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The Presentation of the Speaker of the Commons in Tudor Parliaments: Pageantry, Persuasion and Management *†
Author(s) -
McGovern Jonathan
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
parliamentary history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.14
H-Index - 11
eISSN - 1750-0206
pISSN - 0264-2824
DOI - 10.1111/1750-0206.12519
Subject(s) - rhetoric , house of commons , commons , persuasion , presentation (obstetrics) , ceremony , hierarchy , event (particle physics) , sociology , political science , classics , law , history , linguistics , philosophy , politics , parliament , radiology , archaeology , medicine , physics , quantum mechanics
This article analyses the presentation of the Commons’ Speaker in the Tudor age. It traces the medieval origins of this ceremony, arguing that it served not only as an opportunity for flamboyant rhetoric, but also as a politically significant event designed to impress upon the Commons its inferiority in the parliamentary hierarchy. The article also suggests that Elizabethan Speakers used their orations as a means of presenting counsel to the queen herself.