Monarchy and Masculinity in Early Modern England

In this essay, I examine how hegemonic concepts of manhood applied to monarchs in early-modern-England. I first discuss what manly qualities were associated with the ideal prince, how far they were the norms applied to other men of similar rank, and some of the ways that early-modern monarchs tried to live the part. I then move on to explore the strategies taken when the sitting monarch did not fit the bill. Here I conclude that underage and female rulers were perceived as less threatening to the political and social order than an adult king libelled as effeminate.