Henry VIII (5 page)

4

“This Magnificent, Excellent and Triumphant Court”

The court was not just the palace where the King resided but also the people and the household that surrounded him. It was at the centre of affairs, and it revolved around the man who was the fount of all power, honours, and patronage.

The fifteenth century had witnessed a steady decline in the court's prestige; the weak Henry VI had failed to maintain “a worshipful and great household,”
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and there was consequently less honour and status in being attached to the royal service.

Henry's successor, Edward IV, had visited the court of Burgundy, with which England enjoyed good trading and political links, and from about 1471 he modelled his court along Burgundian lines, as did other western European rulers. The unprecedented splendour of the great banquets and tournaments at the English court reflected the practice in Burgundy, where the cult of chivalry had enjoyed a revival. It was in imitation of the Toison d'Or, or the Golden Fleece, an order of knighthood founded by Duke Philip the Good in 1430, that Edward IV and his successors revived the Order of the Garter, with its chivalric association with St. George, England's patron saint. Entertainments, sports, and etiquette at the English court all began to follow the highly refined Burgundian pattern, and the King became a lavish patron of the arts. All was designed to emphasise the authority and magnificence of the sovereign, and it brought about a resurgence of the importance of the court itself.

This new perception of the court and the royal status heralded changes in the constitution of the royal household, which would be designed not just for the display of magnificence but also for the needs of monarchs who had an increasing desire for privacy.

Although Henry VII had a reputation for parsimony, he understood the value of display: like Edward IV, he built fine palaces and spent vast sums on dazzling occasions and entertainments, and although he was no great patron of the arts like Edward IV or Henry VIII, his court was never dull. “He knew well how to maintain his royal majesty and all that appertains to kingship,” wrote Polydore Vergil.

Henry VIII's court was the most “magnificent, excellent and triumphant”
²
in English history. First and foremost the King's house, it also became the political and cultural hub of the nation, a seat of government, a sophisticated arts centre, and a meeting place of scholars, all in a setting of unprecedented splendour. As the focus of society at large, the court set the fashion in every aspect of English life. It was also a military academy for the noble elite, who could be called upon to defend the realm at any time, and many of its pleasures had a martial content.

At first, Burgundian influence prevailed at Henry's court. Henry VII had owned examples of Italian art and sculpture, but only in the field of scholarship, in which the rediscovery and study of the classical literature of ancient Greece and Rome was known as the New Learning, had the Italian Renaissance made any impact in England. During the first decade of Henry VIII's reign, Renaissance influence began to appear in architecture, decoration, art, and other fields. It was Henry who first realised how valuable the sophisticated culture of Italy could be to a king who wanted to be at the forefront of European affairs, and how useful it could be in enhancing his
majestas
.

The court was the place to be for those who desired royal favour and high office. It was the natural habitat of the nobles, whose ancient right it was to attend upon the King, and it also attracted “new men,” who had made it to the top through wealth or mere ability. In fact, anyone who was smartly dressed, appeared to have some legitimate business, or had cash for bribes could gain entry to the court. There were consequently many hangers-on and people who had no right to be there.

These “strangers” were a constant problem; many courtiers brought with them more servants, relatives, and friends than was permitted. There were also constant edicts against “rascal boys,” who hung about in the hope of receiving tips for errands and messages, and who seem to have posed a particular problem. Lastly, “vagabonds and vile persons” could be aggressive in their demands for work, robbing and intimidating household servants and trying to pass on stolen goods.
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When the court moved on, these delinquents would squat in the empty palaces and generally make a nuisance of themselves.

In 1526, the Eltham Ordinances specifically forbade anyone to “bring to court any boy or rascal”;
⁴
in 1533, “all vagabonds and other idle persons which follow the court” were given a day to get out,
⁵
while in 1543, orders were given that no one was to keep any page or boy contrary to the King's ordinances.
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Strangers were not only a security risk; they also appropriated food and lodgings to which they were not entitled, thus placing a further strain on overstretched household resources. Yet it proved impossible to control the problem, because the Sergeant Porter, who manned the palace gates, had a staff of only five Yeomen and two Grooms.
⁷

Most people who visited the court came in search of employment, preferment, land, privileges, or the patronage of some influential personage. The status and prestige of courtiers depended largely upon nearness to the King. Those close to Henry were therefore in a position to advance the fortunes of less fortunate petitioners, and so extend “good lordship” to them. Petitioners could themselves become patrons of those even further from the throne, and thus was formed a complicated web of clientage. Such patronage could be a highly lucrative business, for every favour had its price.

Sometimes, petitioners might be fortunate enough to present their pleas to the King himself at his “coming forth” from his apartments, or when he was about to go hunting, when he was said to be especially receptive to requests. Although Henry knew that those who came to court were “desirous both of spoil and glory,”
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he could be prodigiously openhanded, and successive ministers had a tough job curbing his impulsive generosity.

For Henry VIII, the ideal courtier was one who, whatever his rank, offered good service and congenial companionship. Both frequently led to preferment and honours. Personal service and usefulness to the monarch were the chief requirements of a Renaissance courtier and could confer great power and influence, since courtiers who offered these had the King's ear and controlled access to him. Such personal service was often combined with political responsibility, since those who helped the King govern were usually among his intimates. However, it was not Henry's policy to delegate responsibility to a courtier who lacked the ability to bear it, however good a friend he might be.

As a result of his constantly changing enthusiasms and shifts of policy, Henry's court was often divided by fluctuating courtier factions dedicated to promoting themselves and their ideas. Unable to confront or oppose the King directly, they used the politics of persuasion to achieve their aims.

Charles de Marillac, the French ambassador, wrote in 1540: “The subjects take example from the Prince, and the ministers seek only to undo each other to gain credit; and under colour of their master's good, each attends his own. For all the fine words of which they are full, they will act only as necessity and interest compel them.”
⁹

Henry's successive marriages brought to prominence families of a particular political or religious persuasion, such as the Boleyns, the Seymours, the Howards, and the Parrs. Generally, courtiers in favour could attract parties of supporters. These factions, however, were rarely stable; they shifted in composition and opinions, and their existence depended on the current situation or on whoever was chief minister. Nevertheless, they were an essential part of the political process in Tudor times.

In 1528, Castiglione's
The Courtier
was published in Italy, enshrining the virtues and qualities of the ideal courtier. Modelled upon Cicero's orator, such a courtier would be eloquent, learned, and well-informed, and thus able to influence and manipulate his ruler. He also had to be an example of chivalry and courtesy, a lover of the arts, and expert in martial exercises and sports. The book was based on the ideals of antiquity, and it enjoyed huge popularity, even in remote England, where its influence upon the court was felt almost immediately.

The ideal was much removed from the realities of courtier life. Sir Thomas More believed that a courtier had no choice but to compromise his moral principles and his honesty in order to survive—a view echoed by the poet Sir Thomas Wyatt, who, while he recognised why people were attracted to the court, cynically wrote of men greedy for gold, buying friends and selling women, betraying friendships for profit, and pretending to be virtuous.
¹⁰

At court, wrote Sir Francis Bryan, there was “overplus malice and displeasures,”
¹¹
while Marillac loathed “the tainted air of the court.”
¹²
“Every man,” warned John Husee, Lady Lisle's agent, should “beware the flattering of the court”; Queen Jane Seymour had asked him to deter his mistress from sending her daughters to a place that was “full of pride, envy, indignation, mocking, scorning and derision.”
¹³
The superficial life of outward courtesy, frivolity, luxury, and idle pastimes masked deep-seated frustrations, resentment, vicious intrigue, treachery, and backbiting. Most courtiers were motivated by greed; therefore there was intense competition and rivalry.

Life at court could also be routine and boring. There was much waiting and hanging about, and every distraction was welcome. A large number of young men of a military bent unable to find an outlet for their energy and aggression could have caused problems, but Henry ensured that they were provided with many opportunities for sport and feats of arms and a succession of entertaining diversions.

There was great formality at Henry's court, but the court was also chaotic, wasteful, and hugely expensive to maintain. Continual efforts to improve the efficiency of the royal household met with only varying success, yet given the numbers of people present at court at any one time, its administrators managed rather well. In winter it was not unheard of for between a thousand and fifteen hundred persons to be in residence, of whom only about a hundred had access to the King; up to a thousand persons might be in service in the royal household. Numbers fluctuated depending on the season or the occasion. In the summer, when many courtiers were away on their estates, the court numbered perhaps eight hundred people.

There were probably fewer than a hundred women at court. Many were the wives and daughters of courtiers, and waited on the Queen. Others visited with their husbands, often for ceremonial occasions. Women enjoyed no formal political role at court, although several did involve themselves in politics and intrigues, as will be seen.

Upon marriage, Henry had assigned to Katherine a household of 160 persons, many of whom were female. She had eight ladies-in-waiting. Two, Elizabeth, Lady Fitzwalter, and Anne, Lady Hastings, were the sisters of England's premier peer, the Duke of Buckingham. They served alongside the Countesses of Suffolk, Oxford, Surrey, Shrewsbury, Essex, and Derby. By 1517, some of these ladies had been replaced by the Countess of Salisbury, Lady Guildford, Lady Maud Parr, and Lady Elizabeth Howard, wife of Sir Thomas Boleyn.
¹⁴
Sir Thomas's brother, Sir Edward, and his wife Anne would also join the Queen's household in the 1520s.

Katherine was also attended by thirty maids of honour, among them the Ladies Dacre, Scrope, Percy, Ferrers, and Bergavenny (who was Buckingham's daughter, Mary Stafford)—their names a roll call of the mediaeval peerage. Most of their husbands served in the King's household, creating an intricate network of family ties among the chief courtiers.

The other maids of honour included Gertrude Blount, daughter of Lord Mountjoy, and Maria de Salinas, who had come with Katherine from Spain. The daughter of a Castilian nobleman and a former maid of honour to Queen Isabella, Maria selflessly had shared the tribulations of Katherine's penurious widowhood, shelving her hopes of making a good marriage, and was the lady closest to her, “whom she loves more than any other mortal.”
¹⁵
Maria had also earned the esteem of Henry VIII, who named one of his ships in her honour. Her sister Iñez, who was married to a Spaniard then resident in England, may also have been one of Katherine's attendants.

Jane Popincourt, a Frenchwoman, was another maid of honour; she had once served Elizabeth of York and, since 1500, had attended upon Henry's sister Mary. Anne Luke, the King's former nurse, was one of Katherine's chamberwomen.

Luis Caroz dismissed the ladies of the Queen's household as “rather simple,”
¹⁶
but to others her damsels were “handsome, and make a sumptuous appearance.”
¹⁷
Katherine set high standards for her household, but she was a kind mistress and her servants invariably became devoted to her.

The chief officers of the Queen's household were naturally men. At its head was her Chamberlain, the ageing Thomas Butler, Earl of Ormonde, a veteran of the Wars of the Roses. His post was a virtual sinecure, since most of his duties were carried out by Sir Robert Poyntz, who was later appointed the Queen's Chancellor.
¹⁸
Sir Thomas Bryan, the Vice Chamberlain, would later be replaced by Sir Edward Baynton, who would hold this office under all the King's subsequent wives. Katherine had her own Steward and Keeper of her Privy Purse; Griffin Richards, her Clerk of the Signet, had formerly worked for Margaret Beaufort.
¹⁹

There were only eight Spaniards in the Queen's household, among them her secretary, John de Scutea; her apothecary; and her physicians, the humanist Ferdinand de Vittoria and Miguel de la Sá. Most of her original Spanish servants had returned to Spain.