Robert Southwell and the ‘Empresse of the skyes’: A Reading of ‘The Sequence on the Virgin Mary and Christ’
‘The Sequence on the Virgin Mary and Christ’, by the poet and martyr St Robert Southwell, S.J. (1561–95), is a beautiful work that is generally still undervalued. The sequence explores the physical, moral, and emotional unity of Mary and her Son in the work of our salvation. The larger context is th...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2024
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| In: |
New blackfriars
Year: 2024, Volume: 105, Issue: 2, Pages: 153-168 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Southwell, Robert 1561-1595
/ Mariology
/ Marian devotion (motif)
/ Christian Poetry
|
| Further subjects: | B
poetic sequence
B Robert Southwell B Elizabeth I B Virgin Mary B recusant literature |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | ‘The Sequence on the Virgin Mary and Christ’, by the poet and martyr St Robert Southwell, S.J. (1561–95), is a beautiful work that is generally still undervalued. The sequence explores the physical, moral, and emotional unity of Mary and her Son in the work of our salvation. The larger context is the Protestant devaluing of hyperdulia. In its historical moment – it was written sometime in the 1580s – it is a subtle exploration of the theme of kenosis and of what a ‘prince’ or ‘queen’ should really be. While being relatively inexplicit, Southwell seems to poise the Virgin Mary against that other ‘empress’, Elizabeth I, and writes with intimacy from the perspective of his own self-understanding as ‘Beatae Virginis filius’ (a son of the Blessed Virgin). The sequence’s modern, editorial title needs to be replaced with one that matches its devotional aims and content. As he faced up to the almost certain prospect of his own martyrdom, Southwell looked to Mary as true mother and queen to sustain him in his sacrifice. |
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| ISSN: | 1741-2005 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: New blackfriars
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/nbf.2023.12 |
