Sep 9, 2019
When Elizabeth I came to the
throne in 1558, she inherited a tense political and religion
tension that bordered dangerously close to civil war over
Protestantism vs Catholicism in England. Historical basis for wars
with France, the reputation of the Huguenots, and the painful
English loss of Calais after ruling it for 150 years all played a
role in the reception of small details, including the
representation of France beside England in plays like William
Shakespeare’s Henry V.
For the audiences of France, religion was a
tumultuous topic with many people now Protestant by government
decree, with parents, even Shakespeare’s own father, who had
potentially closeted Catholic sentiments. As with many things, the
context of religion vs government or something more casual was a
giant ball of complicated emotions that caused playwrights like
William Shakespeare to need to perform a balancing act to produce a
show that would be popular, but not get him arrested in the
process.
Here today to help us analyze the role of
religion in England, the impact of Elizabeth’s Religious
Settlement, and how the country received plays like Henry V, is our
guest Dr. Jonathan Willis.