Fortune Laughs and Proudly Hovers: Fortune and Providence in the Tudor Tradition

Author: Ward, Allyna E.¹

Source: The Yearbook of English Studies, Volume 39, Numbers 1-2, 1 july 2009 , pp. 39-57(19)

Publisher: Modern Humanities Research Association

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Abstract:

This article examines the use of the word Fortune and the idea of Divine Providence in William Baldwin's A Treatise of Moral Philosophy of 1547 and A Mirror for Magistrates of 1559. Baldwin is unable to reconcile the two themes and express a single coherent theological perspective for thinking about Fortune and Divine Providence, and this tension, especially in the Mirror, bears witness to the complexities and anxieties of the debates concerning reformed religious dogma. The essay looks first at how Fortune is presented in the Edwardian Treatise of Moral Philosophy and then at Baldwin's application of the word `Fortune' in two histories in A Mirror for Magistrates that explore this theme of Divine Providence in detail - those of Jack Cade and Henry VI.

Keywords: Fortune; Divine Providence; William Baldwin; A Treatise of Moral Philosophy; A Mirror for Magistrates; theological perspective; tension; complexities; anxieties; reformed religious dogma; Jack Cade; Henry VI