Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of Figures
- Introduction
- 1 String versus Wind Instruments: The Ancient Tradition of the Musical Cosmos
- 2 The Harmony of the Divine Christian Order
- 3 The Harmony of Earthly Rule: Erasmus of Rotterdam and Jean Bodin
- 4 Emblematic Literature and the Ideal Ruler
- 5 Musical Emblems of the State in Seventeenth-Century Spain: Amphion, Timotheus Milesius, Marsyas and the Sirens
- 6 The Celestial Lyre: Royal Virtues and Harmonious Rule
- 7 Cosmic Harmony, Royal Wisdom and Eloquence
- 8 The Death of the Monarch and the Discord of the Elements
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
7 - Cosmic Harmony, Royal Wisdom and Eloquence
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of Figures
- Introduction
- 1 String versus Wind Instruments: The Ancient Tradition of the Musical Cosmos
- 2 The Harmony of the Divine Christian Order
- 3 The Harmony of Earthly Rule: Erasmus of Rotterdam and Jean Bodin
- 4 Emblematic Literature and the Ideal Ruler
- 5 Musical Emblems of the State in Seventeenth-Century Spain: Amphion, Timotheus Milesius, Marsyas and the Sirens
- 6 The Celestial Lyre: Royal Virtues and Harmonious Rule
- 7 Cosmic Harmony, Royal Wisdom and Eloquence
- 8 The Death of the Monarch and the Discord of the Elements
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
The previous chapters have presented the king as an intermediary between the universe and the microcosm of the state, who conveys divine harmony between the two realms; this chapter will add to this dimension by studying the ideology of the monarch's wisdom, understood not simply as accumulation of knowledge and political experience, but as a superior civilizing capacity that relates, on one hand, to his prudence and equity (virtues, as discussed previously, which bring harmony to the society and help to balance the human soul) and, on the other hand, to his proximity and close communication with God (as the Peninsular Habsburgs assumed the role of protectors of faith and promoted the rhetoric of the dynasty's divine election). In this discourse, royal wisdom oft en materialized in the power of the king's word, in his eloquence. The iconography associated with this quality relates to music – music that enchants, that bewilders, but also that shapes and creates from chaos. It alludes to particular gods and heroes of ancient mythology like Mercury, Amphion or Orpheus, related to the birth or practice of music, who are placed in the very origins of civil life and, therefore, refer one way or another to a long-gone golden age. The Muses with their musical instruments, metaphor for the arts, presided over by lyre-playing Apollo, god of rationality, wisdom and health, often complete the message of ideal rule.
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- Publisher: Pickering & ChattoFirst published in: 2014