Did the Stuart queens create their own courts, and can these courts shed new light on women's poetry, drama and performance? This book investigates the literature, theatre, patronage and commissioning of the courts of Anna of Denmark (1603-19) and Henrietta Maria (1625-42). Unearthing the neglected history of the Stuart queens, these essays look afresh at the early modern European female elite to create a new picture of femininity for students and scholars of early modern culture.
List of Figures List of Genealogical Tables Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Introduction: The Queen's Court; C.McManus PART I: FEMALE PERFORMANCE, CULTURAL AGENCY AND QUEENSHIP AT THE JACOBEAN COURTS 'To Enlight the Darksome Night, Pale Cinthia doth Arise': Anna of Denmark, Elizabeth I and the Images of Royalty; J.Knowles The Queen's Courts: Anna of Denmark and her Royal Sisters - Cultural Agency at Four North European Courts in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries; M.R.Wade Memorialising Anna of Denmark's Court: Cupid's Banishment at Greenwich Palace; C.McManus PART II: FEMALE AUTHORSHIP IN THE QUEEN'S COURT Reflected Desire: The Erotics of the Gaze in Aemilia Lanyer's
