is the best present I could desire. I owe my greatest debt to my parents—Gerald and Cathleen—to whom this dissertation is dedicated.