Autumn 2009     Call Number:     Credit/Hours:
Instructor: Highley      Location:
Days: Monday, Wednesday
Start Time: 11:30am     Length: 2 Hours

Course Description:

This class marks the 500th anniversary of the accession of Henry VIII.  We will study representations of England' s most notorious ruler as he redefined the nature of sovereignty, transforming the country into a modern nation-state, independent of the papacy.  Topics include Humanism at Henry' s court; painting at court; war and diplomacy; courtly spectacle and chivalry; divorce and schism; resistance to Reformation; Henry' s death and reputation.  We will read selections from Henry' s own letters and writings, as well as religious texts, poems by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, plays by John Skelton and John Bale, chronicles by Edward Hall, and works of prose fiction like Thomas More' s Utopia.  We will situate these literary representations in a broader field of cultural production, by examining also the work of painters, sculptors, musicians, and builders to the fashioning of dynastic and national identities.