Chapter 10 Contested Kingship – Controversial Coronation: York’s Paper Crown

In: The Moment of Death in Early Modern Europe, c. 1450–1800
Author:
Imke Lichterfeld
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Type:
Chapter
Pages:
193–210
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004517745_011

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Abstract

Shakespeare’s 3 Henry VI holds one of Shakespeare’s most fascinating moments of death: Richard of York, contender of the Plantagenet crown, is killed on the battlefield fighting against the Lancastrian King Henry VI in the Wars of the Roses. Margaret of Anjou places the caught opponent on a molehill, tortures him with the details of his youngest son’s bloody end, and in derision sets a paper crown upon his head to mock his pretentious claims to the throne. Edward Hall’s Chronicle The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancastre and York describes that Clifford ‘came to Ye place wher the dead corps of the duke of Yorke lay, and caused his head to be stryken of, and set on it a croune of paper, & so fixed it on a pole, & presented it to the Quene’. Richard of York was decapitated and his head was placed on a spear to preside over Micklegate Bar, one of York’s city gates, to warn others of rebellion. The last moment of York’s life is full of disruptive energy and a macabre image of a perverted coronation. Today, paper crowns are made by children to play a king, almost echoing the morbid historical scene. Additionally, they have become a Christmas tradition worn as colourful and festive headgear after opening Christmas Crackers. This article delves into the symbolism of the paper crown, which like Christ’s crown of thorns is meant to ridicule and subvert.

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The Moment of Death in Early Modern Europe, c. 1450–1800

Contested Ideals, Controversial Spaces, and Suspicious Objects

Series:  Intersections, Volume: 89
Cover The Moment of Death in Early Modern Europe, c. 1450–1800
E-Book ISBN:
9789004517745
Publisher:
Brill
Print Publication Date:
30 Apr 2024
Front Matter
Chapter 1 Introduction: the Moment(s) of Death in Early Modern Europe
Part 1 Approaching the Last Moments
Part 2 Ideal Deathbeds
Part 3 Objects and the Moments of Death
Part 4 Violence and Diseases
Back Matter

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