McCoy_FM 4/10/02 3:44 PM Page i Alterations of State McCoy_FM 4/10/02 3:44 PM Page ii This page intentionally left blank McCoy_FM 4/10/02 3:44 PM Page iii Alterations of State       Richard C. McCoy      McCoy_FM 4/10/02 3:44 PM Page iv Columbia University Press Publishers Since  New York Chichester, West Sussex Copyright © Columbia University Press All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McCoy, Richard C., – Alterations of state : sacred kingship in the English Reformation / Richard C. McCoy. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–––(cloth) . English literature—Early modern, –—History and criticism. . Kings and rulers in literature. . Christianity and literature—Great Britain— History—th century. . Christianity and literature—Great Britain—History— th century. . Kings and rulers—Religious aspects—Christianity. . Politics and literature—Great Britain—History. . Church and state in literature. . State, The, in literature. . Holy, The, in literature. . Monarchy in literature. I. Title. PR.K M  .'—dc  Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper. Designed by Chang Jae Lee Printed in the United States of America c Parts of chapter first appeared in the article “A Wedding and Four Funerals: Conjunction and Commemoration in Hamlet,”Shakespeare Survey,, copyright Cambridge University Press. Reproduced with permission. McCoy_FM 4/10/02 3:44 PM Page v To Sarah, who waited even longer This page intentionally left blank McCoy_FM 4/10/02 3:44 PM Page vii Contents       . Real Presence to Royal Presence  . Sacred Space: John Skelton and Westminster’s Royal Sepulcher  . Rites of Memory: Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Compromise  . Idolizing Kings: John Milton and Stuart Rule  . Sacramental to Sentimental: Andrew Marvell and the Restoration      This page intentionally left blank McCoy_FM 4/10/02 3:44 PM Page ix Preface What an Earth-quake is the Alteration of a State! —Thomas Dekker, The Wonderful Year()   Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, frontispiece By permission ofthe British Library; .K.