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Eikon Basilike (Classic Reprint): Or the King's Book
Excerpt from Eikon Basilike: Or the King's Book
Commons. IV. Upon the Insolency of the 'i'umults. V. Upon His Majesties passing the Bill for the Tri. Enniall Parliaments: and after setling this, during the pleasure of the two Houses VI. Upon His Ma jestice retirement from West minster. VII. Upon the Queens departure, and absence out of England VIII. Upon His Majesties Repulse at Hull, and the.
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Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Commons. IV. Upon the Insolency of the 'i'umults. V. Upon His Majesties passing the Bill for the Tri. Enniall Parliaments: and after setling this, during the pleasure of the two Houses VI. Upon His Ma jestice retirement from West minster. VII. Upon the Queens departure, and absence out of England VIII. Upon His Majesties Repulse at Hull, and the.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
335 pages, Paperback
First published January 30, 1649
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 5, 2012
one of the most popular texts written in the period, which should make it required reading for students of the 17th century.
miltonists should also be reading it so that Eikonoklastes is comprehensible.
of course, these are only part of the story, which begins perhaps with The King's Cabinet Opened, through the Eikon Alethine, the Eikon Aklastos, the Eikon Episte, to the finale in Cromwell's Bloody Slaughterhouse Discovered, which wins the best title award for this discursive chain.
miltonists should also be reading it so that Eikonoklastes is comprehensible.
of course, these are only part of the story, which begins perhaps with The King's Cabinet Opened, through the Eikon Alethine, the Eikon Aklastos, the Eikon Episte, to the finale in Cromwell's Bloody Slaughterhouse Discovered, which wins the best title award for this discursive chain.
September 20, 2023
This was a lengthy read and exhaustive too to be very honest. But at the flipside, this is one of the most important academic books that one has to read to understand the fabric of an important period in English History - The civil war and the Puritan Interregnum. To the ones who have read about the English Civil war do know that Charles I was executed by the Parliament led by Oliver Cromwell and the narrative set by the Parliament was widely spread among the public. This is the reason why this particular book is very important. The authorship of Eikon Basilike is debated to this day. A few scholars argue that it was wholly a creation of John Gauden (Gauden himself said this) while few still argue that Gauden might have edited it but the book in particular was written by Charles himself.
Charles in this book admits all of his shortcomings and defends his desicions through rhetoric addressing God. He defends his desicion to call Parliament, signing of Earl of Stratford's death sentence, rejecting Parliament's proposals and many more. He also painfully writes to God why he is innocent and also a victim of the ambitious Parliamentarians. This is where it gets intersting because Charles compares himself with Christ and asks God to forgive his executioners as he states - "they don't know what they are doing." This reverberates Christ in the gospel of Luke.
It was published after Charles' death but it was successful in pushing Charles' narrative and royalist propoganda into the public. Even when I was reading the book, the choice of words was so perfectly executed that I myself started to pity Charles and his condition (this was exactly what he wanted). Though Milton tried his best to counter this narrative through Eikonoklastes, it wasn't successful in it's objective. The way Charles builds up his narrative is interesting to notice because it I found parallels to the character of Satan in Paradise Lost which Milton wrote later. Remember, Miltonic argument about theodicy becomes the base for the later churches to form the theodisic statement as well. I would urge everyone to read this book. This is something that we should look into because it helps us realise how good propoganda pieces do persuade a reader to believe something that is opposite of true.
- Padmanabha Reddy
Charles in this book admits all of his shortcomings and defends his desicions through rhetoric addressing God. He defends his desicion to call Parliament, signing of Earl of Stratford's death sentence, rejecting Parliament's proposals and many more. He also painfully writes to God why he is innocent and also a victim of the ambitious Parliamentarians. This is where it gets intersting because Charles compares himself with Christ and asks God to forgive his executioners as he states - "they don't know what they are doing." This reverberates Christ in the gospel of Luke.
It was published after Charles' death but it was successful in pushing Charles' narrative and royalist propoganda into the public. Even when I was reading the book, the choice of words was so perfectly executed that I myself started to pity Charles and his condition (this was exactly what he wanted). Though Milton tried his best to counter this narrative through Eikonoklastes, it wasn't successful in it's objective. The way Charles builds up his narrative is interesting to notice because it I found parallels to the character of Satan in Paradise Lost which Milton wrote later. Remember, Miltonic argument about theodicy becomes the base for the later churches to form the theodisic statement as well. I would urge everyone to read this book. This is something that we should look into because it helps us realise how good propoganda pieces do persuade a reader to believe something that is opposite of true.
- Padmanabha Reddy
November 8, 2024
There are some very touching and poignant passages in this book, but there is also a lot of indignation and bluster. It really shows a man struggling with a vast array of mixed emotions as he prepares to die. It's definitely an historical read worth taking a gander at when you can.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews