SOURCE: Five Plays about King John, University of Uppsala, 1977, pp. 4-7, 21-27, 60-71, 95-99, 122-130.
In the following excerpts, Mattsson explores Bale's use of the medieval King John to further the cause of the burgeoning Protestant Reformation by dissecting King Johan into such subject areas as royal power, the church, the barons and private morality. Mattsson emphasizes Bale's manipulation of history and his use of the ancient king's story as an analogy to comment on Henry VIII's struggle with the Catholic Church.
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