Ch2 Terminology Flashcards
What was the Basilikon Doron (1599)
A book James I wrote which compared Gods to monarchs.
What was a Point of Contact?
Communication between the PN and the monarch was crucial to the functioning of the English political system. The main points of contact were the Court and Parliament.
What was the Privy Council?
The Kings selected advisers who met in private to shape the monarchs wishes into policy and oversee their implementation.
What was the monarchs Bedchamber?
The monarchs private living space.
Who were the “Gentlemen of the Bedchamber”?
What did their duties include?
Why was this beneficial to them?
Courtiers who waited upon the monarch in these rooms (Bedchambers), their duties included providing companionship to the monarch; in the Stuart Age, members of the Bedchamber were important figures at court, and their access to the king meant they could enjoy great political influence.
What were factions of society
Competing groups in politics; in this case, dissenting groups based on personal or family relationships that sought the favour of the monarch.
What was Patronage?
A network of support created to help people obtain political success and move as close to the king as possible.
Those furthest up the system could act as patrons to support “clients” lower down the system.
Through this support, the clients could gain advancement, and the patron could both show off his power and use his clients to carry out tasks appropriate to their place and connections.
What was Catholicism?
The faith of the Christian Church headed by the Pope; in the eyes of many English at the time, Catholicism was linked with absolutism, and the threat of both was symbolised by the power of Spain and France.
What was Protestantism?
A radical form of Protestantism; Puritans saw themselves as the “godly” ones: they sought a further reformation of the Church of England to remove the remnants of Catholicism that remained after the Reformation.
What were Court Masques?
Who were they popular among?
Who took on silent roles?
Who frowned upon Court Masques?
A type of dramatic entertainment popular among the English nobility during the 16th and 17th centuries that included dancing and acting as masked players; the main performers were normally professional, but amateurs, including Charles I and his courtiers, sometimes took on silent roles.
Puritans frowned upon any ceremonies and court masques because they associated them with Catholicism.
What was the Histrio-mastix (Actors Tragedy)?
William Prynne (a Puritan) produced the pamphlet “Histrio-mastix” which was a direct opposition to the imagery of court masques.
Prynne viewed women performing in plays as sinful and the index entry in the pamphlet of “womens actors, notorious whores” was seen as an attack on the Queen Henrietta Marias (Catholic) role in the court masques.
What was a monarchs “favourite”?
What did they gain?
A courtier who became especially close to the monarch and thereby gained enormous political influence; access to the monarch at court meant power.
What was a Courtier?
Members of the monarch’s court who would follow them everywhere.
Who was Anthony Van Dyck?
Charles I extensive art collection, which he had assembled at enormous cost, and the production of images of the king by the artist Anthony Van Dyck created the impression to outsiders that Charles I aimed to be an absolutist Catholic monarch.
