In this talk, Giovanna Guidicini identifies key buildings and performance spaces as we follow the processional route of Stewart monarchs in the early modern period, through the burgh of Edinburgh and along what is now called the 'Royal Mile'.
Giovanna Guidicini will lead the attendees in an exploration of the lively spaces of early modern Edinburgh, as dynamic settings for festivals and urban ceremonies, and particularly for Roman-inspired triumphal entries staged by the burgh for the Stewart monarchs between 1503 and 1633. During choreographed processions stretching from the West Port area to High Street, the Netherbow gate, and beyond, monarchs were presented with evolving notions of royal power and civic consciousness, in an attempt to acknowledge and reconcile royal and civic expectations. This was achieved through the skilful use of pageants, entertainments, and decorative apparatus, a selection of which will be discussed in this talk. Scratching under a superficial veneer of run-of-the-mill homage, we will explore how civic rituals offered the opportunity to deliver shocking rebuffs to monarchs perceived as problematic or inadequate, confronting them directly about their foreignness, religious dissidence, immaturity, gender-based limitations, or absenteeism. This is a story of survival, binding the shaky but resilient Stewart dynasty to the physical spaces of their own capital city, in a period of profound political and religious change. An analysis of these visually vibrant ceremonies seen in the context of the very locations in which they took place, will help clarify how royal power was understood, negotiated, and portrayed in Scotland.
Giovanna Guidicini is a Senior Lecturer in Architectural History and Urban Studies at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow School of Art. She holds a Laurea Magistrale (Master’s Degree) in Architecture from the Università degli Studi di Ferrara and a Ph.D. in History of Architecture from the University of Edinburgh. Giovanna’s monograph titled “Triumphal Entries and Festivals in Early Modern Scotland: Performing spaces” was published by Brepols in August 2020.
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