Overview

The belief that the Virgin Mary was bodily assumed to be crowned as heaven's Queen has been celebrated in the liturgy and literature of England since the fifth century. The upheaval of the Reformation brought radical changes in the beliefs surrounding the assumption and coronation, both of which were eliminated from state-approved liturgy. Queen of Heaven examines canonical as well as obscure images of the Blessed Mother that present fresh evidence of the incompleteness of the English Reformation. Through an analysis of works by writers such as Edmund Spenser, Henry Constable, Sir John Harington, and the writers of the early modern rosary books, which were contraband during the Reformation, Grindlay finds that these images did not simply disappear during this time as lost ""Catholic"" symbols, but instead became sources of resistance and controversy, reflecting the anxieties triggered by the religious changes of the era. Grindlay's study of the Queen of Heaven affords an insight into England's religious pluralism, revealing a porousness between medieval and early modern perspectives toward the Virgin and dispelling the notion that Catholic and Protestant attitudes on the subject were completely different. Grindlay reveals the extent to which the potent and treasured image of the Queen of Heaven was impossible to extinguish and remained of widespread cultural significance. Queen of Heaven will appeal to an academic audience, but its fresh, uncomplicated style will also engage intelligent, well-informed readers who have an interest in the Virgin Mary and in English Reformation history.

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9780268104108

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Reviews

The book makes an original contribution to the fields of English religious and literary studies, and gender studies. Grindlay offers an important corrective to the long-standing claim that the Blessed Virgin Mary disappears from English religious writing at the dawn of the Protestant Reformation. The book is very well written. Grindlay's care for her subject is evident in every sentence. Ultimately, her goal is to persuade the reader that their understanding of the post-Reformation/post-medieval status of the Virgin is incomplete. This reader was certainly persuaded. The book is really lovely to read. Grindlay has taken great care to make her work accessible, interesting, and important. --Patricia Badir, author of The Maudlin Impression: English Literary Images of Mary Magdalene, 1550-1700

Author Information

Lilla Grindlay is the head of the English faculty at Sutton Valence School in Kent, England.

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