{"id":7175,"date":"2025-08-22T17:13:58","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T17:13:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/?p=7175"},"modified":"2025-08-22T17:16:56","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T17:16:56","slug":"word-of-the-day-panegyric-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/2025\/08\/22\/word-of-the-day-panegyric-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Word of the Day: Panegyric"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today\u2019s word of the day, courtesy of Words Coach (https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/dictionary<\/a>), is panegyric.<\/em> Pronounced either \/ \u02ccp\u00e6n \u026a\u02c8d\u0292\u026ar \u026ak \/ or \/ \u02ccp\u00e6n \u026a \u02c8d\u0292a\u026a r\u026ak \/ (I have heard the second far more than the first), panegyric is a noun that means \u201ca lofty oration or writing in praise of a person or thing; eulogy\u201d or \u201cformal or elaborate praise\u201d (https:\/\/www.dictionary.com\/browse\/panegyric<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Samuel Johnson, in his 1755 Dictionary, spells the word with a k<\/em> at the end and defines it as \u201cAn elogy; an encomiastick piece\u201d (https:\/\/johnsonsdictionaryonline.com\/views\/search.php?term=panegyric<\/a>). Merriam-Webster defines it as \u201ca eulogistic oration or writing,\u201d \u201calso : formal or elaborate praise\u201d (https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/panegyric<\/a>). M-W then explains, \u201cOn certain fixed dates throughout the year, the ancient Greeks would come together for religious meetings. Such gatherings could range from hometown affairs to great national assemblies, but large or small, the meeting was called a pan\u0113gyris<\/em>. That name comes from pan<\/em>, meaning \u2018all,\u2019 and agyris<\/em>, meaning \u2018assembly.\u2019 At those assemblies, speakers provided the main entertainment, and they delivered glowing orations extolling the praises of present civic leaders and reliving the past glories of Greek cities. To the Greeks, those laudatory speeches were pan\u0113gyrikos<\/em>, which means \u2018of or for a pan\u0113gyris<\/em>.\u2019 Latin speakers ultimately transformed pan\u0113gyrikos<\/em> into the noun panegyricus<\/em>, and English speakers adapted that Latin term to form panegyric<\/em>\u201d (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panegyric entered the English language \u201cc. 1600, from French pan\u00e9gyrique<\/em> (1510s), from Latin panegyricus<\/em> \u2018public eulogy,\u2019 originally an adjective, \u2018for a public festival,\u2019 from Greek pan\u0113gyrikos (logos)<\/em> \u2018(a speech) given in or addressed to a public assembly,\u2019 from pan\u0113gyris<\/em> \u2018public assembly (especially in honor of a god),\u2019 from pan-<\/em> \u2018all\u2019 (see pan-<\/strong><\/a>) + agyris<\/em> \u2018place of assembly,\u2019 Aeolic form of agora<\/em> (see agora<\/strong><\/a>)\u201d (https:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/search?q=panegyric<\/a>). The agyris comes from the Proto-IndoEuropean *ger- \u201croot meaning \u2018to gather.\u2019 It might form all or part of: aggregate<\/strong><\/a>; aggregation<\/strong><\/a>; agora<\/strong><\/a>; agoraphobia<\/strong><\/a>; allegory<\/strong><\/a>; category<\/strong><\/a>; congregate<\/strong><\/a>; cram<\/strong><\/a>; egregious<\/strong><\/a>; gregarious<\/strong><\/a>; panegyric<\/em><\/strong><\/a>; paregoric<\/strong><\/a>; segregate<\/strong><\/a> (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this date in 1485, \u201cHenry Tudor’s forces defeat English King Richard III during the last battle in the Wars of the Roses. Richard is killed, becoming the last English monarch to die in battle\u201d (https:\/\/www.onthisday.com\/events\/august\/22<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wars of the Roses had a lot of backstory. We could go all the way back to 1066 because the relationship between England and France becomes intertwined at that point, but instead we\u2019ll start with the 100 Years\u2019 War and Edward III, part of the Plantagenet dynasty. Edward had 13 children. The oldest was Edward, the Black Prince, so-called in part because he died before his father. Edward also initiated that 100 Years\u2019 War with France, a war over territory and who was the rightful king of France. Edward\u2019s sons, other than the Black Prince, included John of Gaunt, who married Blanche of Lancaster and had multiple children, including Henry Bolingbroke, and Edmund of York, who founded the Yorkist side of the Plantagenet dynasty. When Edward III died, just one year after his son the Black Prince, his grandson was crowned king though just 10 years old. Richard II\u2019s reign began under the control of his uncles, but as soon as he reached maturity, he broke away from their control. The unhappiness created by that led to Richard\u2019s being usurped by Henry Bolingbroke, who became Henry IV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notice that Henry IV is part of the Lancastrian side of the Plantagenet dynasty. Henry IV\u2019s reign was troubled by civil unrest. Shakespeare has an interesting take on why things were so difficult for Henry. Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, was instrumental in getting Bolingbroke the throne. In Act 5 of Richard II<\/em>, the deposed King Richard says to Northumberland,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Northumberland, thou ladder wherewithal
The mounting Bolingbroke ascends my throne,
The time shall not be many hours of age
More than it is ere foul sin, gathering head,
Shall break into corruption. Thou shalt think,
Though he divide the realm and give thee half,
It is too little, helping him to all.
He shall think that thou, which knowest the way
To plant unrightful kings, wilt know again,
Being ne\u2019er so little urged another way,
To pluck him headlong from the usurped throne.
The love of wicked men converts to fear,
That fear to hate, and hate turns one or both
To worthy danger and deserv\u00e8d death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And of course that is exactly what happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henry V followed Henry IV, and he became one of the most celebrated kings in English history, though only Alfred in English history is called \u201cthe Great.\u201d Henry won the Battle of Agincourt, also made famous by a Shakespeare play. In fact, Shakespeare\u2019s two tetralogies, beginning with Richard II and going through Richard III, cover this entire period. But Henry V, like Edward the Black Prince, died relatively young (live by the sword, die by the sword, and all that, except that it was from disease), so his son became king at an even younger age than Richard III. Henry was less the one year old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHis early reign, when England was ruled by a regency government<\/a>, saw the pinnacle of English power in France<\/a>. However, setbacks followed once he assumed full control in 1437. The young king faced military reversals in France, as well as political and financial crises in England, where divisions among the nobility<\/a> in his government began to widen. His reign saw the near total loss of English lands in France<\/a>\u201d (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Henry_VI_of_England<\/a>). \u201cHenry suffered a mental breakdown in 1453, triggering a power struggle between the royal family<\/a>: Richard, 3rd Duke of York<\/a>, Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset<\/a>, and Queen Margaret. Civil war broke out in 1455\u201d (ibid.). Henry VI was deposed in 1461 by Edward IV, one of the sons of Richard of York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1470, Henry was returned to the throne by Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, but he stayed on the throne for only a year. Edward IV took the throne again in 1471, and stayed on it until his death in 1483. His son Edward briefly became Edward V, but Richard of York, who was made protector of the 13-year-old king, put Edward and his 10-year-old brother Richard into the Tower of London, supposedly for their own protection, and the boys were never seen again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henry Tudor was a great-great-grandson of John of Gaunt, whose son Henry Bolingbroke sort of started this whole mess way back in 1399. His somewhat dubious claim to the throne came through his mother\u2019s side of the family; \u201cLady Margaret Beaufort was the daughter and sole heiress of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset (1404\u20131444), (a legitimised grandson of John of Gaunt and Gaunt’s mistress Katherine Swynford)\u201d (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lady_Margaret_Beaufort<\/a>). Despite the dubiousness of the claim, Henry brought an army to England and defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. He became Henry VII, and established the Tudor dynasty, which would last only until 1603, when it would die with the death of Elizabeth I.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shakespeare was writing those history plays during the reign of Elizabeth I, and he took as his source material writings that were also created at that time. As a result, Shakespeare and the others helped to create what is now called the Tudor myth, the idea that Henry VII not only had a legitimate claim to the throne but that God supported that claim. As a result, Henry Tudor is held up as a hero, and Richard III is the villain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s actually a fair amount of controversy over that last bit. There is actually a Richard III Society which tries to maintain that Richard was actually a good king much disparaged by others. It used to be said that history is written by the winners, so it may be very hard to figure out how much of the Tudor myth is a lie. But given the difficulties of explaining the Princes in the Tower, it is like that Richard III will be receiving no panegyrics anytime soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s image is from a 2022 Shakespeare in the Park production of Richard III<\/em>, directed by Robert O\u2019Hara. For the title role, he cast Danai Gurira, best known for her roles in The Walking Dead<\/em> and The Black Panther<\/em> series (https:\/\/www.salon.com\/2023\/05\/18\/danai-gurira-richard-iii-pbs\/<\/a>). I\u2019m sure she did a fine job, but I\u2019m also pretty sure Richard III did not look like her.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s word of the day, courtesy of Words Coach (https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/dictionary), is panegyric. Pronounced either \/ \u02ccp\u00e6n \u026a\u02c8d\u0292\u026ar \u026ak \/ or \/ \u02ccp\u00e6n \u026a \u02c8d\u0292a\u026a r\u026ak \/ (I have heard the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,52],"tags":[238,395,284,903],"class_list":["post-7175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editors","category-word-of-the-day","tag-dictionary","tag-etymology","tag-linguistics","tag-richard-iii","clearfix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7175"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7177,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7175\/revisions\/7177"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}