Abstract

John Squire’s London Lord Mayor’s show has generally been undervalued as a largely typical example of the genre, formulaic in its deployment of traditional themes, characters, and devices. This article argues that Squire’s The Tryumphs of Peace is in actuality radically different from the typical pattern of Lord Mayor’s shows in directly commenting on an immediate, national political crisis. It is not just a traditional paean to the livery companies’ good government of London, but instead lauds James I’s role as peacemaker in both internal and external politics, using James’s image as a peace-maker as its central focus (and a material pageant device). This is not simply a tribute; rather it has immediate, pressing political significance in 1620 because of the imminent possibility that England might become engaged in the existing religious and dynastic struggles of the Netherlands and parts of the German states during the Thirty Years’ War. The Tryumphs of Peace presents the voice of an influential movement in the merchant class to urge James to continue in his role as peacemaker by avoiding direct conflict, and it presents a counterpoint to support for intervention at the royal court and among members of Parliament.

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