Sworn Bond in Tudor England: Oaths, Vows and Covenants in Civil Life and Literature

225 Pages·2011·1.821 MB·English

by  Thea Cervone

Sworn Bond
in Tudor England
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Sworn Bond
in Tudor England
Oaths, Vows and Covenants
in Civil Life and Literature
THEA CERVONE
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina, and London
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
Cervone, Thea, 1968–
Sworn bond in Tudor England : oaths, vows and covenants in
civil life and literature / Thea Cervone.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7864-4983-5
softcover : 50# alkaline paper
1. Oaths—England—History—16th century. 2. Tudor,
House of 3. Literature and society—England—History—16th
century. 4. English literature—16th century—History and
criticism. 5. Political culture—England—History—16th century.
6. Great Britain—History—Tudors, 1485–1603. 7. Great
Britain—Politics and government—1485–1603. I. Title.
GT3085.C47 2011
306.40942—dc23 2011023200
BRITISHLIBRARYCATALOGUINGDATAAREAVAILABLE
© 2011Thea Cervone. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, i ncluding photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without p ermission in writing from the publisher.
On the cover: The Magna Carta of 1215; Tudor Rose
Manufactured in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Je›erson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
Table of Contents
Preface 1
Introduction 5
1. Defiance by Prerogative: The Coronation Oath of Henry VIII 19
2. The Matter of Resources: Sworn Bond and Biblical Example
in The Boke Named the Governour 38
3. Additions and Admissions: The Manipulation of Sworn Bond
in the Henrician Fealty Oath 56
4. Grudging, Muttering, and Horn Blasts: Aurality and
Performativity in Reformation Polemic 77
5. Credibility Among Cynics: Coerced Sworn Bond in More,
Bale, and Harington 102
6. Oath, Obligation, and Obedience: Fealty and Service in
Three Plays About King John 134
7. Virtue by Degrees: Espousal in Spenser’s Faerie Queene,
Books III–IV 168
Appendix A. The French Version of the Anomalous Form of the
Oath of Edward II 187
Appendix B. The Recantation of William Tolwyn, Recorded by
Alexander Seton, and Reprinted by John Bale 188
Chapter Notes 191
Bibliography 207
Index 215
v
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Preface
Sworn bond is pervasive throughout the history, literature, and culture
of England; yet there is no more important period than the sixteenth cen-
tury for the cultural development, political implementation, and literary
expression of this concept. The sixteenth century is defined by the con-
tinuous implementation and discussion of oaths, vows, and covenants. It
is odd, then, that so little cholarship exists on this issue. There are very
few comprehensive literary studies of oaths; Douglas Canfield’s Word as
Bond in English Literature from the Middle Ages to the Restorationis one of
the most recent.1 Others deal with the subject as it pertains to one author
or genre, such as Frances Shirley’s Swearing and Perjury in Shakespeare’s
Playsor Shakespeare’s Promisesby William Kerrigan.2There are many his-
torical studies of oaths, and many that focus on the early modern period.
Conal Condren’s Argument and Authority in Early Modern England and
Edward Vallance’s Revolutionary England and the National Covenant are
studies of the seventeenth century that offer excellent background overviews
on oaths in the Reformation period. For this study they have been very
helpful.3 I have also drawn on historiographical discussions of oath-
swearing, pertaining to a larger subject. Robert Bartlett, in Trial by Fire
and Water, examines the role of the oath or vow in the medieval ordeal
system; and Eamon Duffy, in The Stripping of the Altars, discusses o ath-
swearing as part of the adaptations of custom and belief, which accompa-
nied the changes of the Reformation era.4
Although all of these books are helpful to understanding the concept
of swearing, none of these studies places the swearing of an oath or the
taking of a vow at the center of the Tudor mindset. My argument is that
oath- swearing belongs precisely at its center. Rather than being an issue
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Preface
that accompanies changes in belief, custom, and literature, o ath-s wearing
defines those issues for the Tudor era. In this book, I look at sworn bond
in Tudor England as a cultural phenomenon that fuses political rhetoric,
literary expression, and historical perspective. I look, as people in early
modern England did, at the ways in which legislation, poetry, drama, and
custom interconnected by way of performative bonds. I put together
affected polemicists and affecting art, and I view them in the light of the
waning of ceremonialism and the emergence of the modern state. I treat
sworn bond as a fundamental aspect of sixteenth century culture, and not
as a reactionary element or legal technicality. Sworn bond in Tudor England
produces and reflects behaviors and attitudes, rather than functioning as
an accompaniment or afterthought to them. It is held deep in the cultural
memory of anyone who holds a pen or pounds the pulpit, and that is why
it lies at the very heart of much, if not most, written material of the era.
In writing this book it was difficult to resist cataloging different types of
oaths, to provide an example of each kind; it was also difficult to resist
representing equally the genres of literature, drama, or polemic, to establish
a “fitting” sense of variety. Instead I focused on situations and circum-
stances that define the era, and looked for ways in which sworn bond
allows us as readers to look deeper into a culture which has been analyzed
many times over.
I do not wish to look at sworn bond in terms of moral subjectivity,
as is so often the case with nineteenth and early twentieth century studies
on oaths. Scholarship on the issue before the second half of the twentieth
century argues Protestant versus Catholic points of view; it also sees the
interconnections about which I speak as an allegorical pattern meant to
justify (or invalidate) Victorian imperial rhetoric. Although I often found
key insights and useful resources in older studies of oaths in Tudor England,
I ultimately rejected the vast majority of them. I have also rejected dis-
cussions of authorship in the cases of works in which the subject has
become a contentious issue: for example, I state my simple agreement with
the theory that Thomas More is the author of the Letter to Alice Alington,
with his daughter Margaret as a peripheral contributor. From there I wish
to move directly to the subject of sworn bond that defines the situation
More is in. I accept that The Troublesome Raigne of King Johnis an anony-
mous text, which precedes Shakespeare’s later play King John. Whether
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Preface
Shakespeare drew upon it, or composed it in part or in its entirety, is not
my concern here. I wish to focus on the circumstances that define John’s
struggle to maintain the bond between himself and his people. I am less
concerned with how or why Sir Robert Cotton acquired the emended
coronation oath of Henry VIII than with the simple fact that this amazing
document seems to have beaten the odds more than once, surviving where
other documents have been discarded or burnt. I do, however, acknowledge
that Cotton’s assistants probably stole it, as they tried to satisfy their mas-
ter’s unquenchable thirst for collectible documents. As I researched this
book I found that the more I addressed issues of authorship and motive,
the less I focused on sworn bond itself. I wish to ask the questions of how
and why, rather than of whom and when.
Neither is this book merely a rewritten dissertation. My dissertation,
from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1998, was indeed on o ath-
swearing; but for this book the entire concept has been rethought. In my
dissertation I focused on a carefully chosen representation of “important”
authors, each of whom depicts a certain type of oath in his work. Much
of my concern (as with many graduate students) was for whether I’d for-
gotten someone or something. The dissertation therefore simply pointed
out that oaths in literature existed, proclaiming, “There’s one; and there’s
another one; here’s a third type...” This project takes almost an opposite
view. Focusing on circumstance as the framework for a cultural phenom-
enon has caused this book to reflect a completely different course of study.
The sixteenth century is a turning point upon which the entire culture of
late medieval and early modern England pivots as it reconsiders its past
and its future. Its relationship with oaths allows the period to look all
around itself. In this book I avoided making distinctions which the English
themselves did not; although sometimes I tried too hard: a well- meaning
colleague once approached me during lunch, and said, “I thought of you
today. I came across a document with an oath in it.” To which I replied,
“I’m not collecting them.”
I am deeply indebted to the staff of the Huntington Library, San
Marino, California, for their assistance, support, and accommodation dur-
ing the years I conceived, researched, and wrote this book. Thanks also to
the many scholars I have met at the Huntington over the years, with whom
I have discussed my topic. Many thanks also to the staff of the British Library
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