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Breaking the Vessels: The Desacralization of Monarchy in Early Modern England

36 citations0/0 files storedSixteenth Century Journal

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Seventeenth-Century Political and Philosophical Thought Reformation and Early Modern Christianity Renaissance Literature and Culture

Abstract

At his execution in 1649, Charles I remained in the eyes of many a divine king, this despite the fact that the concept of a sacerdotally marked or empowered monarch clashed with Reformation ideals. Indeed even the gathered might of John Milton, Thomas Hobbes, and James Harrington could do little immediate damage to Charles' posthumous image as blessed martyr. Nevertheless, the Interregnum did sever the continuity upon which sacred monarchy rested. It was left, therefore, to the restored heir to reinvent monarchy, a task to which Charles II's lifestyle and personality were not suited; his licentiousnes and philandering attracted derision rather than adoration. As the intellectual presuppositions on which the sacred monarchy rested were eroded, the aura of the body royal faded.

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