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Charles I

right of kings. James I was one of the most eloquent of all spokesmen for this position. In his lucid, forceful The Laws of Free Monarchies James cited Biblical authority for his position, proclaiming that "Kings are called Gods by the prophetical King David, because they sit upon God his throne in earth" (quoted in Plumb 97). No one took precedence over the king who dispensed earthly justice and ensured social order. Even the Church of England was a mere reflection of divinely sanctioned role of its head--the British monarch.

Though James had little interest in the arts Anne had an excellent eye and a cultivated interest in the visual and performing arts. Her brother Christian IV was engaged in "establishing one of the most ambitious and splendid Renaissance courts of northern Europe" and Henry's and Charles' love of art derived from "the Danish side of the family" (Howarth 75). Christian was skilled in the political uses of art in an age when monarchs understood collecting and patronage as an "advertisement of princely magnificence [and] princely knowledge and taste" (Lightbown 64).

These two major strands in the princes' education--the divine right of kings and the aesthetic and practical appreciation of the arts--were combined or, as Plumb puts it, "theory and art were married in them" (98). Henry, never as sophisticated a collector as Charles, was always eager for new experiences. In negotiations for his potential marriage to the Princess Caterina de' Medici he requested that Florentine paintings accompany table bronzes from the studio of Giovanni da Bologna. The paintings did not materialize, but the sight of the small bronzes is credited as a "critical moment in awakening an appreciation of sculpture" in the eleven-year-old Charles who is known to have coveted them (Howarth 74). In addition to the sight of such works Charles was also strongly influenced by the attitudes of patrons and collectors at the court. H...

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Charles I. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 10:24, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1709070.html