From: Richard Ridge (richard_ridge@tao-group.com)
Date: Mon Jan 28 2002 - 09:53:55 MST
> [Hermit] While I agree in principle with Richard's objection, I put the
> start of the collapse of feudalism much earlier
Hmmm. While divine right was originally an intrinsic element of feudalism
I'm not entirely convinced that the histories of both of those are entirely
congruent (I had always been rather under the impression that although
England remained essentially feudal until the act of enclosure and related
reforms, the concept of divine right had not been articulated for some time
before then and was largely a derelict signifier). As such, I wouldn't
disagree with your analysis, but as far as divine right itself is concerned
I still feel that the Elizabethan period was of enormous importance and not
just for the decay of support amongst puritans.
>From that point of view, the point concerning the war of the roses (and
Tyler) is certainly well made, though to my mind one of the more important
acts of the struggle for the throne was its final act in the shape of
Elizabeth's execution of the Duke of Norfolk, a Plantagenet, whose lineage
(IIRC) had placed him in a position to stake a claim to the throne. Norfolk
was also a catholic (at which point the issues of descent and divinity
intersected in their crudest form, particularly with the possibility of a
marriage to Mary) - the Papal bull "Regnans in Excelsis" issued by Pope
Pious V was also not unimportant in so far as it released English Catholics
from any loyalty to the same monarchy that bore the title of fidei defensor
(leading up to the gunpowder conspiracy, though Catholics had admittedly not
been entirely unacquainted with rebellion prior to that). In other words,
the settlement of the Anglican Church as a somewhat inelegant compromise
between catholicism and protestantism, left neither extreme recognising the
divine legitimacy of the monarch, a prejudice Elizabeth confirmed to the
satisfaction of both sides by Mary's execution.
That said, for the final curtain of divine right one has to wait for the
head of Charles to roll, or the coronation of either Charles the Second or
William of Orange, depending on where you wish to draw the line in the sand.
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