Jacobean Civic Pageants 9781474467933

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JACOBEAN CIVIC PAGEANTS

Ryburn Renaissance Texts and Studies produced in association with Northern Renaissance Seminar Text Group Series Editor Richard Dutton (Lancaster University) Northern Renaissance Seminar Editorial Advisers Jonathan Bate (The University of Liverpool) Kate Chedgzoy (University ofWarwick) Elspeth Graham (LiverpoolJohn Moores University) Marion Wynne-Davies (The University of Dundee) Editorial Adviser for this volume Jonathan Bate

RYBURN RENAISSANCE TEXTS AND STUDIES

JACOBEAN CIVIC PAGEANTS Edited by Richard Dutton

RYBURN PUBLISHING KEELE UNIVERSITY PRESS

First published in 1995 by Ryburn Publishing an

imprint of Keele University Press

Keele University, Staffordshire, England This edition published by Edinburgh University Press Ltd

22 George Square. Edinburgh

!J;.J the editors and EUP

Transferred to digital print 2013 All rights reserved Composed by Keele University Press

Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY

ISBN 978 1 85331 107 9

Contents

General Introduction

7

Bibliography

15

Introduction to The Magnificent Entertainment

19

The Magnificent Entertainment by Thomas Dekker and Ben Jonson

27

Introduction to The Triumphs of Reunited Britannia

117

The Triumphs ofReunited Britannia by Anthony Munday

119

Introduction to The Triumphs of Truth

137

The Triumphs of Truth by Thomas Middleton

141

Introduction to Monuments of Honour

169

Monuments ofHonour by John Webster

173

General Introduction

Despite some recent scholarly interest, civic pageantry remains a neglected area of Stuart drama, especially in the classroom. The reasons for this are obvious enough: it was a drama both of and for its time, designed to celebrate particular events and persons in an age when the outward manifestation of authority was still critically important. Unlike the court masque, it never proved amenable to development at the hands of a stagedesigner of genius like Inigo Jones, and so left no real legacy in the history of theatre; by its very nature, it was tied to street-performance, usually with a succession ofbrief, relatively static tableaux performed along a processionroute, amidst large crowds, and this offered the dramatists little scope to develop those qualities in their presentations which might hope to outlive their occasions - depth and development of character, sophisticated dialogue, significant plot, unity of action, rapport with an audience. Although there was always fierce competition for the commissions to write these pageants, the form never attracted an author who was strongly convinced of its inherent value, as Jonson was of the masque's. Nevertheless, to ignore the civic pageants of the Tudor and Stuart period is to ignore the one form of drama which we know must have been familiar to all the citizens of London, and thus an important key to our understanding of those times and of the place of dramatic spectacle in early modem negotiations of national, civic and personal identity. The sheer popularity of the Lord Mayors' Shows was cynically attested, as a number of writers have observed, by King James's politic decision to have Sir Walter Ralegh executed on the day of the show in 1618; Ralegh had become an embarrassment inJames's relations with Spain, and so had acquired a degree of popular support. But the great crowds for the street theatre in London diminished those for the final act of the private tragedy being acted out in Westminster, thereby averting a major incident. But the new historicism of recent years has taught us also to consider the impact of theatre in more subtle and insidious forms, as a principal medium within which early modem society negotiated its power relations. And it is

7

Bibliography

Texts

For the most part, there are no modern texts ofjacobean civic entertainments which are both convenient and satisfactory; the only attempt that was ever made to collect such works was by John Nichols, The Prog;resses, Processions, and Mag;nijicent Festivities of King James the First, 4 vols. (London, 1828), which is still useful for that reason and for some of the historical information that he collated. He also produced a parallel three volumes for the Elizabethan period. R. T. D. Sayle collected together Lord Mayors' Pageants of the Merchant Taylors'Compan;y in the 15th, 16th and 17th Centuries (London, 19.'31 ), including the Munday and Webster pageants of this volume. For the rest, there have usually been modem editions - if at all - only in the Collected Works of the individual authors. Dekker's part in The Mag;nijicent Entertainment is given in The Dramatic Works of Thomas Dekker, ed. Fredson Bowers (Cambridge, 1955), II. (The Introductions, Notes and Commentaries to that edition are separate and are by Cyrus Hoy (Cambridge, 1980). Volume II includes comments on The Magnificent Entertainment.)Jonson's part in that work is in Ben Jonson, ed. C. H. Herford, P. and E. Simpson, 11 vols. (Oxford, 19251952), VII (Notes in Vol.X). The Triumphs of Truth is in The Works of Thomas Middleton, ed. A. H. Bullen (London, 1886), VII (and will be in the forthcoming Oxford Middleton, ed. Gary Taylor), and Monuments of Honour is in The Complete Works of John Webster, ed. F. L. Lucas (London, 1927), III. There has never been a collected edition ofMunday's works, but David M. Bergeron produced a scholarly edition of Pageants and Entertainments by Anthony Munday, including The Triumphs of Reunited Britannia (New York, 1985). Criticism and Backg;round

The modem appreciation of Elizabethan and early Stuart civic pageantry essentially begins with David M. Bergeron's English Civic Pageantry,

1558-1642 (London, 1971 ), which subsumes a string of earlier, groundbreaking articles and for the first time invests the whole subject with the seriousness it deserves; his focus is largely on the development of ritualparticularly that associated with the inauguration of the Lord Mayors of London - as a dramatic form. Professor Bergeron has returned repeatedly to the subject since then, with editions of the pageants of both Munday and Heywood (New York, 1985 and 1986 respectively), and numerous articles which all carry his unique authority. Recent examples include 'The Bible in English Renaissance Civic Pageants', Comparative Drama 20 (1986), 160-70; 'Representation in Renaissance English Civic Pageants', Theatre Journal40 (1988), 319-31; and 'Pageants, Politics, and Patrons', Medieval and Renaissance Drama in England 6 (1993), 139-52. EngLish Civic Pageantry is complemented by Gordon Kipling, 'Triumphal Drama: Form in English Civic Pageantry', Renaissance Drama, NS 8 {1977), 37-56, which stresses the continuity between medieval and Renaissance civic pageantry and the triumphal emphasis of much of this street theatre. M. Berlin, 'Civic Ceremony in Early Modem London', Urban History Yearbook ( 1986), 15-27, however, argues for significant differences between medieval and Tudor f Stuart ritual forms, stressing the secularization that went with 'the celebration of the office of Lord Mayor' and suggesting that there was a growing emphasis on 'the privatized values of civic honour and pecuniary worth', to the relative neglect of themes of social integration. The political dimension of the city pageants was centrally addressed for the first time in Muriel Bradbrook, 'The Politics of Pageantry', in Shakespeare in his Context: The Constellated Globe, Collected Papers of Muriel Bradbrook, IV (Brighton, 1989), 95-109, though Margot Heinemann located Middleton's pageants in particular in a different tradition of Puritan/ oppositional drama (Puritanism and Theatre: Thomas Middleton and Opposition Drama under the Early Stuarts (Cambridge, 1980)), and the studies cited below by Leinwand and Lobanov-Rostovsky, as well as Bergeron's 'Pageants, Politics, and Patrons', all examine different facets of this question. Several studies examine the relationship between civic pageantry and the City of London, the site of the great majority of it; for example, S. Wells, 'Jacobean City Comedy and the Ideology of the City', English Literary History 48 (1981), 37-60, and Gail K. Paster, 'The Idea of London in Masque and Pageant', in Pageantry in the Shakespearean Theatre, ed. David Bergeron (Athens, Georgia, 1985), pp. 48-64. James Knowles relates the London pageantry 'to the wider context of civic rhetoric and urban consciousness', attempting to show how civic ceremony 'seeks to embody reconciliation and inculcate order, not simply in its explicit rhetoric, but in its very form, especially the processional element, which

16

actually manifested the whole, social body and constitution of the City for its citizens': see his 'The Spectacle of the Realm: Civic Consciousness, Rhetoric and Ritual in Early Modem London', in Theatre and Govemment under the Early Stuarts, ed.J. R. Mulryne and M. Shewring (Cambridge, 1993), pp. 157-89. Theodore B. Leinwand, 'London Triumphing: The Jacobean Lord Mayor's Show', Clio 11 (1982), 137-53, and Sergei Lobanov-Rostovsky, 'The Triumphs of Golde: Economic Authority in the Jacobean Lord Mayor's Show', ELH 60 (1993), 879-98, both follow David Bergeron's lead (in English Civic Pageantry, 1.558-1642) in recognizing the innovative formal unity and dramatic vitality in Dekker's TroiaNova Triumphans (1612) and Middleton's The Triumphs of Truth, but focus particularly on how these works reflect more generally the interests and values of the merchant elite of the Livery Companies which commissioned them. But while Leinwand sees these shows as broadly representative of their patrons' self-interest, Lobanov-Rostovsky argues that 'Dekker and Middleton introduced a tension between matter and manner, language and literary style, that distracted from the public affirmation of economic and political authority desired by the merchant elite' (p. 892), suggesting that this was why their innovations were not pursued in later pageants, including those by Dekker and Middleton themselves. As these items demonstrate, the most informed current criticism of Jacobean pageantry is being written against a background of debate about the growth of London itself, the pressures to which this gave rise, the measures adopted by the authorities to contain them, and the relationship of all this to popular culture. That the City authorities and those of the crown did not always see eye-to-eye on these matters is an issue in itself. Among useful contributions to this debate are: S. Rappaport, 'Social Structure and Mobility in Sixteenth Century London' (in two parts: Part 1,London]oumal9 (1983), 107-35; Part2,London]ournal10 (1984), 107-34); Valerie Pearl, 'Change and Stability in Seventeenth Century London', London Joumal 5 (1979), 3-33, and 'Social Policy in Early Modem London', in H. Lloyd-Jones, V. Pearl and B. Worden (eds ), History and Imagination: Essa_-vs in Honour ofH. R. Trevor-Roper (London, 1981 ), pp. 115-31; E.Jones, 'London in the Seventeenth Century: An Ecological Approach', London Joumal 6 (1980) 121-33; K. ·Lindley, 'Riot Prevention and Control in Early Stuart London', Transactions ofthe Royal Historical Society 33 (1983), 109-26; Anne Barton, 'London Comedy and the Ethos of the City',London Joumal4 (1978), 150-80; R. Ashton, 'Popular Entertainment and Social Control in Later Elizabethan and Stuart London', London Joumal 9 (1983), 3-19; P. Burke, 'Popular Culture in Seventeenth-Century London', in B. Reay (ed. ), Popular Culture in Seventeenth-Century England (Beckenham, 1985), pp. 31-58. Two

17

useful, more widely focused collections are: A. L. Beier and R. Findlay (eds ), London 1500-1700: The Making ofthe Metropolis (London, 1986); and A. Fletcher andJ. Stevenson (eds ), Order and Disorder in Early Modern England (Cambridge, 1985). George Unwin's The Gilds and Companies of London (London 1903; reprinted 1963) remains indispensable as a guide to the traditions and mores of the Livery Companies. Pageantry in the Shakespearean Theatre, edited by David Bergeron and cited above, is - in the main - less about civic pageants themselves than about their influence on, and relationship to, the commercial drama and the court masques of the period - pageantry in a wider sense. Also in this vein, see C. E. McGee, '2 Henry IV: The Last Tudor: Royal Entry', inj. C. Gray (ed.),Mirror up to Shakespeare: Essays in Honour of G. B. Hibbard (Toronto, 1984), pp. 149-58; Frances D. Rhome, 'From the Street to the Stage: Pageantry in the History Plays', The Upstart Crow 5 (1984), 64-74; Mary E. Hazard, '"Order Gave Each Thing View": "Shows, Pageants and Sights of Honour" in King Henry VIII', Word and Image 3 (1987), 9 5-1 03; and Martin Randall, 'Elizabethan Civic Pageantry in Henry VI', University ofToronto Quarterly 60 (1990-91), 244-64. S. Schoenbaum (ed.), Renaissance Drama I: Essays PrincipaUy on Masques and Entertainments (Evanston, 1968), also contains a number of articles on jacobean civic pageantry. Items relating to the specific pageants included in this volume, or their authors, are discussed in the individual introductions.

Introduction to

The Magnificent Entertainment

Queen Elizabeth died in the early hours of 24 March 1603. Under the guiding hand of Sir Robert Cecil, KingJames VI of Scotland (by no means the only possible successor) was proclaimed King of England at Whitehall later that morning and in the City of London that afternoon. There was general rejoicing at the prospect of a male, Protestant monarch who already had sufficient children to ensure the succession. The City of London immediately set about preparing elaborate entertainments for the forthcoming coronation, which was set for 25 July (StJames's Day). But then disaster struck; the plague sprang up in London in a particularly virulent form - eventually killing over 30,000 people. After some hesitation, the coronation went ahead as planned, but omitting 'all show of state and pomp', including theatricals, in the hope of avoiding the contagion. Preparations for the pageants went on for a month longer, but were then suspended until the plague relented. The following year James decided to ride ceremonially through his new capital before opening Parliament; the date set for this was 15 March. Six weeks beforehand, work started afresh on the theatrical entertainments; the long delay had given the organizing committee plenty of time to get things right - and possibly also to change their minds about commissions for writing the entertainments. When an early coronation was expected, Thomas Dekker (1570?-1632) had set about writing a first device, to be performed at Bishopsgate, on the themes of St George and St Andrew, patron saints of England and Scotland. For some reason, this was never performed. When the ceremonial entry finally took place, the first entertainment was at Fenchurch and was written by BenJonson (1572-1637); to Jonson was also entrusted the final London device at Temple Bar (together with the slighter, concluding, Westminster device). To Dekker was left the writing of three intervening pageants, plus a commission to write an account of the entire proceedings, including Jonson's contributions

19

and those of resident Italian and Dutch merchants who staged the second and third devices to confront the King. We do not know why the committee changed their minds (if that is what they did)- possibly Jonson had added to his reputation with the entertainment given for Queen Anne and Price Henry at Althorpe in June 1603 - but the situation they arrived at was about as unsatisfactory as could be imagined. The fact is that Jonson and Dekker simply did not get on with one another; both had been involved in the so-called 'War of the Theatres', satirizing each other in plays like Satiromastix and Poetaster, and in this instance at least the antagonism seems to have been genuine, not merely assumed for the benefit of the public. Years later Jonson was to call Dekker a 'rogue' (Drummond). Indeed, knowing what we do of their relationship, it is difficult not to read the rebufl' which Genius Orbis gives to the Flamen, in the device at Temple Bar, as Jonson's comment on Dekker (and perhaps on most other potential rivals): thy ignorance presumes Too much in acting any ethnic rite In this translated temple: here no wight To sacrifice, save my devotion comes. It seems likely that they did not collaborate in preparing their parts for the entertainment as a whole, and Jonson took it upon himself to publish a separate account of his own part in the proceedings, very fully aJmotated, before Dekker got into print. Dekker's account, entided The Magnificent Entertainment, is quite sketchy about Jonson's parts, pokes fun at their ostentatious learning and occasional inaccuracy, and never actually mentions Jonson by name (though Middleton is duly credited with having supplied one of the speeches). 1 Fortunately, these differences did not spoil the entertainment, mainly because the committee had decided on a format which did not actually require the dramatists to collaborate at all closely. Seven triumphal arches were to be erected along the King's route, each one being the setting for a separate symbolic presentation. It was only really necessary for there to be no significant duplication of material. The arches (at least, the five City ones) were constructed by 'Stephen Harrison,Joiner ... who was the sole inventor of the architecture', who also undertook, on his own initiative, to publish a folio called The. Arches of Triumph which, while drawing heavily l.

20

See Glynne Wickam, 'Contribution de Ben Jonson et de Dekker aux Fetes du Couronnement de Jacques ler', in Fetes de la Renaissance, ed.J.Jacquot, 2 vols. (Paris 1956), I, 279-83.

on Dekker's andJonson's accounts, corrects them in some particulars and also includes his own drawings of the seven arches; these are invaluable in helping us to appreciate a dramatic form which places so much emphasis on visual effects and content. His description of the day also includes some practical details ignored by the dramatists:

r

between the hours of 11 and 12 and before 5 the King] had made his royal passage through the City, having a canopy borne over him by 8. knights. The first object that his Majesty's eye encountered (after his entrance into London) was part of the children of Christs Church Hospital, to the number of300. who were placed on a scaffold, erected for that purpose in Barking Churchyard by the Tower. The way from the Tower to Temple Bar was not only sufficiently graveled, but all the streets (lying between those two places) were on both sides (where the breadth would permit) rail'd in at the charges of the City, Paul's Churchyard excepted. The Liveries of the Companies (having their streamers, ensigns, and banerets spread on the tops of their rails before them) reached from the middle of Mark Lane, to the pegme at Temple Bar. Two Marshals were chosen for the day, to clear the passage, both of them being well mounted, and attended on by six men (suitably attir'd) to each Marshal. The conduits of Cornhill, of Cheap, and ofFleetstreet, that day ran claret wine very plenteously: which (by reason of so much excellent music, that sounded forth not only from each several pegme, but also from divers other places) ran the faster and more merrily down into some bodies' bellies. Jonson's account of his own parts in the entertainment, like so many of the texts of his works in the period 1603-9, is annotated in ferocious detail, offering substantial evidence of the classical authority for his content. Dekker's account is altogether more relaxed, determined to convey something of the celebratory nature of the occasion; he attempts to impose some order on the written proceedings by likening the geography of the whole city, for the day, to that of the Royal Court - for example, he (not unnaturally) puts forward two of his own creations (Nova Faelix Arabia and Hortus Euporiae) as the King's Presence and Privy Chambers. Between the seven arches and the various other diversions offered, most of the patriotic, moral and mythological motifs that were to recur in the pageantry of the reign were given an airing that day. We suspect, however, that james did not hear and appreciate them all: at the end of his account, Dekker belatedly admits: 'Reader, you must understand, that a regard being had that his Majesty should not be wearied with tedious speeches: a great part of those which are in this book set 21

THE MAGNIFICENT ENTERTAINMENT Given to Kingjames, Queen Anne his wife, and Henry Frederick the prince, upon the day of His Majesty's triumphant passage (from the Tower) through his Honourable City (and Chamber) 1 of London, being the 15. ofMarch. 1603. 2 As well by the English as by the strangers: 3 with the speeches and songs, delivered in the several 4 pageants Martial:

Templa deis, mores populis dedit, otia jerTO Astra suis, caelo sydera, serta jovi. 5 Thomas Dekker

ADEVICE 6 (projected down/ but till now not publish'd,} that should have served at His M;Uesty's first access to the City.

I. 2. .'3.

4. 5.

6. 7.

Chamber] See Jonson (below, p. 38) on London's title as the Royal Chamber. 1603] Old Style . strangers] Italians and Dutchmen resident in London who staged (respectively) the second and third arches. several] Various. Templa ... jovz] Martial, Epigrams, IX.101, lines 21-2: 'he gave temples to the gods, morals to the people, rest to the sword, immortality to his own kind, to heaven stars, wreaths to jove'. A Device] Never actually presented; see pp. 29-33 below. projected down] Drafted.

27

The sorrow and amazement, that like an earthquake began to shake the distempered body of this island (by reason of our late sovereign's departure) being wisely and miraculously prevented,' and the feared wounds of a civil sword, (as Alexander's fury was with music) being stopp'd from bursting forth, by the sound of trumpets that proclaimed King james: all men's eyes were presently tum'd to the north/ standing even stone-still in their circles,3 like the points of so many geometrical needles, 4 through a fLxed and adamantine desire to behold this forty-five years' 5 wonder now brought forth by Time: their tong;ues neglecting all language else, save that which spake zealous prayers, and unceasable wishes, for his most speedy and long'd-for arrival. Insomuch 6 that the night was thought unworthy to be crown'd with sleep, and the day not fit to be look'd upon by the sun, which brought not some fresh tidings of His Majesty's more near and nearer approach. At length Expectation (who is ever waking) and that so long was great, grew near the time ofher delivery, Rumour coming all in a sweat to play the midwife, whose first comfortable words were, that this treasure of a kingdom (a man-ruler) 7 hid so many years from us, was now brought to light, and at hand. Martial.

Et populi vox erat una, Venit. 8

And that he was to be conducted through some utter part of this his City, to his royal castle the Tower, that in the age of a man 9 (till this very minute) had not been acquainted nor borne the name of a King's Court. Which entrance of his (in this manner) being fam'd abroad, because his loving subjects the citizens would g;ive a taste of their duty and affection: the device following was suddenly made up, as the first service, to a more royal and serious ensuing entertainment: and this (as it was

1.

2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7.

prevented] Forestalled. north] i.e. anticipating his approach from Scotland. circles] Sockets. geometrical needles] Needles of compass. forty-five years] the length of Queen Elizabeth's reign (1558-1603). Insomuch] To the extent. man-ruler] There had not been a King in England since Edward VI (died 155.'3).

8. 9.

Et ... Venit] Martial, Epigrams, X.6, line 8: 'And the voice of the people was all one: "He comes".' in the age of a man] In living memory.

To make a false flourish here with the borrowed weapons of all the old masters of the noble science of poesy, and to keep a tyrannical coil, in anatomizing Genius, from head to foot, 1 (only to show how nimbly we can carve up the whole mess 2 of the poets) were to play the executioner, and to lay our City's household god on the rack, to make him confess, how many pair of Latin sheets, we have shaken and cut into shreds to make him a garment. Such feats of activity are stale, and common among scholars, (before whom it is protested we come not now (in a pageant) to play a master's prizer1 for Nunc ego ventosae plebis su.ffragia venor. 4 The multitude is now to be our audience, whose heads would miserably run a-wool-gathering, 5 if we do but offer to break them with hard words. But suppose (by the way) contrary to the opinion of all the doctors 6 that our Genius (in regard the place is feminine, and the person itself, drawn.figura humana, sed ambiguo sexu)1 should at this time be thrust into woman's apparel. It is no schism: be it so: our Genius is then a female; 8 antique, 9 and reverend both in years and habit: a chaplet of mingled flowers, (inter-woven with branches of the plane tree) crowning her temples: her hair long and white: her vesture a loose robe, changeable 10 and powd'red with stars: and being (on horseback likewise) thus furnished, this was the tune of her voice. GENIUS LOCI: Stay: we conjure you, by that potent name, Of which each letter's (now) a triple charm: Stay; and deliver us, 11 of whence you are, 1. to keep ... foot] Satiric reference to Jonson's description of, and sidenote of,

2. 3.

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

30

'Genius Urbis' (seep. 40 and note 3, below); Dekker's principal objection is to Jonson's ostentatious, and possibly redundant, display oflearning; to 'keep a tyrannical coil' means to make an almighty fuss. mess) Portion of meat or food. to play ... prize] Term derived from fencing, with its three degrees (Master's, Provost's, Scholar's), for each of which a prize or match was publicly played. Nunc ... venor] Horace, Epistles, I.xix ..37: 'Now I chase the votes of the fickle masses.' a-wool-gathering] Indulge in wandering fancies. contrary ... doctors] Jonson's Genius Urbis in the Fenchurch pageant is male. fig;ura ... sexu] Latin: A human figure, but ambiguous as to sex. Dekker follows the authority ofNatalis Comes' Mytholog;iae o£1581. Genius ... female] Middleton follows his example in The Triumphs of Truth. antique] In the manner of the ancients. changeable) Shot (showing different colours at different angles). deliver us] Tell us.

Mark's Lane, and the last reaching above the conduit in Fleet Street: their seats being double-rail'd: 1 upon the upper part whereon they leaned, the streamers, ensigns and bannerets, of each particular company decently fixed: and directly against them, (even quite through the body of the City, so high as to Temple Bar) a single rail (in fair distance from the other) was likewise erected to put off the multitude. Amongst whose tongues (which in such consorts never lie still) though there were no music, yet as the poet says: (Martial):

Vox diversa sonat, populorum est vox tamen una. 2

Nothing that they speak could be made anything, 3 yet all that was spoken sounded to this purpose, that still His Majesty was coming. They have their longings: and behold, afar off they spy him, richly mounted on a white jennet, 4 under a rich canopy, sustained by eight Barons of the Cinque Ports; 5 the Tower serving that morning but for his withdrawing chamber, wherein he made him ready: and from thence stepp'd presently into his City of London, which for the time might worthily borrow the name of his Court Royal: 6 his passage alongst that Court, offering itself (for more state) through seven gates, of which the first was erected at Fenchurch.

Thus presenting itself It was an upright flat square, (for it contained fifty foot in the perpendicular, and fifty foot in the ground-line) the upper roofthereof(on distinct grices 7) bore up the true models of all the notable houses, turrets, and steeples, within the City. The gate under which His Majesty did pass, was 12 foot wide, and 18 foot high: a postern likewise (at one side of it) being four foot wide and 8 foot in height: on either side of the gate, stood l.

2. 3. 4. 5.

6. 7.

double-rail' d) The double rails marked out special seating for the members of the Livery Companies, who were responsible for staging the pageants. Vox ... una] De spectaculis liber, 111.2: 'Different voices speak, but the voice of the people is one.' made anything] Made out. jennet] Small Spanish horse. Cinque Ports] Originally the five ports ofDover, Sandwich, Hastings, Romney and Hythe, to which were added Rye and Winchelsea; their special status as protectors of the realm was already more traditional than real by 1604. Court Royal] The court is no one fixed place, but follows the monarch. grices] Greces, steps.

35

negotiatorum, & commeatu maxime celebre. 1 Beneath that, in a less and different character, was written CAMERA REGIA:

which title 2 immediately after the Norman conquest it began to have; and by the indulgence of succeeding princes, hath been hitherto continued. In the frieze over the gate, it seemeth to speak this verse:

Par domus haec coelo, Sed minor est domino. 3 Taken out of Martial, and implying, that though this city (for the state, and magnificence) might (by hyperbole) be said to touch the stars, and reach up to heaven, yet was it far inferior to the master thereof, who was His Majesty; and in that respect unworthy to receive him. The highest person advanc'd therein, was MONARCHIA BRITANNICA,

and fitly: applying to the above mentioned title of the City, The King's Chamber, and therefore here placed as in the proper seat of the empire: for, so the glory and light of the kingdom Master Camden, speaking of London, saith, she is totius Britanniae epitome, Britannicique imperii sedes, regumque Angliae camera, tantum inter omneis eminet, quantum (ut ait ille) inter viburna cupressus. 4 She was a woman, richly attir'd, in cloth of gold and tissue; a rich mantle; over her state 5 two crowns hanging, with pensile 6 shields through them; the one limn'd 7 with the particular coat of England, the other of Scotland: on either side also a crown with t.;_e like scutcheons, and peculiar coats of France, and Ireland. In her hand she

At Suetonius ... celebre] Annals 1.14 (sidenote): 'But Suetonius, undismayed, marched through disaffected territory to London. This town did not rank as a Roman settlement, but was an important centre for businessmen and merchandise.' 2. title] Cam( den). Brit(annia) 374 (sidenote). 3. Par domus ... domino] Lib. 8. Epig. 36 (sidenote): 'This house is on a par with the heavens, but it is less than its master'. 4. Master Camden ... cupressus] Brit(annia) 367; (sidenote): 'The epitome of the whole ofBritain, seat of the British military command, and chamber of the kings of England; it is as prominent in the state (so he [Virgil] says) as the cypress among the wayfaring trees.' 5. state] Chair of state. 6. pensile] Hanging. 7. limn'd] Painted. 1.

holds a sceptre; on her head a fillet of gold, interwoven, with palm and laurel; her hair bound into four several points, descending from her crowns; and in her lap a little globe, inscrib'd upon ORBIS BRITANNICUS. 1

And beneath, the word 2 DIVISUS AB ORBE. 3

To show, that this empire is a world divided from the world, and alluding to that of Claudian .

. . . Et Nostro diducta Britannia mundo. 4 And Virgil.

. .. Et penitus toto divisos orbe Britannos. 5 The wreath denotes victory and happiness. The sceptre and crowns sovereignty. The shields the precedency of the countries and their distinctions. At her feet was set THEOSOPHIA,

or Divine Wisdom, all in white, a blue mantle seeded with stars, a crown of stars on her head. Her garments figur'd truth, innocence, and clearness. She was always looking up; in her one hand she sustained a dove, in the other a serpent: the last to show her subtlety, the first her simplicity; alluding to that text of Scripture, Estote ergo prudentes sicut serpentes, & simplices sicut columbae. 6 Her word, 1. 2. 3. 4.

5.

6.

Orbis Britannicus] Latin: The British World. word] Motto. Divis us Ab Orbe] Latin: Divided from the world.

Et ... mundo] De Malii Theodor. cons. Panegyri (sidenote): 'And Britain separated from our world'. Et ... Britannos] Eclog I (sidenote): 'And the British, deeply divided from the world'. The idea of Britain as a separate, specially favoured place was a popular one, and Jonson used it again in The Masque of Blackness (1605). See J. W. Bennett, 'Britain among the Fortunate Isles', Studies in Philology 53 (1956), 114-40. Scripture ... columbae] Matth(ew) X.16 (sidenote): 'Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves' (Authorised Version).

39

character, partaking somewhat of all, and peculiarly apted 1 to these more magnificent inventions: wherein, the garments and ensigns deliver the nature of the person, and the word the present office. Neither was it becoming, or could it stand with the dignity of these shows (after the most miserable and desperate shift of the puppets) to require a truchman, 2 or (with the ignorant painter 3 ) one to write, 'This is a dog'; or, 'This is a hare': but so to be presented as upon the view, they might, without cloud or obscurity, declare themselves to the sharp and learned: and for the multitude, no doubt but their grounded judgements 4 gazed, said it was fine, and were satisfied.

The speeches of Gratulation. GENIUS: Time, Fate, and Fortune have at length conspir'd, To give our age the day so much desir'd. What all the minutes, hours, weeks, months, and years, That hang in file upon these silver hairs, Could not produce, beneath the Briton 5 stroke, The Roman, Saxon, Dane, and Norman 6 yoke, This point of time hath done. Now London rear Thy forehead high, and on it strive to wear Thy choicest gems; teach thy steep towers to rise Higher with people: set with sparkling eyes Thy spacious windows; and in every street, Let thronging joy, love, and amazement meet. Cleave all the air with shouts, and let the cry Strike through as long, and universally, As thunder; for thou now art bliss'd 7 to see That sight, for which thou didst begin to be.

apted] Made appropriate. truchman] Interpreter. the ignorant painter] From Plutarch, De Adulatore et Amico XXIV. grounded judgements] The groundlings; a sneering theatrical pun which Jonson used often; 'gazed' became a more emphatic 'did gaze' in the folio verswn. 5. Briton] 'As being the first free and natural government of this island, after it came to civility' (sidenote). 6. Norman] 'In respect they were all conquests, and the obedience of the subject more enforced' (sidenote). 7. bliss'd] Blessed. l.

2. 3. 4.

47

Arch at Soper-Lane end (reproduced from Stephen Harrison, The Arches of Triumph, by permission of the British Library).

Introduction to

The Triumphs ofReunited Britannia

Anthony Munday ( 1553-1633) was an Elizabethan/Jacobean literary jackof-all trades who wrote and collaborated on a number of plays (including John a Kent and John a Cumber, The Downfall of Robert, Earl of Huntingdon and The Death of the same), wrote ballads and translated popular romances, including Palladino of England and Amadis de GauZe. He was also one of the most prolific of the city pageant writers, writing at least one in the Elizabethan period (the records are patchy) and eight in the jacobean period, as well as some (like The Triumphs of Truth) which he had a hand in staging or devising, although he did not write the text. 1 It says something of Munday's general quality and reputation that there is no modem (or even Victorian) complete edition of his writings- many of which have not been reprinted since the seventeenth century. Even in his own day, he was the regular butt of fellow writers' scorn. Thomas Middleton, with whom he sometimes collaborated, sneered at him as the 'impudent common writer' in The Triumphs of Truth; he was satirized as the character Post-Haste in Histriomastix and, more famously, as Antonio Balladino, Pageant Poet to the City ofMilan, in Jonson's The Case is Altered, where he is mocked for his 'stale stuff'. We may note that none of this stopped the Livery Companies from hiring him frequently. Reunited Britannia reveals many of Munday's limitations: the verse is, at best, pedestrian and, at worst, execrable; the attempts to make something of the Lord Mayor's name (Holliday) are either predictable or overdone; and the whole piece is theatrically unimaginative. On the other hand, it is not without interest: it is the only civic pageant ever to offer a full-scale version of the Brutus myth of the founding of the British nation, and it achieves such unity as it has by organizing itself (with unusual thoroughness for a show like this) around that single myth- unfortunately, l.

On the precise date of the presentation of this pageant, see the notes.

117

THE TRIUMPHS OF RE-UNITED BRITANNIA 1 Performed at the cost and charges of the Right Worship[ful] Company of the Merchant-Taylors, in honour of Sir Leonard Holliday, 2 kni[ght], to solemnise his entrance as Lord Mayor of the City of London, on Tuesday the 29 of0ctober. 3 1605. Devised and written by A[thony] Munday, 4 Citizen and Draper of London.

1.

2.

3.

4.

Britannia] Munday's spelling oscillates between 'Britania' and 'Britannia'. I have used the orthodox form (established by William Camden's Britannia, 1586) throughout. Holliday] Sheriff of the City of London, 1598; knighted by James I, 26July 1603; throughout the text Munday makes great (though not very witty) play with the new Lord Mayor's name: Holliday = holiday = holy-day. 29 of October] The usual day for the inauguration, a month after the election on Michaelmas Day; in fact, there was a storm on the appointed day and the shows were held over until All Saints Day, 1 November. Munday] See the Introduction for details of Munday's career; the text spells his name 'Mundy'.

ng

Introduction to

The Triumphs of Truth

Thomas Middleton's first connection with civic pageantry was the speech of Zeal which he wrote for The Magnificent Entertainment, a commission which may have come his way because he collaborated extensively with Dekker in writing plays for Philip Henslowe's enterprises at that early stage in his career. Over the next few years he made his name mainly with a string of witty and satiric 'City comedies', and it was not until1613 that he wrote an entire civic pageant, The Triumphs of Truth. From then until his death in 1627, however, he was regularly employed on Lord Mayors' Shows, writing seven in all, and other civic commissions; in 1620 he became official chronologer for the City of London, a post which required him to record the memorable acts and notable occurrences of the City. Perhaps not surprisingly, this extensive civic patronage seems to have put an end to his irreverent anti-bourgeois comedies. R. C. Bald's 'Middleton's Civic Employments',Modern Philology 31 (1933), 65-78, helpfully links Middleton's pageants to the wider context ofhis employment as City chronologer, though Bald - in ways typical of his era- did not think very much of Middleton's civic commissions overall. David Bergeron (English Civic Pageants) has done most to demonstrate their theatrical sophistication, especially The Triumphs of Truth, while Margot Heinemann (Puritanism and Theatre: Thomas Middleton and Opposition Drama under the Early Stuarts) argues a case for the political shaping of Middleton's career in which old 'aesthetic' prejudices against civic commissions (in favour of the brilliant stage satires and tragedies) are redundant both can be seen as facets of the same 'oppositional' voice, centred on Protestant politics. The Triumphs of Truth is - perhaps oddly, considering that it was the first he wrote- the best of Middleton's civic pageants, one of the best ever written, and certainly the most expensive production of the entire period. Its quality derives very clearly from its adherence to the traditions of the

137

THE TRIUMPHS OF TRUTH A solemnity unparalleled for cost, 1 art, and magnificence at the confirmation and establishment of that worthy and true nobly-minded gentleman, Sir Thomas Middleton, 2 Knight, in the Honourable Office of His Majesty's Lieutenant, the Lord Mayor of the thrice famous City ofLondon. Taking beginning at his Lordship's going, and proceeding after his return from receiving the Oath ofMayoralty, at Westminster, on the morrow next after Simon and Jude's Day, October 29, 1613. All the shows, pageants, chariots, morning, noon and night triumphs. Directed, written, and redeem'd into form, from the ignorance ofsome former times, and their common writer, 3 By Thomas Middleton. Showing also his Lordship's entertainment upon Michaelmas Day last, being the day ofhis election, at that most famous and admired work of the 'running stream, from Amwell Head into the cistern at Islington, being the sole cost, industry and invention of the worthy Mr Hugh Middleton 4 ofLondon, Goldsmith.

I.

2.

.'3. 4.

cost] Something of a traditional claim but, in this instance, true; the total cost of the show was about £ l ,.'300, which made it the most expensive of its kind in the Renaissance period; The Triumphs of Reunited Britannia only cost £701 2s. 5d., in spite of the need to defer the performance, and Monuments of Honour was considered costly at £1099 5s. II d. Sir Thomas Middleton] I550-I6.'3I: apparently no relation to the dramatist; admitted to the Grocer's Company in I582; linked in earlier days with Queen Elizabeth's Secretary of State, Sir Francis Walsingham . common writer] The first of a number of sneers at Munday (see below, p.I4.'3 ). Hugh Middleton] See below. 141

Instead of monsters that this place attends; 1 To meet with Goodness and her glorious friends, Nor can they so forget me to be far, 2 I know there stands no other envious bar: But that foul cloud to darken this bright day, Which with this fan of stars 3 I'll chase away. Vanish infectious fog that I may see This city's grace, that takes her light from me. Vanish, give way. 4 At this her powerful command, the cloud suddenly rises, and changes into bright spreading canopy, stuck thick with stars, and beams of gold, shooting forth round about it, the mount appearing then most rich in beauty and glory, the four monsters falling flat at the foot of the hill; that grave 5 feminine shape, figuring London, sitting in greatest honour; 6 next above her in the most eminent place sits Religion, the model of a fair temple on her head, and a burning lamp in her hand, the proper emblem ofher sanctity, watchfulness, and zeal; on her right hand sits Liberality, her head circled with a wreath of gold, in her hand a cornucopia/ or Hom of Abundance, out of which rusheth a seeming flood of gold, but no way flowing to Prodigality; for as the sea is govem'd by the moon, so is that wealthy river 8 by her eye, (for Bounty must be led by Judgement) and hence is artfully derived the only difference between Prodigality and Bounty, the one deals her gifts with open eyes, the other blind-fold; on her left side sits Perfect Love, his proper seat being nearest the heart, wearing on his head a ·wreath of white and red roses mingled together, the ancient witness of Peace, Love and Union, wherein consists the happiness of this land, 9 his right hand holding a sphere, where in a circle of gold is contained all 1. monsters ... attends] Singular for plural. 2. Nor ... far] They cannot have forgotten me so completely as not to be here . .'3. fan of stars] See Zeal, p.l51. 4. In the first quarto this line is integrated with the directions following, after 'command'. 5. grave] See above. 6. in greatest honour] But not, apparently, the highest place, since that is reserved for Religion; London appears to sit in the middle, surrounded and attended by these virtuous powers. 7. cornucopia] Hom of plenty, originally the hom of a goat which Zeus endowed with the power of producing whatever the possessor wished. 8. wealthy river] i.e. the 'flood of gold'. 9. wreath ... this land] Alluding to the 'unification' of the white and red roses by the Tudors.

Introduction to Monuments ofHonour

John Webster ( 1580?-1625?) came to write a city pageant at the end of a long and patchy career; his two surviving tragedies, The White Devil and The Duchess ofMalfi, have an enormous reputation, but his other works often written in coxYunction with Dekker, Ford and others - are generally ignored and little is known about the man himself. One thing we do know about him, however, is that he was a member of the Merchant Taylors' Company, and it was for them that he wrote this, his only Lord Mayor's Show (possibly his very last work of all), in honour of Sir John Gore. The whole show is dedicated to the theme of honour and its achievement, and is given variety by examining it in a number of contrasting contexts peace and war, low-born and noble, etc. Webster adduces a succession of characters from history to flesh out his theme: two water devices accost the Lord Mayor on the first part of his day's journey, on the river; one device contains a pageant of'seven of our most famous navigators', while the other contains a group of mythological characters associated with seas and rivers who act essentially as a chorus, greeting the Lord Mayor and explaining the meaning of the other device, pointing out both the national importance and the commercial significance of the great Elizabethan 'seadogs'. This prepares us for a succession of pageant-tableaux on land which stress the honour both of the nation and of the Merchant Taylors' Company: five important (trading) cities are matched by five ofEngland's great scholar-poets (including, strikingly, a figure from the recent past, Sir Philip Sidney); this underlines the role of art (including, of course, such pageants as this) in underpinning the honour of the nation. Sir John Hawkwood demonstrates how a man oflow birth (and a Merchant Taylor) can achieve honour, to be followed by a chariot containing all the Kings who were 'free' of the Company, thereby both conferring and deriving honour. Sir Thomas White, another Merchant Taylor and founder of St John's College, Oxford, demonstrates the honour accruing to charity and

169

MONUMENTS OF HONOUR Derived from remarkable antiquity, and celebrated in the honourable Ci~'V ofLondon, at the sole munificent charge and expenses of the right worthy and worshipful fratemitv, of the eminent Merchant- Taylors. Directed in their most affectionate love, at the confirmation 1 of their right worthy brother John Gore 2 in the high office of His Majest')! 's Lieutenant over this His Royal Chamber. 3 Expressing in a magnificent triumph, all the pageants, chariots ofglory, temples of honour, besides a specious 4 and goodly sea triumph, as well particularly to the honour of the City, as" generall_:v to the glory of this our Kingdom. Invented and written by John Webster, Merchant- Taylor. . Non norunt haec monumenta mmi. 6

1.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

confinnation] On the usual day, 29 October, when this triumph was performed in 1624. John Gore] Merchant Taylor. Royal Chamber] See The Magnificent Entertainment, pp. 27, 38. specious] Pleasing to the eye (not pejorative). as well ... as] Both ... and. Non ... mortJ Martial: 'These monuments do not know how to die.' Webster used the same motto at the end of his preface to The White Devil.

To the right worthy deserver ofthis so noble a ceremony this day conferr'd upon him, John Gore Lord Ma_-vor and Chancellor of the renowned City ofLondon. My worthy Lord, these presentments which were intended principall;y for your honour, and for illustrating the worth of that worthy Corporation (whereof you are a member) come now humbl;y to kiss your Lordship's hands; and to present the inventor of them to that service, which my ability (express'd in this) mUJ call me to (under your Lordship's favour) to do )'OU honour, 1 and the City service in the quality of a scholar: assuring your Lordship, I shall never either to your ear, or table press unmannerry, or impertinentl;y. My endeavours this way 2 have received grace, and allowance from your worthy brothers 3 (that were supervisors of the cost of these triumphs) & my hope is, that the_-v shall stand no less respected in your eye, nor under-valued in your worthy judgement: which favours done to one born free of your Company, 4 and your servant; shall ever be acknowledged by him, stands 5 interested to your Lordship in all duty, John Webster.

1.

2. 3. 4. 5.

which ... honour] A particularly mangled piece of text. The quarto reads: 'which (my ability express'd in this) may call me to (under your Lordship's favour) to you, do you honour ... ' The compositor may be somewhat forgiven, since Webster is being particularly convoluted in putting himself forward ('the inventor') for further service to the Lord Mayor and the City. this way] In writing pageants. brothers] Members of the Merchant Taylors Company. fi'ee . . . Company] Webster was himself a Merchant Taylor, following his father. stands] Who stands.

Who do eternize brave acts by their pen; Chaucer, Gower, Lydgate, More and for our time Sir Philip Sidney, 1 glory of our clime, These beyond death a fame to monarchs give, And these make cities and societies live.

The next delivered by him, represents 2 Sir Philip Sidney. [SIDNEY:] To honour by our writings worthy men Flows as a duty from ajudgingj pen, And when we are employ'd in such sweet praise, Bees swarm 4 and leave their honey on our bays: Evermore musically verses run, When the loath'd vein of flattery they shun. Survey most noble Pretor what succeeds, Virtue low bred aspiring to high deeds. These passing on, in the next place, my Lord is encount'red with the person of Sir John Hawkwood 5 in complete armour, his plume and feather for his horse's shaffion 6 of the Company's colours, white and watchet: 7 this worthy knight did most worthy service in the time ofEdward the Third in France, after served as General divers Princes ofltaly, went to the HolyLand 8 and in his return back, died at Florence, and there lies buried 9 with a fair monument over him: this worthy gentleman was free of our Company; 10 and thus I prepare him to give my Lord entertainment.

1. Sir Philip Sidney] Great Elizabethan 'courtier, soldier, scholar', author of

Arcadia, Astrophil and Stella, An Apology for Poetry. 2. him, represents] Him that represents. 3. judging] Discriminating. 4. Bees swarm] Traditional association of the sweetness of the poet's verse and the bee's honey; see The Triumphs of Truth, p. 160 and note 2. 5. Hawkwood] d.1394; famous condottiere, leader of the English mercenaries known as The White Company, fought for various Italian city states, 1360-90. 6. shaffron] Chaffron; frontlet of an armed horse. 7. watchet) Pale blue. 8. Holy-Land) The pilgrimage to Palestine seems to have been a myth. 9. lies buried] His body was brought back to England, in fact. 10. free ... Company] He is said to have started life as a tailor's apprentice. 180

RYBURN RENAISSANCE TEXTS AND STUDIES

produced in association with Northern Renaissance Seminar Text Group

Other tides include Rosalynd by Thomas Lodge Edited by Brian Nellist The Tragedy of Mariam, the Fair Queen ofjewry by Elizabeth Cary Edited by Stephanie]. Wright