MoEML Mayoral Shows MoMS Author Mark Kaethler Author Janelle Jenstad Coordinating Editor Mark Kaethler Coordinating Editor Janelle Jenstad

Released with MoEML Mayoral Shows 1.0

 Published by the Map of Early Modern London on the Linked Early Modern Drama Online Platform

This project is licensed under a CC BY-NC_ND 4.0 license, which means that it is freely downloadable without permission under the following conditions: (1) credit must be given to the author, MoMS, and LEMDO in any subsequent use of the files and/or data; (2) the content cannot be adapted or repurposed (except for quotations for the purposes of academic review and citation); and (3) commercial uses are not permitted without the knowledge and consent of MoMS, the editor, and LEMDO. This license allows for pedagogical use of the critical paratexts in the classroom.

MoEML Mayoral Shows anthology

Anthology co-edited by Mark Kaethler and Janelle Jenstad

Encoded in TEI P5 according to the LEMDO Customization and Encoding Guidelines.

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 Published file, proofread, and minor copysdits Tweaked metadata and reviewed content. Added main content. Added TEMP3 and DEVI3 to the anthology. Tidied metadata for the anthology build test. Added ldt:anthMoMS Added content to the body.

At the end of October each year, early modern London celebrated the election of a new mayor. After the mayor took his oath of allegiance to the monarch in Westminster, he barged back to the city. Except in years of plague or civil unrest, the mayor was welcomed with speeches and spectacles. The participants in the procession walked or rode along the traditional ceremonial route through the city, stopping for sermons, feasts, and pageants. Written and coordinated by leading playwrights of the day, the pageants comprised speeches and emblematic tableaus performed by amateur and professional actors. Although some people consider these events to be insubstantial pageants faded, the show was the best attended theatrical event of the year. Ordinary people crowded into the streets; ambassadors and rich merchants booked rooms overlooking the route. Firecrackers, music, food, and alcohol made the event noisy, celebratory, and sometimes dangerous.

These events are described in commemorative pageant books, the best known but certainly not the only witnesses to mayoral shows. The MoEML Anthology of Mayoral Shows (MoMS) offers the world’s first anthology of all the surviving pageant books between 1585 and 1639. We aim to bring these books back to life with resources that help us understand the live performances and their spatial dimensions.