THE GENERAL INTRODUCTIONS

The volumes will be prefaced by General Introductions written by leading scholars. These will pay attention to such topics as The Renaissance Festival Book; The Politics of Festival; The Social Significance of Festival; The Scenography of Festival; Music and Festival; The Visual Arts and Festival. Scholars who have agreed to contribute these introductions include Professor Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly (Oxford), Professor Robert Knecht (Birmingham), Professor Henri Zerner (Harvard), Dr Iain Fenlon (Cambridge) and Dr Roger Savage (Edinburgh).

THE CLUSTERS

The summaries offered below refer to current work in each cluster. Changes may be introduced before publication. Each cluster will comprise approximately 50,000 words and occupy about 85 double-column pages of the completed volumes.

POLAND-LITHUANIA

Participants:

Karin Friedrich (Lecturer in History, University of London, School of Slavonic and East European Studies and University College); Almut Bues (Deputy Director, German Historical Institute, Warsaw); Jacqueline Glomski (Assistant Librarian, Warburg Institute, Univ. of London); Robert Frost (Lecturer in History, King's College, University of London)

Introductions:

Royal Entries into Cracow, Warsaw and Danzig: Festival Culture and the Role of the Cities in Poland-Lithuania (Friedrich); The Ceremonies for the Royal Elections, Coronations and Funerals of the Polish Elected Monarchs, 1572-1764 (Bues)

Texts:

The Wedding of Sigismund II August and Elizabeth of Habsburg (1543); The Entry of Sigismund III into Cracow (1587); The Funeral of King Stephan Batory in Cracow (1588); The Entry into Cracow of Sigismund III and Anna of Habsburg (1592); The Entry of John II Casimir into Gdansk (1656); The Election of Michael Korybut Wisniowiecki (1669); The Coronation of John III Sobieski (1676); The Entry of John III Sobieski into Gdansk (1677); The Entry and Coronation of Augustus II (1697); The Entry of Augustus III into Warsaw (1734); The Nameday Celebration of Augustus III in Warsaw (1754)

As throughout this website, the titles of texts are given in English. The original texts in this cluster are in German, Latin and Polish.

GENOA

Participants:

Maria Ines Aliverti (Department of History of Art, University of Pisa); Carlo Bitossi (Director, Archivio di Stato, Genoa); Lauro Magnani (University of Genoa); Bruna Niccoli (University of Pisa); Lucia Nuti (University of Pisa); Franco Vazzoler (University of Genoa); Ezia Gavazza (University of Genoa); Nick Kneale (University of Oxford)

Introductions:

Genoa and Ceremony: an Historical Introduction (Bitossi); Genoa as Festival City (Aliverti); The role of Ceremony in the evolving image of Genoa (Nuti); Artistic Production and Entries and Ceremonies (Magnani); Traditional and Official Costume (Niccoli); Civil Poetics and Rhetoric in Public Ceremony (Vazzoler)

Texts:

The Entry of Philip II of Spain into Genoa (1552); The Entry of Christina of Lorraine, wife of Ferdinando de' Medici, into Genoa (1589); Description of the Triumphal Arch erected in Genoa for Marguerite of Austria, Queen of Spain, and the Archduke Albert of Austria (1599); The departure of Bernardo Claravezza from the Office of Duke (1617); The Coronation as Duke of Giovanni Giacomo Imperiale (1617); The Coronation as Duke of Giorgio Centurione (1621); The Procession for the laying of the first stone of the new wall of the city (1626); The Reception of the Cardinal Infante of Spain (1633)

These texts are in Latin and Italian.

SCANDINAVIA

Participants:

Mara R Wade (Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign); Lena Rangström (First Keeper, Royal Armoury, Stockholm); Mårten Snickare (Department of Art History, University of Uppsala), Neville Davies (School of English, University of Birmingham).

Introductions:

Festivals in Denmark-Norway and in Sweden in the Early Modern period (Wade); The Tournament for the Coming of Age of Charles XI (Rangström); The Funeral of Queen Ulrike Eleonore (Snickare)

Texts:

The Coronation of King Christian IV of Denmark (1596); The Wedding of the Prince Elect of Denmark and Princess Magdalena Sybilla of Saxony (1634); The Coronation Tournament of Charles XI, King of Sweden (1672); The Funeral of Queen Ulrike Eleonore of Sweden (1693)

These texts are in German and Swedish.

NETHERLANDS

Participants:

Peter Davidson (Department of English, University of Warwick); Jochen Becker (Department of Art History, University of Utrecht); Adriaan van der Weel (Department of Book History, University of Leiden); Peter Liebregts (Department of English, University of Leiden); Gervase Hood (Public Record Office, London)

Introductions:

Historical overview of the Netherlands in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (van der Weel and Davidson); introductions to each of the chosen texts: Ghent (Werner Water Schoot); Antwerp (van der Weel and Davidson); Amsterdam (Becker).

Texts:

The Entry of William of Orange into Ghent (1577); The Entry of Ernst, Archduke of Austria into Antwerp (1594); The Description of the Spectacle and the Wagons provided for her Highness the Princess of Orange in Amsterdam (1660)

These texts are in Latin and Dutch.

FESTIVALS OF THE PROTESTANT UNION

Participants:

Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly (Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages, University of Oxford and Fellow of Exeter College); Pierre Béhar (Department of German, University of Saarbrücken); Sara Smart (Department of German, University of Exeter); Jill Bepler (Director of the Fellowship Programme, Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel); Anna Linton (University of Oxford)

Introductions:

The intellectual, religious and geo-political makeup of the Protestant Union (Béhar); Tournaments of the Protestant Union (Watanabe-O'Kelly); The Dance (Smart); The Festival Books (Watanabe-O'Kelly); The funeral of Ludwig V, Calvinism and Lutheranism, political struggles in Marburg/Darmstadt (Bepler)

Texts:

Conferral of the Order of the Garter on Friedrich, Duke of Württemberg in Stuttgart (1605); The wedding of Friedrich, Duke of Württemberg and Barbara Sophia, Margravine of Brandenburg, in Stuttgart (1609); Celebrations for the wedding in Jägerndorff of Johann Georg, Margrave of Brandenburg, and Eva Christina of Würtemberg (1610); Tournament, ballet and fireworks for the christening in Halle of Sophie Elisabeth, daughter of Christian Wilhelm, Margrave of Brandenburg (1616); Tournaments and ballet for the christening in Stuttgart of Friedrich, son of Johann Friedrich, Duke of Württemberg and Teck, and Barbara Sophia, Margravine of Brandenburg (1616); A Short Relation of the departure of …Prince Frederick King Elect of Bohemia, with his royall and vertuous Ladie Elizabeth …from Heidelberg towards Prague, to receive the Crowne of that Kingdome… (1619); The Funeral of Ludwig V, Landgrave of Hessen-Darmstadt (1627)

These texts are in German and English

HENRY III

Participants:

R.J. Knecht (Emeritus Professor of French History, University of Birmingham); Margaret McGowan (Research Professor, University of Sussex); Mark Greengrass (Department of History, University of Sheffield), Nicolas Le Roux (University of Paris IV); Jacqueline Boucher (University of Lyon II); Iain Fenlon (Faculty of Music and Fellow of King's College, University of Cambridge); Cathy Hampton (Department of French, University of Warwick); John Johnson (University of Warwick)

Introductions:

The Political Significance of the Festivals (Le Roux); Festival and the Arts in Henry III's Journey from Poland to France, 1574 (McGowan); Henry III, Festival Culture and the Rhetoric of Royalty (Greengrass); The Music Performed for the Entry of Henry III into Venice (Fenlon)

Texts:

Entry and Coronation of Henry III, king of Poland, in Cracow, 1573; Entry of Henry III into Venice, 1574; Entry of Henry III into Rouen, 1588

These texts are in French and English.

LA ROCHELLE AND THE DEFEAT OF PROTESTANTISM

Participants:

Marie-Claude Canova-Green (Department of Modern Languages, Goldsmiths College, University of London); Christian Jouhaud (CNRS-EHESS, Paris); Véronique Meyer (University of Poitiers); Julia Prest (Jesus College, University of Oxford); Valerie Worth (Oxford Brookes University)

Introductions:

The Context of the Siege of La Rochelle (Jouhaud); La Rochelle: The Book and Booklets of the Entries, 1628-32 (Jouhaud); Louis XIII's Entry into Paris after the Capture of La Rochelle (Meyer); Fireworks and Bonfires in Paris and La Rochelle (Canova-Green)

Texts:

Fireworks on the Seine celebrating the capture of La Rochelle (1628); Description of the events which took place at the Entry of the Queen into La Rochelle (1632)

These texts are in French and English

THE NEW WORLD

Participants:

Peter Davidson (University of Aberdeen); Jean Andrews (Goldsmiths College, University of London); Gauvin Bailey (Clark University, USA); David Brading (Clare Hall, University of Cambridge).

Introductions:

General Introduction (Brading); Introduction to Mexico City, 1680 (Andrews and Davidson)

Texts:

An Account of Festivals in Mexico City (1680) by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

These texts are in Spanish

TRANSLATION

Each of the foreign-language texts in the collection will be accompanied by a literal translation into English. All Introductions and explanatory notes will be given in English.