Shakespeare's English Kings: History, Chronicle, and Drama

by Peter Saccio

Overview

Far more than any professional historian, Shakespeare is responsible for whatever notions most of us possess about English medieval history. Anyone who appreciates the dramatic action of Shakespeare's history plays but is confused by much of the historical detail will welcome this guide to the Richards, Edwards, Henrys, Warwicks and Norfolks who ruled and fought across Shakespeare's page and stage. Not only theater-goers and students, but today's film-goers who want to enrich their understanding of film adaptations of plays such as Richard III and Henry V will find this revised edition of Shakespeare's English Kings to be an essential companion. Saccio's engaging narrative weaves together three threads: medieval English history according to the Tudor chroniclers who provided Shakespeare with his material, that history as understood by modern scholars, and the action of the plays themselves. Including a new preface, a revised further reading list, genealogical charts, an appendix of names and titles, and an index, the second edition of Shakespeare's English Kings offers excellent background reading for all of the ten history plays.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199880768
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	04/20/2000
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Peter Saccio is Leon D. Black Professor of Shakespearean Studies and Professor of English at Dartmouth College.

Table of Contents

Prefatory Note to the Second Edition		vi
Prefatory Note to the First Edition		ix
I History And History Plays		3	(226)
II Richard II: The Fall Of The King
Richard's reign to 1397		17	(7)
The Bolingbroke-Norfolk quarrel		24	(4)
The usurpation		28	(5)
The earl's rebellion		33	(4)
III Henry IV: The King Embattled
The usurper and his challengers		37	(10)
The battle of Shrewsbury		47	(4)
Gaultree Forest and Bramham Moor		51	(5)
The king and the prince		56	(9)
IV Henry V: The King Victorious
The English throne		65	(10)
The French throne		75	(16)
V Henry VI: The Loss Of Empire
Introduction to the Henry VI plays		91	(3)
The end of the Hundred Years War		94	(10)
History and I Henry IV		104	(11)
VI Henry VI & Edward IV: The Rival Kings
The disorders of the 1440s		115	(11)
The fortunes of Richard duke of York		126	(12)
Edward IV, 1461--1471		138	(19)
VII Richard III: The Last Plantagenet
Edward IV, 1471--1483		157	(12)
The accession of Richard III		169	(9)
Bosworth and the Tudors		178	(9)
VIII John: The Legitimacy Of The King
The Angevin empire		187	(8)
The limits of royal authority		195	(6)
Usurped rights		201	(8)
IX Henry VIII: The Supreme Head
Henry VIII and Henry VIII		209	(2)
Henry's reign to 1529		211	(11)
The English Reformation		222	(7)
Afterword To The Second Edition		229	(10)
Appendix On Names And Titles		239	(6)
Genealogical Charts		245	(8)
Chronological Chart		253	(4)
Bibliography		257	(12)
Further Bibliography		269	(6)
Index Of Persons		275

Editorial Reviews

Praise for the previous edition: "So well written is this book that one does not need a purpose to pursue it. Even so, it makes excellent background reading for all of the Shakespearean history plays."—New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher