From Sacred Goddess to Divine King: Continuity in the Rhetoric of Power
Abstract
The paper will analyse possible links between elements of late Elizabethan royal representation and early Jacobean rhetoric on monarchical power. Through the close reading of a sermon by John Howson on 17 November 1602 and a speech to his Parliament by King James I on 21 March 1610, it will draw attention to the similarities and thematic continuities of the texts to highlight how James I’s early speeches revitalized elements of Queen Elizabeth’s late propaganda. The paper will argue that the strategy of heaping excessive praise upon Queen Elizabeth in the post-Armada years found a direct continuation in the early popular reception of James I as a divinely ordained monarch with exceptional powers. However, it will also contend that the close semblance of the phrasing of the orations disguised fundamental differences in the two epoch’s understandings of royal authority.
