English political prophecy and the problem of modernity

Abstract

This essay engages the methodological problem of medieval/modern periodization through study of political prophecy, a literary genre in which distant and recent historical experience mixes with imagined futures. To the question ‘Was English political prophecy medieval or modern?’ no answer can be given. The written tradition of political prophecy straddles the centuries now designated as medieval and modern. Public and governmental interest in prophecy peaked in the first half of the sixteenth century, the period of English literary history served most poorly by the medieval/modern periodization. The first section of the essay summarizes the generic, linguistic, codicological, political, and social dimensions of English political prophecy. The second section identifies points of contact between the field of political prophecy and the problem of modernity.