Popular Symbols as Political Tools: The Iconography of the Eagle in English Emblem Books, 1585-1635

Abstract

Emblem books were one of the most popular genres of literature in late Renaissance and Early Modern Europe. Though some specifics varied from book to book, all emblem books followed roughly the same structure. They were composed of a series of "emblems," which consisted of an image, a motto, and a short poetic epigram. All three components came together to communicate a message to the reader, often moral in nature, which was meant to be somewhat obscure on the surface. Emblem books were popular in part because they appealed to an intellectual proclivity of the time toward esoteric symbolism. The authors of emblem books drew heavily on popular and culturally relevant symbols to help convey the messages in their emblems. Animals, for example, were popular symbols, and as such appear often in the pages of emblem books. Emblems were part of a larger family of motto-image devices that was ubiquitous throughout late Renaissance and Early Modern Europe. Though emblem books were only accessible to the literate, who composed a very small percentage of the population, motto-image devices in general were accessible to and consumed by individuals from all social strata. They appeared in physical spaces, such as armor and shields at tournaments, coats of arms, architecture, and interior design, and pervaded many facets of European society. As such, emblems were a core part of the intellectual, popular, and material cultures of the period. Some scholars have even suggested labeling the Early Modern era as the "Age of the Emblem." This thesis analyzes how English emblematists used the eagle, a popular animal symbol, in their books. In sixteenth and seventeenth century England, eagles symbolized strength, nobility, empire, royalty, and the classical god Jupiter. Analysis of English eagle emblems reveals that emblematists used the eagle's symbolic traits to glorify their patrons--the individuals to whom their works were dedicated. Emblematists took advantage of the structure of the emblem book, which allowed for multiple dedicatees, as well as the symbolism within their emblems to repeatedly praise their patrons. In doing so, they appealed to their patrons, in hopes of receiving a gift or favor in return. This behavior reveals that emblem books were deeply tied up in the complex patron-client relationships that dominated European intellectual and scholarly culture of the period. Emblems and emblem books, then, were a powerful political tool that emblematists used to curry favor with potential patrons. There is an extensive amount of scholarship on the European emblem tradition, but relatively little of it gives significant attention to England. Though England's output of emblem books was smaller than that of other European nations, emblems themselves were just as popular in England as they were on the continent. The influence of emblems in England is one area that this thesis addresses. Further, many scholars have focused on the symbols within emblems, but few have analyzed how emblematists used those symbols. This thesis analyzes not only the symbolism of the eagle within English emblem books, but also how English emblematists used the eagle's symbolism to their own advantage.