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Notes -
Doesn't make sense. First off, Cymbeline is a fictional character. The actual kings of the era were declaring wars and causing schisms for the pettiest of reasons.
Secondly, assuming this play really is about the english reformation like you say: It’s obviously stupid to declare war and then agree to the same terms as before. We know it’s stupid, the people then knew it.
The play is just Shakespeare trying to retcon history, 4D chess style, against opponents who would rightly point out that that ship – recatholization- had sailed, and was sunk by storms and the royal navy.
In Shake’s telling, the english were only pretending to be retarded. The pope and the rest of christendom would only respect them more for stacking injury upon insult. As we know, once the bloody point was made, the english were welcomed back into the fold, more admired than before.
History has determin’d that the guy was bullshiting.
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