The Journal of Ecclesiastical History

Why Revisit the Early Modern Canon?
16 August 2018, Lisa Shapiro
The thing about canons is that they seem sacred. Challenging them, even revisiting them, can seem heretical. Facing these facts is the first step in addressing...

Cambridge University Press to publish Renaissance Quarterly for the Renaissance Society of America
16 August 2018, Colin S. Macdonald
Cambridge University Press is partnering with the Renaissance Society of America (RSA) to publish Renaissance Quarterly, the leading American journal of Renaissance...

The Tudor banquet: digital text mining reveals new information
14 August 2018, Louise Stewart
This blog accomapnies Louise Stewart’s Historical Journal article ‘Social Status and Classicism in the Visual and Material Culture of the Sweet Today, the term ‘banquet’ is commonly used to refer to any lavish feast. However, in the Tudor and Stuart period the word had a different, and very specific meaning, referring to a separate meal which consisted solely of sweet foods. In September 1591, for example, Queen Elizabeth I visited the Earl of Hertford at his estate at Elvetham. The lavish entertainments provided for the queen during her four day stay included water pageants, fireworks, feasts and a glittering ‘banquet’. A printed account of the entertainment makes it clear that this banquet was no ordinary meal. It was served in the garden after supper, ‘all in glass and silver’ and accompanied by a spectacular fireworks display. The queen was presented with a thousand sweet dishes including sculptural sugar work representing her arms, castles and forts, human figures and mythical and exotic animals as well as preserved fruits and other confections. This elaborate spectacle was typical of the sweet banquet.…...

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