Description
Book SynopsisThe Tsar''s Happy Occasion shows how the vast, ornate affairs that were royal weddings in early modern Russia were choreographed to broadcast powerful images of monarchy and dynasty. Processions and speeches emphasized dynastic continuity and legitimacy. Fertility rites blended Christian and pre-Christian symbols to assure the birth of heirs. Gift exchanges created and affirmed social solidarity among the elite. The bride performed rituals that integrated herself and her family into the inner circle of the court.
Using an array of archival sources, Russell E. Martin demonstrates how royal weddings reflected and shaped court politics during a time of dramatic cultural and dynastic change. As Martin shows, the rites of passage in these ceremonies were dazzling displays of monarchical power unlike any other ritual at the Muscovite court. And as dynasties came and went and the political culture evolved, so too did wedding rituals. Martin relates how Pe
Trade Review
Through this in-depth but beautifully written study, we gain a new appreciation of the importance of ceremony and ritual in creating and promoting visions of how the world does and should work at specific points in time.
* New Books Network *
Martin's work offers an intensive and impressive examination of political ritual and the ways in which it supported first the Daniilovichi and then the Romanovs at court in the 16th–early 18th centuries.
* Kritika *
Russell E. Martin has produced an impressive study of early modern weddings among Russia's ruling family. He has written a book that is fun to read.
* Slavic Review *
The Tsar's Happy Occasion on "the tsar's happiest occasions" is an excellent contribution to comparative research on wedding practice as well as to the understanding of mechanisms of securing power during the Muscovite and early Petrine eras in Russian history.
* Canadian-American Slavic Studies *
The Tsar's Happy Occasion is superb, and its erudition, argument, and clarity are of a high caliber that transcends our historical moment.
* The Russian Review *
Table of ContentsIntroduction
1. "Time to Attend to the Wedding": Origins and Traditions
2. "A Canonical Marriage for the Uninterrupted Succession to Your Royal Dynasty": Royal Weddings and Dynastic Legitimacy
3. "And Unlike Previous Royal Weddings,There Was Not the Usual Royal Ritual": Continuity and Change
4. "To Live Together in Holy Matrimony": Orthodox and Heterodox
5. "To Serve without Regard for Place": In-Laws and Courtiers
6. "To See Your Royal Children on the Thrones": Brides and Gifts
7. "Delight in Exposing the Old Methods of the Country": Transfigurations and Parodies
8. "There Will Not Be Any Direful Reversions": Heirs and Successors
Conclusion
