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Through a thematic overview of court culture that connects the cultural with the political, confessional, spatial, material and performative, this volume introduces the dynamics of power and culture in the early modern European court.
List of contents
Part I: People and political structures: Connecting power 1. Monarchs: Kings and queens regnant, sovereign princes and popes 2. Consorts and court ladies 3. Wider kinship networks 4. Courtiers, ministers and favourites 5. Confessors 6. Aristocrats and nobles 7. Diplomats Part II: Place and space: Negotiating the court 8. Access 9. Princely residences 10. Gardens Part III: Ceremonial and ritual: Observing tradition 11. Religious rituals and the liturgical calendar 12. Childbirth 13. Marriages 14. Coronations 15. Receptions: Triumphal entries, ambassadorial receptions and banquets 16. Funerals Part IV: Visual and material culture: Furnishing the palace 17. Metalwork 18. Tapestry 19. Upholstered furnishings, cabinet work and gilt furniture 20. Portraiture 21. Display 22. Porcelain rooms Part V: Material culture: Dressing the Body 23. Jewellery 24. Male dress 25. Female dress 26. Beauty 27. Scent Part VI: Entertainment and knowledge: Performing authority 28. Science 29. Theatre and opera 30. Dance 31. Literature 32. Music 33. Tournaments and hunting 34. Food and dining 35. Games and jokes
About the author
Erin Griffey is Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Auckland and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. She is a specialist in early modern visual and material culture and has published widely on the Stuart court, including On Display: Henrietta Maria and the Materials of Magnificence at the Stuart Court (2016). Her other books include the edited collection Sartorial Politics in Early Modern Europe: Fashioning Women (2019). She is writing a monograph entitled Facing Decay: Beauty, Wrinkles and Anti-Aging in Early Modern Europe.
Summary
Through a thematic overview of court culture that connects the cultural with the political, confessional, spatial, material and performative, this volume introduces the dynamics of power and culture in the early modern European court.
Exploring the period from 1500 to 1750, Early Modern Court Culture is cross-cultural and interdisciplinary, providing insights into aspects of both community and continuity at courts as well as individual identity, change and difference. Culture is presented as not merely a vehicle for court propaganda in promoting the monarch and the dynasty, but as a site for a complex range of meanings that conferred status and virtue on the patron, maker, court and the wider community of elites. The essays show that the court provided an arena for virtue and virtuosity, intellectual and social play, demonstration of moral authority and performance of social, gendered, confessional and dynastic identity.
Early Modern Court Culture moves from political structures and political players to architectural forms and spatial geographies; ceremonial and ritual observances; visual and material culture; entertainment and knowledge. With 35 contributions on subjects including gardens, dress, scent, dance and tapestries, this volume is a necessary resource for all students and scholars interested in the court in early modern Europe.
