Poetry, Politics and Promises of Empire : Prophetic Rhetoric in the English and Neo-Latin Epithalamia on the occasion of the Palatine Marriage in 1613. E-BOOK

This interdisciplinary study examines the poetic and political representation of the Palatine Marriage in London in 1613 by analysing the vast number of English and Neo-Latin festive / nuptial poetry and prose written on the occasion of the marriage of Count Palatine Frederick V (1596–1632) and Princess Elizabeth Stuart (1596–1662), stylised and represented as heroes and paragon figures of Protestant Europe. Taking a literary and cultural studies approach, the study explores courtly representational modes used to convey the propagandist and prophetic messages of the marriage, suggesting that the nuptial union follows a heavenly plan and fulfils the hopes of the formation of a pan-Protestant empire and a future bulwark against the imminent threats of Catholic Habsburg. In this respect the study aims to provide an alternative perspective on Britain, Europe and militant pan-Protestantism.