The Reputation of Edward II, 1305-1697

A Literary Transformation of History
Erscheinungsjahr 2020
ISBN: 978-94-6372-933-8
Verlag: Amsterdam University Press

Buch, Englisch, 348 Seiten, Format (B × H): 240 mm x 163 mm, Gewicht: 682 g

Reihe: Gendering the Late Medieval and Early Modern World

During his lifetime and the four centuries following his death, King Edward II (1307-1327) acquired a reputation for having engaged in sexual and romantic relationships with his male favourites, and having been murdered by penetration with a red-hot spit. This book provides the first account of how this reputation developed, providing new insights into the processes and priorities that shaped narratives of sexual transgression in medieval and early modern England. In doing so, it analyses the changing vocabulary of sexual transgression in English, Latin and French; the conditions that created space for sympathetic depictions of same-sex love; and the use of medieval history in early modern political polemic. It also focuses, in particular, on the cultural impact of Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II (c.1591-92). Through such close readings of poetry and drama, alongside chronicle accounts and political pamphlets, it demonstrates that Edward’s medieval and early modern afterlife was significantly shaped by the influence of literary texts and techniques. A ‘literary transformation’ of historiographical methodology is, it argues, an apposite response to the factors that shaped medieval and early modern narratives of the past.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Heyam, Kit

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein Historiographie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein Biographien & Autobiographien: Historisch, Politisch, Militärisch
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Life of an 'unfortunate king'

Writing Edward II's narrative

Reading Edward II's narrative

Structure

Chapter 1 - Riot, Sodomy, and Minions: The Ambiguous Discourse of Sexual Transgression

Introduction

Riot

Sodomy

Minions

Conclusion

Chapter 2 - From Goats to Ganymedes: The Development of Edward II's Sexual Reputation

Introduction

Lechery and goats

Sexualized stock phrases

Ganymede

The role of Marlowe

Conclusion

Chapter 3 - Edward II and Piers Gaveston: Brothers, Friends, Lovers

Introduction

Brotherhood and friendship

Romanticizing Edward and Gaveston

Conclusion

Chapter 4 - 'Is it not strange that he is thus bewitch'd?': Edward II's Agency and Culpability

Introduction

Unsuitable companions

Agency in attraction

Political agency

Evil counsel - or evil nature?

Conclusion

Chapter 5 - Edward II as Political Exemplum

Introduction

Polemical invocations

Other political allusions

Conclusion

Chapter 6 - 'No escape now from a life full of suffering': Edward II's Sensational Fall

Introduction

Deposition

Imprisonment

Edward's story as de casibus narrative

Conclusion

Chapter 7 - Beyond Sexual Mimesis: The Penetrative Murder of Edward II

Introduction

Development of a consensus

Precedents for penetration

Sexual mimesis

Pain and torture

Marlowe's murder scene

Conclusion

Conclusion: The Literary Transformation of History

Introduction

Illuminating Marlowe

Literary transformations

Appendix: Accounts of and allusions to Edward II's reign, composed 1305-1697

Introduction

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Heyam, Kit
Kit Heyam is a Lecturer in English in the Department of Humanities, Northumbria University and a queer history activist. Their recent publications include ‘Paratexts and Pornographic Potential in SeventeenthCentury Anatomy Books’ (The Seventeenth Century, 2018) and ‘Gender Nonconformity and Military Internment: Curating the Knockaloe Slides’ (Critical Military Studies, 2019).