Lancastrian Mirror for Princes
Rosemarie McGerr
This seminal study addresses one of the most beautifully decorated 15th-century copies of the New Statutes of England, uncovering how the manuscript's unique interweaving of legal, religious, and literary discourses frames the reader's perception of the work. Taking internal and external evidence into account, Rosemarie McGerr suggests that the manuscript was made for Prince Edward of Lancaster, transforming a legal reference work into a book of instruction in kingship, as well as a means of celebrating the Lancastrians' rightful claim to the English throne during the Wars of the Roses. A Lancastrian Mirror for Princes also explores the role played by the manuscript as a commentary on royal justice and grace for its later owners and offers modern readers a fascinating example of the long-lasting influence of medieval manuscripts on subsequent readers.
Product Details
About Rosemarie McGerr
Reviews for Lancastrian Mirror for Princes
American Historical Review
McGerr has done an excellent job in reminding her audience to pay attention not only to the words in the manuscript, but their margin as well. McGerr's prose is fantastic, too, flowing naturally and being free from unnecessary jargon.
Mediaevistik
[McGerr's] study, scholarly and intuitive in equal measure, demonstrates that what may appear to be an inert status symbol, is actually a highly charged, and exquisitely wrought, political document.
Renaissance Quarterly
McGerr has examined what might otherwise appear to be a common fifteenth-century legal text and has successfully demonstrated the ways in which its visual characteristics may have much greater political implications.
RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cutlural Heritage
Combining evidence and analyses from literature, codicology, history, and art history, A Lancastrian Mirror for Princes returns a considerable dividend for investing sustained attention in one manuscript.
The Medieval Review