|
The ''Eikon Basilike'' (Greek: (unicode:Εἰκὼν Βασιλική), the "Royal Portrait"), ''The Pourtrature of His Sacred Majestie in His Solitudes and Sufferings'', is a purported spiritual autobiography attributed to King Charles I of England. It was published on 9 February 1649, ten days after the King was beheaded by Parliament in the aftermath of the English Civil War in 1649. == Contents and authorship == Written in a simple, moving, and straightforward style in the form of a diary, the book combines irenic prayers urging the forgiveness of Charles's executioners with a justification of royalism and the King's political and military programme that led to the Civil War. It is by no means certain that Charles wrote the book. After the Restoration, John Gauden, bishop of Worcester, claimed to have written it. Scholars continue to disagree about the merits of this claim, though assuming that if Gauden wrote it, he had access to Charles's papers when he did so. Jeremy Taylor is also said to have had a hand in its revision, and to be the source of its title; an earlier draft bore the name ''Suspiria Regalia'', the "Royal Sighs." Some later editions of the ''Eikon Basilike'' contained a sworn statement by William Levett, Esq., longtime courtier and groom of the bedchamber to the King, that Levett had witnessed Charles writing the text during the time that Levett accompanied him in his imprisonment on the Isle of Wight.〔(Eikon Basilike: Or, The King's Book, Charles, John Gauden, Edward Almack, Chatto and Windus1907 )〕〔(Who Wrote Eikon Basilike?, Christopher Wordsworth, London, 1824 )〕 A witness to the King's execution, Levett later helped transport the King's body back to Windsor Castle for burial. Whoever wrote the ''Eikon Basilike'', its author was an effective prose stylist, one who had partaken deeply of the solemn yet simple eloquence of Anglican piety as expressed in Cranmer's ''Book of Common Prayer''. The end result is an image of a steadfast monarch who, while admitting his weaknesses, declares the truth of his religious principles and the purity of his political motives, while trusting in God despite adversity. Charles's chief weakness, it says, was in yielding to Parliament's demands for the head of the Earl of Strafford; for this sin, Charles paid with his throne and his life. Its portrait of Charles as a martyr invited comparison of the King to Jesus. The pathos of this dramatic presentation made it a master stroke of Royalist propaganda. The book was quite popular despite official disapproval during the Protectorate and the Restoration; it went into 36 editions in 1649 alone. In 1657 it even appeared in musical form, with a verse rendering by Thomas Stanley (author) and music by John Wilson (composer). Because of the favourable impression the book made of the King, Parliament commissioned John Milton to write a riposte to it, which he published under the title ''Eikonoklastes'' ("The Icon-Breaker") in 1649. Milton's response sought to portray the image of Charles, and the absolute monarchy he aspired to, as idols, claiming a reverence due only to God, and therefore justly overthrown to preserve the law of God. This theological counterattack failed to dislodge the sentimental narrative of the ''Eikon'' itself from public esteem. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Eikon Basilike」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|