Eikon Basilike

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Eikon Basilike

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Eikon Basilike [Gr.,=royal image], subtitled "the Portraiture of His Sacred Majesty in His Solitudes and Sufferings," a work published soon after the execution of Charles I of England in 1649. It purports to be the king's spiritual autobiography. Written in simple, direct, and moving language, it ran into many editions and was translated into several languages. After the Restoration, John Gauden claimed authorship of the book, and this claim is still a subject of scholarly controversy. Because of the favorable image it created of the king, John Milton was assigned by the regicides to reply to it, which he did in his Eikonoklastes (1649). The name is also spelled Icon Basilike and Ikon Basilike.

Bibliography: See edition by P. A. Knachel (1966); bibliography by F. F. Madan (1950).

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Eikon Basilike

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church | 2000 | | © The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church 2000, originally published by Oxford University Press 2000. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Eikon Basilike, ‘The Portraiture of His Sacred Majesty in His Solitudes and Sufferings’. A royalist publication issued just before the death of Charles I and purporting to be his work.

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E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Eikon Basilike." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 22 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Eikon Basilike." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (December 22, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-EikonBasilike.html

E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Eikon Basilike." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Retrieved December 22, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-EikonBasilike.html

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Eikon basilike

A Dictionary of British History | 2004 | | © A Dictionary of British History 2004, originally published by Oxford University Press 2004. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Eikon basilike or King's Book was one of the most successful books ever published and established Charles I's reputation as a martyr. It came out within hours of the king's execution in January 1649 and was a strange mixture of prayer and political commentary. Perhaps the greatest impact was made by a woodcut as frontispiece showing Charles at his devotions.

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JOHN CANNON. "Eikon basilike." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 22 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN CANNON. "Eikon basilike." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (December 22, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-Eikonbasilike.html

JOHN CANNON. "Eikon basilike." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Retrieved December 22, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-Eikonbasilike.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

Free Article The Royal Image: Representations of Charles I.(Review)(Brief Article)
Magazine article from: Contemporary Review; 11/1/1999

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Related articles from newspapers, magazines, and more

Resurrecting Absence: Susan Howe's A Bibliography of the King's Book Or, Eikon Basilike and the Historically Unspoken
Magazine article from: Cultural Studies Review; 3/1/2008; ; 700+ words ; ...Emily Dickinson1 The author of the Eikon Basilike believed that it was 'far better...opinions contained within the Eikon Basilike to be decidedly unfashionable...published Broadview edition of the Eikon Basilike. This new text demonstrates that...
Spiritual reading in Milton's Eikonoklastes.(Critical Essay)
Magazine article from: Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900; 1/1/2005; ; 700+ words ; ...s supporters and Satan's. Eikon Basilike, which represented the late King...his reading and refutation of Eikon Basilike, Milton works to prove his argument...that it was a failure because Eikon Basilike enjoyed propagandistic success...
Speaking for the Dead: King Charles, Anna Weamys, and the Commemorations of Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia.
Magazine article from: Criticism; 3/22/2000; ; 700+ words ; ...including the Pamela prayer in the Eikon Basilike (1649) was almost certain to...silence: the suggestion in the Eikon Basilike that he broke that silence to...prayer is not inserted into the Eikon Basilike primarily to provide an account...
Commemorating Charles I - king and martyr?
Magazine article from: History Today; 2/1/1995; ; 700+ words ; ...s reign was published. The book, entitled Eikon Basilike: The Portraiture of his Sacred Majesty in...excellent discourses and soliloquies by the name of Eikon Basilike'. By this means, the Eikon openly became the shibboleth of the new royalist...
The Rhetoric of Politics in the English Revolution: 1642-1660.
Magazine article from: Renaissance Quarterly; 9/22/1994; ; 700+ words ; ...split irreparable. Another useful insight concerns Eikon Basilike, the tract which united anti-Commonwealth opinion...if she had emphasized John Gauden's authorship of Eikon Basilike - now generally accepted, though he may have incorporated...
The Political Thought of the Dutch Revolt: 1555-1590.
Magazine article from: Renaissance Quarterly; 9/22/1994; ; 700+ words ; ...split irreparable. Another useful insight concerns Eikon Basilike, the tract which united anti-Commonwealth opinion...if she had emphasized John Gauden's authorship of Eikon Basilike - now generally accepted, though he may have incorporated...
Rare volumes among thousands of sale books
Newspaper article from: The Scotsman; 5/7/2002; ; 561 words ; ...still in remarkably good condition, of The Works of King Charles the Martyr, dating from 1662. Usually known as the Eikon Basilike (the Royal image), this great volume contains the prayers and meditations of Charles I during his imprisonment...
Thomas P. Anderson. Performing Early Modern Trauma from Shakespeare to Milton.(Book review)
Magazine article from: Comparative Drama; 9/22/2006; ; 700+ words ; ...1649 execution of Charles I in the past, to prevent the trauma from impinging on the present. Yet texts such as Eikon Basilike, a sentimental portrait of Charles ostensibly written by the king himself before his death, refused to let this...
Milton and the muse-haters: 'Ad patrem,' 'L'Allegro/Il Penseroso,' and the ambivalences of poetry. (poet John Milton)
Magazine article from: Criticism; 1/1/1995; ; 700+ words ; ...mind." - Robert Graves, Wife to Mr. Milton(1) In the sixth chapter of his line-by-line refutation of the Eikon Basilike, Milton dismisses the rationale for Charles's retirement from Westminster with an argument that is peculiar, to...
Atramentous history.(Australian history)
Magazine article from: History Australia; 12/1/2006; ; 700+ words ; ...Literary contestation of this sort had emerged in the middle of the seventeenth century with the publication of the Eikon Basilike of King Charles I, on 31 January 1649, the day after his execution. In London it ran to thirty-five editions...

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