explores the origins and implications of the political marriage metaphor deployed by King James to buttress his growing prerogative and by godly ministers to articulate their principled resistance. Because women served as ideal surrogates for political subjects who merited “reasonable liberty” while accepting monarchical rule, domestic conduct guides such as William Whately’s offered coded discussions of political rights and duties, including a woman’s obligation to obey her conscience. In addition, oppositional uses of the passionate and militant female voice in the Song of Songs championed Christ’s independent jurisdiction over the faithful to the exclusion of earthly kings. Echoing the voice of the wife as political subject in marriage sermons, the desiring voice of the spouse as Church united male and female subjects seeking to be joined with an attentive Head committed to mutuality and recognition of her needs.

If we are to understand the inner articulations of power in the Classic Maya polity, and how they extended outward to interact with others, we must address the familial bonds through which these were realised and reproduced. We need, in short, to examine how ties both within and between Classic Maya polities were established through marriage and their resulting progeny. Superficially narrow in focus, this topic actually engages broad issues of kinship, legitimacy, succession, and power relations – forming a bridge between the preceding chapters that focus on the individual polity and those to come that concentrate on how they engaged with others. Every dynastic group seeks to maintain itself and, wherever possible, enhance its fortunes by manipulating its reproduction. This involves overt planning and negotiation in the expectation of, among other things, forging alliances, generating heirs, and securing resources.