Royal Visit Research Articles

A Place and Symbols of Remembrance and Filial Piety for Crown Prince Sado: A Study of Mangmyoru at Kyŏngmogung Shrine and the Enshrined Portraits

This paper examines the ascent to prominence of Mangmyoru Pavilion within Kyŏngmogung Shrine, dedicated to Crown Prince Sado, as a principal repository for enshrining royal portraits (御眞, Ŏjin) during the late Chosŏn period. It also explores the regular inspection and management system of both the chambers inside the pavilion and the portraits enshrined there, which formed the basis for its prominence. Furthermore, the paper delves into the iconography and format of the portraits as documented in historical records, as well as the stylistic characteristics of the existing royal portraits from Mangmyoru. Lastly, it considers how the interior chambers and screen paintings installed in the pavilion changed over time.</br>Mangmyoru began unofficially housing portraits of King Chŏngjo in the early 1780s. With the official enshrinement of a half-length portrait of King Chŏngjo in 1791, the repository ascended to a principal site for royal portraits throughout the late Joseon period, eventually housing nine portraits of five kings during King Kojong’s reign. After the enshrinement of portraits of King Sunjo and King Munjo, Mangmyoru’s role expanded from solely housing King Chŏngjo’s portrait to enshrining portraits of kings in the direct bloodline of Crown Prince Sado. Furthermore, the format of enshrined portraits was not confined to half-length; sometimes, multiple copies of portraits were housed in a single chamber.</br>The six royal portraits enshrined in Mangmyoru, now part of the National Palace Museum collection, present the stylistic changes of 19th-century Chosŏn art. Early 19th-century portraits seamlessly blended traditional facial depiction techniques with shading methods, while midto-late 19th-century portraits exhibited bold and stylized shading techniques. The regular inspection and management system for the chambers and the enshrined portraits, established during King Chŏngjo’s reign, cemented Mangmyoru’s role as a premier repository for royal portraits, facilitating the addition of subsequent portraits. The scale and prestige of the repository were further enhanced by the addition of royal portraits, accompanied by regular royal visits and inspections. As the status of Mangmyoru elevated, changes were also made to its spatial arrangement and interior adornment, such as replacing the Ten Longevity Symbols folding screen with the Five Peaks. Through this trajectory, Crown Prince Sado, enshrined in the main hall of Kyŏngmogung Shrine, emerged as the progenitor of the lineage of five kings, represented through the enshrined portraits in Mangmyoru.

The British Royals in Australia

The British Royals in Australia

A royal visit revisited: Mackenzie King and the British royal visit to the USA, June 1939

In June 1939 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth were on a tour of Canada that included a brief visit to the United States. The timing of this visit proved to be fortuitous from the British point of view as it came soon after the controversial Munich agreement in September 1938, which ceded the Czech Sudetenland to Germany, and the subsequent occupation of the remainder of the Czech state by German troops in March 1939 – both of which had damaged Britain’s image in America. The royal visit to the USA was a great public-relations success, as was the visit to Canada, and its significance for relations between Britain, Canada, and the United States has been discussed by a number of historians from all three countries. However, very little attention has been paid to the key role of the Canadian prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King, regarding the American phase of the royal visit. Indeed, a recent film about the Royal Visit and the weekend spent by the king and queen at President Franklin Roosevelt’s family home in upstate New York omitted any mention of Mackenzie King, despite the fact that he was their official escort. This article seeks to fill this gap by assessing Mackenzie King’s involvement in the origins and conduct of the royal visit. It also reflects upon what the royal visit reveals about Canada’s relations with Britain and the United States on the eve of the war and, in particular, Mackenzie King’s relationship with President Franklin Roosevelt and his contribution to the Anglo-American ‘special relationship’.

VIZITA LA CRAIOVA A REGELUI CAROL AL II-LEA ȘI A PRINCIPELUI NICOLAE CU OCAZIA UNOR EVENIMENTE LOCALE SOLEMNE (26 OCTOMBRIE 1933)

The autumn of 1933 marked a festive moment for the city of Craiova, a royal visit made by King Carol II and Prince Nicolae with the aim of celebrating a series of local events such as: the consecration of St. Dumitru's Church, the inauguration of the „Carol al II-lea” Stadium as well as the celebration of 100 years of existence of the „Carol I” High School. The local authorities treated the event carefully, the preparation for October 26, 1933 involved a great effort. The day turned out to be a real success. Although a short visit of only one day, it was full of solemn events. The moment of October 26, 1933 remained recorded as an important day for the history of Craiova.

“The monetary test of loyalty”: on the financing of visits by British princes to the Empire in the 60s and 70s of the XIX century

Importance. In the 60–70s of the XIX century, representatives of the royal family of Great Britain visited the possessions of the British Empire. The issue of financing was one of the fundamental issues in their implementation. Being closely connected with the sphere of political reputation management, it went beyond the boundaries of exclusively organizational practice. The purpose of the study is to explore the specifics of the financing mechanism for visits by members of the British ruling family to the empire’s possessions in the 60s and 70s of the 19th century and to determine the importance that it began to acquire in the process of building Britain’s relations with these territories.Materials and Methods. Historical-genetic and problem-chronological methods make it possible to analyze the process of monetary support for visits of British princes to the empire’s possessions and determine its role in the context of imperial construction of Great Britain.Results and Discussion. On the basis of sources – materials from the British and colonial press, journalistic publications, parliamentary documents – the features of the financing mechanism for official royal visits and official trips of British princes to the possessions of the Empire of various types are analyzed. The guidelines that conforms the organizers of royal trips and ceremonial receptions in carrying out the task of providing them are revealed.Conclusion. In the context of the royal visits’ implementation, the issue of their financing acquired conceptual importance. Through the sponsorship of the British princes’ trips by the colonial authorities and the public, as well as by the imperial government, ideas that were important for the development of interaction between the metropolis and its possessions were broadcast.

Carski baldahin nad ulazom u crkvu - oblici, prostorni konteksti, ikonografski programi i smisao kupole u srpskim pripratama XIV veka

The churches commissioned by King (later Emperor) Stephen Dušan, his important dignitaries, and later Serbian rulers-e.g., Holy Archangels near Prizren, Lesnovo, Hilandar, Markov Manastir, Ravanica, and Manasija-often have a narthex or an entrance porch covered by a dome. This architectural element is additionally emphasized by a specific program of painted decoration-as witnessed by several preserved ensembles-which, like the one in the nave's dome, contains some representation of Christ surrounded by members of the heavenly ranks. Through the choice of iconographic elements of Christ or accompanying personages, these compositions are often imbued with a royal subtext. Such an architectural and iconographic solution has its precedents in some Byzantine monuments from the 10th to the 12th century, of which the most important for the Serbian examples, as their potential models, are probably the Athonite katholika and the main church of the Pantokrator Monastery in Constantinople. The prevalence of this architectural element notably increased during the Late Byzantine period, particularly in political entities whose rulers sought independence and even aspired to imperial dignity, such as Epirus, which bordered the Serbian state, and later Mystra. In these Byzantine churches, the specific form of this micro-architectural feature and its strategic placement at the church entrance can be associated with imperial patronage and royal visits. Given the well-supported hypothesis that this paradigm was adopted into Serbian architecture with the same imperial connotation, this study examines its spatial, formal, and iconographic elements, along with its semantic and ideological context. The author's ongoing research of this phenomenon encompasses all preserved and relevant examples within the Serbian Empire, Byzantium, and the broader Byzantine world. However, for the purpose of this article, the discussion will be limited only to Serbian monuments, include an examination of their potential models, and underscore particular nuances in meaning exhibited by their spatial solutions and iconographic programs.

To the Establishment of the Practice of Royal Visits to the Colonies of Great Britain: Background for the First Official Tour
 of the Prince of Wales to Canada in 1860

The article regards the background of the first official visit of a member of the royal family to the colonial possessions of the British Empire – the tour of the Prince of Wales to Canada in 1860. The purpose of the analysis is to trace how the history of the emergence and development of the idea of traveling the heir
 to the British throne to Canada reflected the evolution of the views of the British and colonial politicianson of the Empire building and its perspectives. It is proved that the initiative of the royal journey,coming from the Canadian administration
 and supported by the British government,was aimed at strengthening ties between the mother country and the colony and solving pragmatic problems on both sides.The obtained results allow us to conclude that the project of the first official
 royal tour to overseas territories of Britain, being a product of the thought of the colonial society, indicated the mutual desire of the administration of Britain and Canada to find a balance of interests between the mother country and the colony in the process of updating forms and methods of colonial interaction and constructing the course of imperial policy.

The Lost Breviarium Compertorum and Henry VIII's First Act for the Dissolution of the Monasteries, 1536

A challenge has recently been made to the venerable tradition that the passage of Henry VIII's first act for suppressing monasteries (1536) was facilitated by the presentation in parliament of details of monastic sexual misconduct gathered during the royal visitation of the monasteries in 1535–6. This article, by following up clues missed in the evidence cited for that challenge, precisely identifies a now lost source, last sighted in the hands of John Bale, which casts important new light on the visitation and, it is argued, was very probably the exact document presented to parliament in 1536.

Planning Queen Elizabeth II’s Visit to Bondi Beach in 1954

Planning Queen Elizabeth II’s Visit to Bondi Beach in 1954

The Mutability of Uniform

The Mutability of Uniform

From Indifference to Obsession: Russian Claim to Kyiv History in Travel Literature of the 18th–early 19th Century

In this article, I discuss a relatively recent development of Russian interest in Kyiv as a place with symbolic and historical significance for Russian history, which makes it a desirable target in an ongoing war. I trace the changing attitude of Russian travelers towards Kyiv’s history from the mid-eighteenth to the early nineteenth century. Earlier generations of visitors came to Kyiv primarily to visit holy places, with no knowledge of the city’s historical significance, and because it was a more affordable alternative to travel abroad. However, at the end of the eighteenth century, after Catherine II’s royal visit, the publication of guidebooks, and the ascend of history as a discipline, and interest among Russian educated elites, Kyiv’s past became an obsession for many Russian travelers. Their travel accounts were motivated by a search for the past glory of Kyiv. For Russian travelers and authorities, history became one of the key means of appropriation of Kyiv, with a new generation of travelers searching for material evidence connecting Kyivan Rus to the Russian past. However, they were unable to find much material evidence and often used their imagination to present Kyiv as a site of Kyivan Rus history, ignoring the city’s non[1]Russian heritage.

King Carol I and Crown Prince Ferdinand’s Visit to Craiova (1-3 October 1890)

"The end of the 19th century, more precisely the year 1890, represented for the people of Craiova the opportunity to witness a new royal visit, this time a very special one, because for the first time the Crown Prince Ferdinand visited the city of Craiova with his uncle, King Carol I. The visit lasted 3 days, 1–3 October, being perhaps one of the most eventful visits, at least in terms of the very busy schedule. Many schools were visited, both girls’ and boys’ schools, as well as hospitals or prisons were among the objectives of the visit. The Craiova society was involved in the big event, with demonstrations taking place in which many people participated. There was also criticism in the anti-dynastic press of the time, many aspects of the organization of the visit being attacked. The visit remains one of reference for Craiova, the magnitude of the event echoing in the press and the documents of the time. "

Cambodian American Listening as Memory Work

Cambodian American Listening as Memory Work

Mackenzie King and the North Atlantic Triangle in the Era of Munich, 1938–1939

This article looks at relations between Britain, the United States and Canada in the years leading up to the Second World War in order to ascertain the extent to which a North Atlantic Triangle can be said to have existed at the outbreak of war in September 1939. Drawing upon the author’s contention that an Anglo-American ‘tacit alliance’ was formed against Germany, Italy and Japan during President Franklin Roosevelt’s second term, it argues that the Canadian Prime Minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King, played an important part in this development by virtue of Canada’s position as the northern neighbour of the United States and the senior Dominion of the British Empire and that this ‘tacit alliance’ went hand in hand with a ‘North Atlantic Triangle’ between these three governments. The article first analyses the evolution of Mackenzie King’s relationships with Franklin Roosevelt and Neville Chamberlain in the 1930s. It then examines three key elements in the triangular relationship between Canada, the United States and Britain in 1938–9: the conclusion of an Anglo-American trade agreement in 1938; British appeasement policy and Roosevelt’s role during the Munich crisis of 1938; and the British Royal Visit to the United States in June 1939.

Religion and Politics in Early Modern Royal Travels: Queen Elizabeth's Progress to Kent in 1573

The article is devoted to the consideration of the summer travels of the English royal court of early Modern times. This practice, originating from the traveling courts of the Middle Ages, flourished in England in the second half of the XVI century. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth Tudor, summer progresses became an integral part of the court ceremonial, an important means of representing the monarch and a mechanism for implementing royal policy. The article focuses on one of these trips, namely, a summer trip to Kent in 1573, whose central episode was a reception hosted for the Queen by Archbishop of Canterbury Matthew Parker. The author examines the preparation and course of this reception, analyzes the motives and expectations of all participants in the events and fits the royal visit into the context of church history and religious policy of England in the second half of the XVI century. The scientific novelty of the work lies in a detailed, based on a wide range of sources, consideration of the royal visit of 1573, which had not previously attracted special attention of researchers. The main conclusion of the study is the observation about the peculiar nature of the reception in Canterbury, due to the increased attention of all participants to the religious and political content of this event. For Elizabeth, this reception was an occasion to emphasize her image of a pious monarch and defender of the true faith. On the other hand, such a visit in the first half of the 1570s, during a harsh period for the Church of England, was on its part a gesture of support for the Archbishop of Canterbury, whom the latter sorely needed. Parker, in turn, made considerable efforts to extract the maximum benefits for himself from this reception. Thus, the conducted research shows how the royal progress could be used for the purposes of religious policy and complements our understanding of the methods and mechanisms of its implementation in early Modern England.

Samuel Daniel’s authorial strategies in The Queenes Arcadia (1606)

This article focuses on Samuel Daniel’s The Queenes Arcadia, performed in 1605 as Arcadia Reformed and first published in 1606. Daniel’s use of the genre of the pastoral drama is quite telling in his construction as an author. He uses self-reflexive devices in the play, and meta-poetic intrusions within the plot, thus confirming that he saw himself as an author. I examine the different poetic styles used in the play as well as the circumstances of the first staging of the play at Oxford on the occasion of a royal visit there in order to define Daniel’s authorial strategies.

Eliza Lucas Pinckney: An Independent Woman in the Age of Revolution

Eliza Lucas Pinckney: An Independent Woman in the Age of Revolution

Deep Ties: Cole and Ross, 1972–2020

Deep Ties: Cole and Ross, 1972–2020

A Difficult Balancing Act: The Visits of Spanish Monarchs in Early Modern Naples (1506-1702)

This essay centres on the royal visits in Naples of Ferdinand the Catholic (1506-7), Charles V (1535-6) and Philip V (1702). The historiography has emphasized the visits' formal aspects, particularly the intricate artistic programmes accompanying the royal entry. The focus here, however, is on those untoward aspects, purposefully avoided in the official documentation - tensions between individuals or groups, mishaps, ceremonial blunders, conflicts of precedence, etc. The findings of this essay show that although the antagonistic nature of the Neapolitan elites shines through in these occasions, their amount of assertiveness varies according to the political sensitivity of each visit and their perception of the monarch's power and prestige

Governor Sir Humphrey Walwyn’s Account of the 17 June 1939 Royal Visit to Newfoundland

Governor Sir Humphrey Walwyn’s Account of the 17 June 1939 Royal Visit to Newfoundland