Westminster festivals
| Festivals | |
|---|---|
| Locality | Westminster |
| Vicinity | Central London, on the north bank of the Thames |
| Coordinate | 51.4995, -0.1333 |
| Adm. div. | Middlesex, now Greater London |
| Began | 18 Jan. 1510 |
| Ended | 18 Jan. 1510 |
| Events | Henry VIII and eleven courtiers entered the queen's chamber dressed as Robin Hood and his men, with bows and arrows, swords and bucklers; performed dances and made pastimes. |
By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2017-05-19. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2021-01-07.
On 18 January, 1510,[1] Henry VIII, the earls of Essex and Wiltshire and other noblemen burst into the queen's chamber, dressed as Robin Hood and his men and brandishing or carrying bows and arrows as well as swords and bucklers to complete the outfit. They entertained the ladies with dances and unspecified 'pastime', after which they left.
Allusions
1587 - Holinshed, Raphael - Chronicles (2)
[...] The king soone after came to Westminster, and there kept his Shrouetide with great bankettings, dansings, and other iollie pastimes.
And on a time the king in person, accompanied with the earles of Essex, Wiltshire and other noble men, to the number of twelue, came suddenlie in a morning into the queenes chamber, all apparelled in short coates of Kentish Kendall, with hoodes on their heads & hosen of the same, euerie one of them his bow and arrowes, and a sword and a buckler, like outlawes, or Robin Hoods men. Whereat the queene, the ladies, and all other there were abashed, as well for the strange sight, as also for their sudden comming, and after certeine danses and pastime made, they departed. On Shrouesundaie the same yeare, the king prepared a goodlie banket in the parlement chamber at Westminster, for all the ambassadors, which then were here out of diuerse realmes and countries. [...][2]
Lists and gazetteers
- Dobson, R. B., ed.; Taylor, J., ed. Rymes of Robyn Hood: an Introduction to the English Outlaw (London, 1976), p. 315.
- Lancashire, Ian, compil. Dramatic Texts and Records of Britain: a Chronological Topography to 1558 (Cambridge, 1984), No. 977.
- Sussex, Lucy, compil. 'References to Robin Hood up to 1600', in: Knight, Stephen. Robin Hood: A Complete Study of the English Outlaw (Oxford, UK; Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 1994), pp. 262-88, p. 269.
- Not included in Wiles, David. The Early Plays of Robin Hood (Cambridge, 1981), Appendix I.
Background
Notes
- ↑ Lancashire, Ian, compil. Dramatic Texts and Records of Britain: a Chronological Topography to 1558 (Cambridge, 1984), No. 977.
- ↑ Holinshed, Raphael; [Wolfe, Reyner]; [Fleming, Abraham]; [Thynne, Francis]; [Stow, John]. The first and second volumes of Chronicles, comprising 1 The description and historie of England, 2 The description and historie of Ireland, 3 The description and historie of Scotland: first collected and published by Raphaell Holinshed, William Harrison, and others: now newlie augmented and continued (with manifold matters of singular note and worthie memorie) to the yeare 1586. by Iohn Hooker aliàs Vowell Gent. and others. With conuenient tables at the end of these volumes ([London], [1587]), vol. VI, p. 805.