Catholic Ruler, Protestant People. The Impact of the Reformation on Court and Civic Festivals in Early Modern Europe

Lecture by Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly (2018-2019 Paris IAS fellow) within the framework of the Society for Court Studies' seminar

Abstract

Once the Reformation had divided prince and people, festivals often demonstrated this division. In this talk I discuss five festivals staged between 1541 and 1680 to illustrate the problems that could arise and the solutions adopted: an imperial entry into Nürnberg in 1541; the coronation of Maximilian II in Frankfurt in 1562; the entry of William I, Prince of Orange, into Ghent 1577; Louis XIII’s celebrations of his victory over the French Calvinists at La Rochelle; and the funeral of the Catholic Johann Friedrich, Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, in 1680 in Lutheran Hannover.