Richard McCoy is professor of English at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and at Queens College. He is the author of The Rites of Knighthood: The Literature and Politics of Elizabethan Chivalry, and Sir Philip Sidney: Rebellion in Arcadia.

• Preface Acknowledgments List of Illustrations 1. Real Presence to Royal Presence 2. Sacred Space: John Skelton and Westminster's Royal Sepulcher 3. Rites of Memory: Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Compromise 4. Idolizing Kings: John Milton and Stuart Rule 5. Sacramental to Sentimental: Andrew Marvell and the Restoration Notes Index

Offers an insightful synthesis of both historical and literary views on the subject of sacred kingship in English thought across nearly four centuries in one rather brief book. Journal of Church & State A welcome addition to any scholar of the seventeenth century... well-written and informative. 17th Century News McCoy proposes a characteristically modern compensation for the loss of both real and royal presence...Alterations of State synthesizes two important approaches to the decline of 'traditional' religion and the eventual desacralizing of sovereignty... [and] manages to distill a tremendously broad range of materials into a concise history of sacred kingship. -- Jennifer Waldron Journal of Religion and Society Alterations of State is well-written and researched... McCoy weaves the history and literature into a whole, thus making this text a valuable tool for the scholar of early modern studies. The work is also highly accessible, as he thoroughly explains concepts and characters, making it a good choice for upper-level and graduate students. -- Laura Musselwhite Renaissance Quarterly Add Richard McCoy's Alterations of State: Sacred Kingship in the English Reformation to the list of compelling books that show how early modern kingship was symbolically important not just at court. -- Glen Bowman Sixteenth Century Journal

Richard McCoy is professor of English at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and at Queens College. He is the author of The Rites of Knighthood: The Literature and Politics of Elizabethan Chivalry, and Sir Philip Sidney: Rebellion in Arcadia.

• Preface Acknowledgments List of Illustrations 1. Real Presence to Royal Presence 2. Sacred Space: John Skelton and Westminster's Royal Sepulcher 3. Rites of Memory: Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Compromise 4. Idolizing Kings: John Milton and Stuart Rule 5. Sacramental to Sentimental: Andrew Marvell and the Restoration Notes Index

Offers an insightful synthesis of both historical and literary views on the subject of sacred kingship in English thought across nearly four centuries in one rather brief book. Journal of Church & State A welcome addition to any scholar of the seventeenth century... well-written and informative. 17th Century News McCoy proposes a characteristically modern compensation for the loss of both real and royal presence...Alterations of State synthesizes two important approaches to the decline of 'traditional' religion and the eventual desacralizing of sovereignty... [and] manages to distill a tremendously broad range of materials into a concise history of sacred kingship. -- Jennifer Waldron Journal of Religion and Society Alterations of State is well-written and researched... McCoy weaves the history and literature into a whole, thus making this text a valuable tool for the scholar of early modern studies. The work is also highly accessible, as he thoroughly explains concepts and characters, making it a good choice for upper-level and graduate students. -- Laura Musselwhite Renaissance Quarterly Add Richard McCoy's Alterations of State: Sacred Kingship in the English Reformation to the list of compelling books that show how early modern kingship was symbolically important not just at court. -- Glen Bowman Sixteenth Century Journal

Richard McCoy is professor of English at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and at Queens College. He is the author of The Rites of Knighthood: The Literature and Politics of Elizabethan Chivalry, and Sir Philip Sidney: Rebellion in Arcadia.

• Preface Acknowledgments List of Illustrations 1. Real Presence to Royal Presence 2. Sacred Space: John Skelton and Westminster's Royal Sepulcher 3. Rites of Memory: Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Compromise 4. Idolizing Kings: John Milton and Stuart Rule 5. Sacramental to Sentimental: Andrew Marvell and the Restoration Notes Index

Offers an insightful synthesis of both historical and literary views on the subject of sacred kingship in English thought across nearly four centuries in one rather brief book. Journal of Church & State A welcome addition to any scholar of the seventeenth century... well-written and informative. 17th Century News McCoy proposes a characteristically modern compensation for the loss of both real and royal presence...Alterations of State synthesizes two important approaches to the decline of 'traditional' religion and the eventual desacralizing of sovereignty... [and] manages to distill a tremendously broad range of materials into a concise history of sacred kingship. -- Jennifer Waldron Journal of Religion and Society Alterations of State is well-written and researched... McCoy weaves the history and literature into a whole, thus making this text a valuable tool for the scholar of early modern studies. The work is also highly accessible, as he thoroughly explains concepts and characters, making it a good choice for upper-level and graduate students. -- Laura Musselwhite Renaissance Quarterly Add Richard McCoy's Alterations of State: Sacred Kingship in the English Reformation to the list of compelling books that show how early modern kingship was symbolically important not just at court. -- Glen Bowman Sixteenth Century Journal