Poetry, Politics and Promises of Empire: Prophetic Rhetoric in the English and Neo-Latin Epithalamia on the occasion of the Palatine Marriage in 1613

This interdisciplinary study examines the poetic and political representation of the Palatine Marriage in London in 1613 by analysing the vast number of English and Neo-Latin festive / nuptial poetry and prose written on the occasion of the marriage of Count Palatine Frederick V (1596-1632) and Princess Elizabeth Stuart (1596-1662), stylised and represented as heroes and paragon figures of Protestant Europe. Taking a literary and cultural studies approach, the study explores courtly representational modes used to convey the propagandist and prophetic messages of the marriage, suggesting that the nuptial union follows a heavenly plan and fulfils the hopes of the formation of a pan-Protestant empire and a future bulwark against the imminent threats of Catholic Habsburg. In this respect, the study aims to provide an alternative perspective on Britain, Europe and militant pan-Protestantism.