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Royal Fish, Sea Monsters, and the Great Leviathan: Whales in Seventeenth Century England

dc.contributor.authorMartens-Oberwelland, Emily
dc.contributor.copyright-releaseNot Applicable
dc.contributor.degreeMaster of Arts
dc.contributor.departmentDepartment of History
dc.contributor.ethics-approvalNot Applicable
dc.contributor.external-examinern/a
dc.contributor.manuscriptsNot Applicable
dc.contributor.thesis-readerJerry Bannister
dc.contributor.thesis-readerJustin Roberts
dc.contributor.thesis-supervisorKrista Kesselring
dc.date.accessioned2025-04-04T17:30:40Z
dc.date.available2025-04-04T17:30:40Z
dc.date.defence2025-03-21
dc.date.issued2025-04-04
dc.description.abstractThe relationship between humans and whales has been transforming for centuries. This thesis aims to uncover the multi-faceted way in which whales were perceived in seventeenth-century England. The early modern English had varying and sometimes conflicting views of whales, considering them “royal fish,” useful commodities, and preternatural beings. This thesis analyzes the role whales played in legal disputes – particularly in the Crown’s claim to the foreshore, – investigates mariners’ shifting attitudes towards whales during the development of early English whaling, and explores the differing reactions of people ashore to stranded whales. What it reveals is that the tie between humans and whales has always been far more complex and dynamic than a simple predator-prey interaction. This thesis seeks to reinsert whales into our understanding of early modern England, while providing a lens through which we can reevaluate our past and current relationship with these “wonderous” marine mammals.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10222/84927
dc.language.isoen
dc.subjectWhales
dc.subjectEngland
dc.subjectRoyal Fish
dc.subjectWhaling
dc.subjectStranding
dc.subjectCetacean
dc.subjectWreck
dc.subjectWonder
dc.subjectAnimal-Human Relationships
dc.titleRoyal Fish, Sea Monsters, and the Great Leviathan: Whales in Seventeenth Century England

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