Sara Smart Libros

The wedding in 1613 of Elizabeth Stuart and Elector Palatine Friedrich V was an event of immense diplomatic, confessional, and cultural significance. This volume, the first interdisciplinary treatment of this celebration of Protestant union, is unique in the scope of its approach to the magnificent spectacles, beginning in London and ending in Heidelberg, that were staged to mark the occasion. The study situates the wedding in its broadest context, exploring the pan-Protestant hopes it inspired and the rich cultural exchange it triggered. The editors have assembled a team of international contributors whose wide-ranging expertise integrates the pan-European aspects of the topic in a way that no single monograph could accomplish. The twenty-three contributions introduce new archival and printed source materials, offering a wealth of fresh insights. Among the aspects addressed here are Elizabeth’s childhood, the diverse literary expression that accompanied the marriage, and the issue of court ceremonial, in this case with an added gender aspect in that the bride claimed precedence over her husband. Analysis of diplomatic correspondence and city records reveals external views on the alliance. A particular strength of the volume is its polycentric view, showing the connections linking Scotland, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the Palatinate. The detailed scholarship is animated by illustrations, many of them little known.

It was expected that the prince of the early modern period should incorporate an ideal of virtue that distinguished him from other men and underlined his capacity to rule. This ideal is manifest in the depiction of the ruler in the visual arts. It is equally evident in a diverse body of writing produced for the court: occasional poetry, the libretti of ballets and Singspiele, masquerades and reports of festivities comment in a variety of ways on the perfection of the prince. The ideal image of the German ruler, of his wife and court is the subject of the present study, which explores the writing of five poets active at different courts – Stuttgart, Dresden, Heidelberg, Wolfenbüttel and Berlin – at different stages of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The works of Georg Rodolf Weckherlin, David Schirmer, Lorenz Beger, Friedrich Christian Bressand and Johann von Besser offer insight into the presentation of the ruler and the way in which this was subject to political circumstances and cultural influences. The study also focuses on the position of the poet at court and on the various talents that he required in order to achieve success.