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Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Establishing an Anglo-Dutch Royal Image, 1689–90: The Beginning of Stuart-Orange Kingship
- 2 Anglo-Dutch Kingship and War, 1690–4: The Stuart-Orange Partnership in Action
- 3 The Royal Image, 1695–1702: From Stuart Monarch to Orange King
- 4 Transforming the Royal Image, 1702: Establishing Stuart-Oldenburg Kingship
- 5 Military Affiliations, 1702–8: Stuart-Oldenburg Kingship and War
- 6 The Royal Image, 1709–14: The Rise of Anna Augusta
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
- Studies in Early Modern Cultural, Political and Social History
- Plate Section
3 - The Royal Image, 1695–1702: From Stuart Monarch to Orange King
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 April 2021
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Establishing an Anglo-Dutch Royal Image, 1689–90: The Beginning of Stuart-Orange Kingship
- 2 Anglo-Dutch Kingship and War, 1690–4: The Stuart-Orange Partnership in Action
- 3 The Royal Image, 1695–1702: From Stuart Monarch to Orange King
- 4 Transforming the Royal Image, 1702: Establishing Stuart-Oldenburg Kingship
- 5 Military Affiliations, 1702–8: Stuart-Oldenburg Kingship and War
- 6 The Royal Image, 1709–14: The Rise of Anna Augusta
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
- Studies in Early Modern Cultural, Political and Social History
- Plate Section
Summary
The death of Queen Mary proved to be a turning point for the post-Glorious Revolution monarchy. Mary had been a powerful force within royal representational culture and her demise inevitably brought change. Her hereditary entitlement had secured the allegiance of many in England who would not have recognised the sovereignty of William alone, and royal representational policy had evolved in response to this political reality. Although a hybrid form of court culture started to develop in England almost immediately after William and Mary became monarchs, their ceremonial and artistic activities were largely centred on Stuart dynasticism. This conservative approach downplayed the radical nature of the revolutionary settlement, and allowed William and Mary to convey an aura of continuity and stability. While, to a certain extent, this strategy deflected attention away from the king being Dutch, it also proved restrictive for William. The later-Stuart style of monarchy did not reflect his personal preferences and the evidence from when William ruled alone strongly suggests that the frequency of his ceremonial performances, when in England and working with Mary, were almost certainly influenced by his wife. If Mary attended the Chapel Royal on a feast day such as Easter day and William was in England, he was duty-bound to attend and play his part. The same was true when the court celebrated other events such as the king's birthday. William's sudden move from joint to sole monarch required a new identity as king. Eventually the distinctive style of kingship that he developed would allow him greater freedom of action, but initially William needed to move carefully and cautiously. In the immediate aftermath of Mary's death, opponents of the regime questioned William's legitimacy and he was not in a position to lessen his reliance on his Stuart persona. Louis XIV continued to recognise James II as the legitimate monarch and after Mary's death Jacobite activity increased in England, culminating in an assassination attempt on William in 1696. Mary's death also revived the hope at Saint-Germain-en-Laye that many in England might forswear their allegiance to William and help bring about a Stuart restoration. The longed-for Stuart restoration proved to be a vain hope, but the question of legitimacy continued to be an important issue for William and had a profound effect on his representational strategies in the years he ruled alone.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Visualising Protestant MonarchyCeremony, Art and Politics after the Glorious Revolution (1689–1714), pp. 148 - 180Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2021