Published Papers by Declan Mills
The tenth-century social and political collapse in West Francia constituted a major disruption in... more The tenth-century social and political collapse in West Francia constituted a major disruption in the order of Frankish society. As the power of the king weakened and minor lordships sprung up all over the south of the kingdom – lordships whose powers were upheld by a new breed of enforcer, violent mail-clad peasants who became knowns as cnichts or knights – the Roman Church became the main bastion of peace and law in the region, enforcing ceasefires through a religious ceremony known as the Peace of God. This led in turn to a second major disruption, the rewriting of the Church’s theology and history to sanctify the concept of religious warfare, a move which led within a century to the First Crusade.
This paper will argue that although these two disruptive changes brought major shifts in European society, and fuelled contemporary millennial anxieties, they were also part of a wider context of climactic changes, shifts in how the medieval European economy functioned social pressures, changing approaches to religion and the rise of new social classes. As such, while the tenth-century collapse and the change in Rome’s view of religious warfare could be seen as major breaks from tradition, they could also be seen as part of a series of evolving processes of slow-change, processes that were also connected to the spread of feudalism throughout western Europe, the slow fragmentation of Charlemagne’s territories and the spread of Norman power as far afield as England and southern Italy.
Conference Papers by Declan Mills
This paper will examine the portrayals of Tory-Whig divides during the so-called ‘rage of party’ ... more This paper will examine the portrayals of Tory-Whig divides during the so-called ‘rage of party’ of Queen Anne’s reign in Addison and Steele’s Coverley Papers. It will argue that although the rhetorical and political divisions between the two nascent parties were hardening, there was still room – particularly outside the walls of the House of Commons – for compromise and indeed for switching sides, and that the ardent Whigs Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, in creating a political serial story intended for mass consumption, tapped into the commonalities, providing an interesting and noteworthy counterpoint to the polemicist literature that dominated English print culture during this period. As such, this paper will examine the Coverley Papers in the context of the political, social and cultural developments taking place in the early eighteenth century to illuminate one discrete example of the interplay between politics and literature in Enlightenment Britain.
This paper examines Edmund Spenser’s role as part of a group of Protestants led by the earl of Le... more This paper examines Edmund Spenser’s role as part of a group of Protestants led by the earl of Leicester who pushed for greater English support for Protestant rebels in France and the Low Countries and opposed the negotiations for a marriage between Elizabeth I and the duc d’Anjou. It will analyse his poem The shepheardes calendar in its context as a piece of propaganda against the match, and show how Spenser’s views were part of wider ‘forward Protestant’ opinion in Elizabethan England. It will also examine the Classical influences on Spenser’s work, with particular focus on his use of traditional pastoral forms to convey a very contemporary political message, a tactic also used by several of his peers.
Theses by Declan Mills
This thesis examines Edmund Spenser’s role as part of a group of English Protestants led by the e... more This thesis examines Edmund Spenser’s role as part of a group of English Protestants led by the earl of Leicester who pushed for greater English support for Protestant rebels in France and the Low Countries and opposed the negotiations for a marriage between Elizabeth I and the duc d’Anjou. It will analyse his poems Prosopopoia and The shepheardes calendar in their context as part of Leicester’s propaganda campaign against the match, and show how Spenser’s views were part of wider ‘forward Protestant’ opinion in Elizabethan England. In doing so it will combine textual analysis with an examination of the political and religious context in which the poems were written, showing how Spenser combined anti-marriage sentiment and Protestant theology to use traditional poetic forms for political purposes. It will also briefly discuss the influence that both Spenser’s poetry and the success of the opposition to the match had on the remainder of Elizabeth’s reign.
Uploads
Published Papers by Declan Mills
This paper will argue that although these two disruptive changes brought major shifts in European society, and fuelled contemporary millennial anxieties, they were also part of a wider context of climactic changes, shifts in how the medieval European economy functioned social pressures, changing approaches to religion and the rise of new social classes. As such, while the tenth-century collapse and the change in Rome’s view of religious warfare could be seen as major breaks from tradition, they could also be seen as part of a series of evolving processes of slow-change, processes that were also connected to the spread of feudalism throughout western Europe, the slow fragmentation of Charlemagne’s territories and the spread of Norman power as far afield as England and southern Italy.
Conference Papers by Declan Mills
Theses by Declan Mills
This paper will argue that although these two disruptive changes brought major shifts in European society, and fuelled contemporary millennial anxieties, they were also part of a wider context of climactic changes, shifts in how the medieval European economy functioned social pressures, changing approaches to religion and the rise of new social classes. As such, while the tenth-century collapse and the change in Rome’s view of religious warfare could be seen as major breaks from tradition, they could also be seen as part of a series of evolving processes of slow-change, processes that were also connected to the spread of feudalism throughout western Europe, the slow fragmentation of Charlemagne’s territories and the spread of Norman power as far afield as England and southern Italy.