![]() Medieval feudalism existed to put armies on the field of battle. The John Woodman Higgins Collection, Worcester Art Museum, Worcester MA. LOAN from Higgins Armory Museum, Worcester, MA.Call number: STC 22163 copy 1 and LUNA Digital Image. Listen to Bettina Smith discuss chivalry and dueling. The delicate fabric of feudal kingship begins to unravel, and for the next hundred years, rival branches of the royal family struggle over the English throne. However, by denying Bolingbroke and Norfolk their duel, and by robbing Bolingbroke of his inheritance, Richard falls afoul of the rites of knighthood. Richard tries to play the part of an absolute monarch-a “Renaissance king” -by asserting control over the historically independent body of feudal knights that descended from medieval warriors. During Bolingbroke’s absence, the king takes over Bolingbroke’s inheritance, compelling him to topple the king upon his return. Wishing to avoid bloodshed, the king instead banishes the combatants: Bolingbroke for ten years, Norfolk for life. The duel is about to begin when Richard throws down his baton of office on the field of combat and calls a halt to the proceedings. Norfolk accepts, and the king sets a date for the encounter. In accordance with the laws of chivalry, Bolingbroke throws down his gauntlet, challenging Norfolk to an armored duel. Young Henry Bolingbroke, the king’s cousin, accuses the Duke of Norfolk of diverting military funds for his own use, and of taking part in the conspiracy that killed the Duke of Gloucester. A duel between two nobles is at the center of Richard’s fall from power. The overthrow of Richard II in 1399 set the scene for this conflict. Richard II is one of the earliest of Shakespeare’s "history plays." These plays tell the story of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the rival royal families of Lancaster and York, which began in 1422 and ended in 1485 with the death of Richard III. By that and all the rites of knighthood else Will I make good against thee, arm to arm, What I have spoke or thou canst worse devise. If guilty dread have left thee so much strength As to take up mine honor's pawn, then stoop. Rites Of Knighthood: Richard II BOLINGBROKE: Pale trembling coward, there I throw my gage ,… The John Woodman Higgins Collection, Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA. Fingered gauntlet of Prince (later King) Philip of Spain (1527-1598), by Desiderius Helmschmid (1513-1578/79) and Jörg T. Call number: FPb55 and LUNA Digital Image. Henry Wriothesley, Third Earl of Southampton. 2.1 Arms and Armor in Shakespeare children's exhibitionĬombat for the Crown of England in The booke of honor and armes, 1590. ![]() 1.7 Our Legions Are Brim Full: Julius Caesar.1.6 Imagining Some Fear: A Midsummer Night's Dream.1.4 To See A Good Armor: The Armorer's Craft in Shakespeare's Day.1.3 Draw If You Be Men: Romeo And Juliet.Listen to Gail Kern Paster, former director of the Folger Shakespeare Library discuss the exhibition, Arms and Armor in Shakespeare, in this podcast. Together they capture an era in which the nature of warfare was rapidly changing yet the chivalric ideal still retained a powerful hold on the Renaissance imagination. Including books from the Folger collection, this exhibition features a large selection of some of the most important arms and armor from the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester, Massachusetts. Yet in reality, state power and popular opinion were together undermining the private use of violence that had once been accepted as a birthright of the medieval warrior aristocracy. In civilian life, private duels and armed insurrections were seen as serious threats to social stability. Armies once led by armored knights now looked more like modern military bureaucracies. Those in power scrambled to ensure production of the new gunpowder weapons, while lamenting the resulting decline of traditional chivalric values. Firearms were increasingly dominant on the battlefield, and it was becoming impossible to wear armor heavy enough to stop a musketball. The production of plate armor was at its peak, yet soldiers were shedding their armor on campaign. The role of armor was undergoing a complex transition in Shakespeare’s day. The clash of swords, the clank of armor, the roar of cannon reverberate through the texts, heightening the urgency, tension, and drama during critical scenes. The exhibition was curated by Jeffrey Forgeng of the Higgins Amory Museum with assistance from Bettina Smith of the Folger Shakespeare Library.Īrms and armor feature prominently in Shakespeare’s plays, as emblems of identity, as objects of display, and as implements of conflict. Now Thrive the Armorers: Arms and Armor in Shakespeare, one of the Exhibitions at the Folger opened on Jand closed on September 6, 2008.
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