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In Shakespeare’s Henry V, a disguised King Henry V mingles with his soldiers at Agincourt, the night before the battle that would forever become associated with his reign. Hearing criticism of his actions, he claims, while incognito, “the King is but a man, as I am.” Then, when alone, he soliloquises, asking “what have kings, that privates have not too, / Save ceremony, save general ceremony?” Here, he alludes to the abstract ideas that make up kingship, without which he would be just “a man.” These lines acknowledge the necessity of performance to the exercise of monarchical power: what distinguishes a monarch from their subjects are the centuries of tradition that have built up around the role of sovereign; and these traditions, rituals, and ceremonies are all designed to be consumed by an audience—whether this be a select group of nobles, the members of parliament, or the nation at large. Power and performance have thus always been interlinked, and this connection is made even clearer when, as many of the articles in this special issue attest, a monarch wanted to stabilise and legitimise their position, or to garner support for a decision or new policy.
The performative aspect of monarchy—generally referred to as political theatre—is, however, a dialogue; while rulers may go to great lengths to assert their power through a variety of performances, the ruled often responded in kind with their own performances. Across premodern Europe, whole genres of entertainment and performance, as well as specific discourses and conventions, were devised to allow the performance of power to be beneficial to, and understood by, both the ruler and the ruled. Recent scholarship has begun to expand the dramatic canon to include these genres of performance, such as royal entries, progresses,
pageants, entertainments, and public speeches.

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