Time: 6:30pmVenue: Mason Lecture Theatre, Francis Bancroft Building, Mile End
'Representing Rule: Spin and Politics in Early Modern England'
Speaker: Kevin Sharpe
Chair: Peter Lake
Kevin Sharpe will look at what we consider very modern phenomena: spin, image, performance, media manipulation and the contest for popularity and will ask how appropriate it is to think of the sixteenth and seventeenth century past in these terms.
How far did Tudor and Stuart kings and queens depend for their authority on their image? What techniques and tactics did they employ in speaking, being visually represented or presenting themselves to their subjects? How did changes in the media of print and news, painting and engraving, rituals and ceremonies affect royal images? How effective were they and how were they appropriated and contested by rivals or critics? Did relentless self publicization strengthen royal authority or expose rulers to public scrutiny?
Kevin Sharpe is completing a three-volume study of images of monarchy from Henry VIII to the accession of George I. In this lecture he will give an overview of and reflect on the project.
Contact information:
Events Officeemail: events@qmul.ac.uk