Search winerock.com

The following is the abstract for the paper I presented at the March 2009 meeting of the Renaissance Society of America in Los Angeles. The panel was entitled "Dance, Religion, and Politics in in the Renaissance," and also featured papers by Katherine Tucker McGinnis and Lynn Matluck Brooks.

Abstract:
In 1619, Nicholas Millichap caused a local scandal by using the communion cloth from the Abdon parish church as the flag in a Whitsun morris dance. Church court witness statements reveal that, prior to the performance, Millichap had sought official permission to borrow the communion cloth, but the authorities were reluctant to approve or deny the request. Nationwide developments provide a possible explanation. James I had recently issued the Book of Sports explicitly permitting dancing on Sundays and holy days. At the same time, the King was advocating the revival of ritual objects in English worship. Was a Whitsun morris dance sanctified or simply sanctioned? Was the communion cloth more than just a beautiful carpet? In early seventeenth-century England, these questions did not have clear answers. The communion cloth incident illuminates the havoc and confusion that could result from local attempts to interpret the changing attitudes of the State.

For more of my papers please return to: Papers, Essays, and Lectures.