Description
Book SynopsisThe belief that the Virgin Mary was bodily assumed to be crowned as heaven's Queen has been celebrated in the liturgy and literature of England since the fifth century. The upheaval of the Reformation brought radical changes in the beliefs surrounding the assumption and coronation, both of which were eliminated from state-approved liturgy.
Queen of Heaven examines canonical as well as obscure images of the Blessed Mother that present fresh evidence of the incompleteness of the English Reformation. Through an analysis of works by writers such as Edmund Spenser, Henry Constable, Sir John Harington, and the writers of the early modern rosary books, which were contraband during the Reformation, Grindlay finds that these images did not simply disappear during this time as lost Catholic symbols, but instead became sources of resistance and controversy, reflecting the anxieties triggered by the religious changes of the era.
Grindlay's study of the Queen of Heaven affords
Trade Review
"Grindlay writes about an era that was going through a sort of adolescence, as new forms of power emerged in the body politic, in academia, and in the market place. In our own time, we face a similar sort of adolescence as the issues of communication, intelligence, and human identity confront us. This thoughtful study of the Virgin Mary reminds us that it is in beauty rather than function that the heavenly power and attraction of the Mother of Christ resides." —Church Times
"Despite being powerfully backed by a reigning monarch, the English Reformation also necessitated the dethronement of a reigning monarch. Dethroned monarchs never go quietly into the dark. Ever fainter echoes? Fading nostalgia? Secular disguise? A vanishing Virgin? Not so, argues Lilla Grindlay in this vigorous and rich book: Mary the Queen of Heaven stubbornly sticks around, taking many forms, some lurid, as she reclaims her throne." —James Simpson, Donald P. and Katherine B. Loker Professor of English, Harvard University
"The book makes an original contribution to the fields of gender studies and English religious and literary studies. Lilla Grindlay offers an important corrective to the long-standing claim that the Blessed Virgin Mary disappears from English religious writing at the dawn of the Protestant Reformation. The book is very well written. Grindlay's care for her subject is evident in every sentence. Ultimately, her goal is to persuade the reader that their understanding of the post-Reformation/post-medieval status of the Virgin is incomplete. The book is really lovely to read. Grindlay has taken great care to make her work accessible, interesting, and important."—Patricia Badir, author of The Maudlin Impression: English Literary Images of Mary Magdalene, 1550–1700
“This is a thoroughly stimulating volume, clearly written and helpfully sign-posted throughout that demonstrates Grindlay’s erudition as a literary scholar. It makes a helpful contribution to the field of English Reformation Studies and offers interesting insights for those studying gender in the early modern period.” —British Catholic History
“Grindlay’s book is timely and valuable, and remedies an important gap in Reformation studies by encouraging its readers to consider more nuanced accounts of cultural loss.” —Renaissance and Reformation
“Grindlay explains clearly and concisely why the (extra-scriptural) teachings that Mary was physically taken into heaven after her death and crowned queen of heaven created such a stark dividing line between Protestant and Catholic religious and literary culture.” —The Journal of Theological Studies
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements
Notes on the text
Introduction: The Vanishing Virgin?
1. The Virgin’s Assumption and Coronation through the Ages
Part 1. “Some out of Vanity Will Call Her the Queene of Heaven”
2. The Queen of Heaven in Protestant Religious Discourse
3. Sham Queens of Heaven: Iconoclasm and the Virgin Mary
Part 2. Voices from the Shadows
4. The Virgin Mary and the Godly Protestant Woman
5. The Queen of Heaven and the Sonnet Mistress: the Sacred and Secular Poems of Henry Constable
6. A Garland of Aves: The Queen of Heaven and the Rosary
7. The Assumption and Coronation in the Poetry of Robert Southwell
Epilogue
Bibliography
