Best known for his landmark version of the Protestant Bible, James
VI (1566-1625) of Scotland, who succeeded Elizabeth I to the
English throne, was truly a monarch of the word. From religious
prose and verse, to political treatises and social works, to love
poems and witty doggerel, James used writing and the print media to
inspire his subjects, govern them, keep his enemies at bay, and
even examine his own authority. Until now, the full span of James's
work has received little critical attention by political and
literary historians. In Royal Subjects, sixteen leading scholars
explore the richness of his oeuvre from a variety of perspectives,
and in so doing seek to establish monarchic writing as an important
genre in its own right.
As religious reformers, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I had produced
devotional works, but James VI and I saw writing as central to his
rule overall, even though he knew it could invite criticism. He
wrote, for example, a treatise on kingship, a controversial
argument against tobacco, and an epic poem encouraging ecumenism
among Christians. In many cases, his use of genre revealed a
sensitivity to cultural power, while his decisions whether or not
to print reflected an emergent understanding of writing as a
commodity.
By examining such topics, these essays delve into central issues
of critical debate, including questions of authorship and
authority, representation and power, receptions and appropriations
of text, and politics of genres and material forms. Through its
unprecedented look at monarchic writing, Royal Subjects not only
enriches our understanding of the reign of James VI and I, but also
offers fruitful suggestions for approaches to otherRenaissance
texts and other periods.
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