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    Tudor Costume and Fashion
    Tudor Costume and Fashion
    Tudor Costume and Fashion
    Ebook1,958 pages40 hours

    Tudor Costume and Fashion

    By Herbert Norris

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    About this ebook

    The period of Tudor rule in England (1485-1603) marked the appearance of an unprecedented opulence in fashions worn by royalty and members of the nobility, with social rank often reflected in attire. This monumental study by a brilliant and imaginative scholar examines that colorful period in fashion history, from the reign of Henry VII through that of Elizabeth I.
    Because continental fashions heavily influenced clothing styles of the English nobility, the text includes brief introductory reviews of garments worn in France, Italy, Spain, and Germany. Each chapter focuses on costumes of a particular period, meticulously delineating not only the elegance of court dress but also describing the quotidian garments of the middle and lower classes — from tradespeople and common sailors to the peasantry and even court jesters. In addition to investigating an extraordinarily wide range of fashionable garb, the author meticulously describes elaborate headgear, hairstyles, jewelry, collars, footwear, and other wardrobe accessories.
    Composed of two books bound as one, this carefully researched and profusely illustrated volume includes 1,000 black-and-white figures (including diagrams showing the construction of various garments and head coverings), 24 halftones, and 22 full-color plates, nearly all taken from contemporary sources, which enliven this authoritative and exhaustive study of period clothing, an indispensable resource for fashion designers and historians and a dazzling pageant of living history for the general reader.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDover Publications
    Release dateSep 26, 2013
    ISBN9780486141510
    Tudor Costume and Fashion

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    • 3/5
      Whoo! Real fantasizing going on in this book. Good for theatrical costumers, but lousey for historical costumers. On the other hand, i really enjoy the 1920s redrawings.

      1 person found this helpful

    Book preview

    Tudor Costume and Fashion - Herbert Norris

    Copyright

    Introduction copyright © 1997 by Richard Martin

    All rights reserved under Pan American and International Copyright Conventions.

    Bibliographical Note

    This Dover edition, first published in 1997, is an unabridged, corrected republication in one volume of the work originally published in two volumes by J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., London, in 1938 under the title Costume and Fashion, Volume Three: The Tudors, Books 1 and 2.

    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

    Norris, Herbert.

    Tudor costume and fashion / Herbert Norris; with a new introduction by Richard Martin.

    p. cm.

    Reprint. Originally published: London: Dent, 1938. 2 v.

    Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

    9780486141510

    1. Costume—Great Britain—History—Medieval, 500-1500. 2. Costume—Great Britain—History—16th century. I. Title.

    GT734.N67 1997

    391’.00942—DC21

    97-19413

    CIP

    Manufactured in the United States of America

    Dover Publications, Inc., 31 East 2nd Street, Mineola, N.Y. 11501

    INTRODUCTION TO THE DOVER EDITION

    HERBERT NORRIS was a scholar in the generation of twentieth-century universalists enamored of history as a pageant. His rich, visually expressive volume, Tudor Costume and Fashion, takes its title from his predilection for the extravagant panorama associated with costume and the special circumstances and evolution that connote fashion. Few historians have skillfully and subtly combined the two sensibilities with Norris’s commanding sense of history. Norris looks at history not only as a series of tableaux enlivened by accounts of prominent men and women, but also as a vivid sartorial revelation of the class realities of an epoch.

    Ironically, Norris employs consistent black-and-white image-making for most of his figures. These are precise, systematic renderings of the details of painting and documents that allow us to focus on specific aspects of coiffure, collar, or clothing construction. Norris’s black-and-white portrait renderings are enriched by his articulate descriptions of color along with the techniques employed. Both iconic and didactic, these images show how an extrapolated likeness or salient feature can evoke an entire social fabric. Costume designers for theater and film will find in Norris’s scrupulous images a reliable guide to period dress.

    Norris’s ambition was grand. His epic of history includes the inventories of great properties and accounts of the courts of church and state, but his descriptions also include the low-life rascal and vernacular witness. The delight that Norris shows in parsing the details of state robes and court dress is equally evident when he examines the everyday dress of the common man and woman; the details of regular seaman’s trousers and clay pipe are as striking as the pattern pieces of religious garb or the detailed analysis of an escutcheon of royalty. Cognizant that the history of fashion is not solely a story of women (though he pays them ample attention), Norris chronicles the cogent elements of class, race, and gender in a comprehensive vision unrestricted by the blinkers of political correctness.

    Norris’s book is at once grand historical narrative and acute cultural analysis. He gives us the pattern pieces, silhouettes, descriptions of materials, and details that allow lace, cutwork, and embroidery to tell their own precise, evocative stories. Contemporary texts and descriptions are mingled with Norris’s own analytical knowledge of the fashions.

    More than half a century after Norris wrote this work, we know little more about fashion history than he did, perhaps even less. In the 1920s and 1930s, with conflicting ideologies struggling for world power, the fashion historian and bibliographer Hilaire Hiler wrote, in his monumental Bibliography of Costume (1939), that the study of costume is quite without limits. . . . Norris, too, saw the potential of costume history, viewing it as a kind of cultural grammar that yields insights into the urgent forces of history. Norris, who formulated his great work in the years between the world wars, believed that costume and fashions together would yield a coherent, cohesive picture of humanity. But in the 1920s and 1930s some were already using appearance and apparel to widen divisions of race, class, and gender; the ensuing war and holocaust dashed the visionary hopes of a whole generation of scholars.

    One might wonder why the scale of effort represented in this volume is so rare today. Have we lost faith in the parade of history? Theory so clogs the arteries of vital history that some ignore the possibility that Clio may be inherently colorful and vivacious. Norris’s exuberant, concrete approach can serve as a useful corrective to the elaborate cant that too often passes for historical writing these days.

    In fact, Norris’s work on Tudor history, stretching from the last years of the fifteenth century to the first years of the seventeenth, evinces the author’s commanding sense of an evolving history, giving us noble surcoats, folkwains for transit, beguins as kerchiefs of a prefeminist religious order and of middle-class women. As always with Norris, we see such vivid personalities as Eleanor of Austria, Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Catherine de Medici, and common sailors, court jesters, and peasant women. These opulent, colorful years of history have never had a greater pageant master or a more precise limner than Norris.

    Norris immerses the reader in an epic of visual history. There is a visionary splendor to Norris’s enterprise that is absent from today’s arid scholarly landscape. One celebrates this work in the wish that we might all strive toward a comparable exuberance, inclusiveness, and grandness of vision.

    Curator, the Costume Institute

    RICHARD MARTIN

    Metropolitan Museum of Art

    ‘All manners of attire came first into the city and country from the court, which, being once received by the common people, and by very stage-players themselves, the courtiers justly cast off, and take new fashions (though somewhat too curiously); and whosoever wears the old, men look upon him as a picture in arras hangings. For it is proverbially said, that we may eat according to our own appetite, but in our apparel must follow the fashion of the multitude, with whom we live. But in the meantime it is no reproach to any, who of old did wear those garments, when they were in fashion. In like sort, many dances and measures are used in Court, but when they come to be vulgar and to be used upon very stages, courtiers and gentlemen think them uncomely to be used, yet is it no reproach to any man who formerly had skill therein.’

    FYNES MORYSON: Itinerary, 1617.

    ‘ Immaculate costuming gives that confidence which religion is powerless to bestow.’

    Fig. 1. Penmynnydd, Anglesey, the Cradle of the Tudors

    FOREWORD

    A DELAY of eleven years between the appearance of two consecutive volumes of a work of this magnitude—for Volume II was published so long ago as 1927—is much to be regretted, and indeed calls for some apology. The abundance of the material, which has necessitated a double volume, and the labour of producing over a thousand illustrations, will account for much of this delay: but the chief reason has been the intrusion of other work in connection with stage and screen. In carrying Volume III to completion I have been much heartened by the encouragement of that scholarly Tudor historian, the late Mr. Ernest Law, who was kind enough to write to me shortly before his death, ‘ No one is so well fitted for this undertaking as yourself.’

    During the Tudor Period, continental fashions continued to influence those of the English nobility to an increasing extent; and for this reason brief introductory surveys of costume worn in France, Italy, Spain, and Germany have been given. In this volume, too, quotations from authorities have been printed in the same size type as the rest of the book; this may not be the conventional method, but I hoped that it will be appreciated by readers.

    In reply to some criticisms and in anticipation of others, it may be said in the first place that even so large a number of illustrations does not allow space for many actual photographs of original sources. Moreover, a very extensive experience and many years of experiments with models have enabled me to show in diagrams the construction of various garments and articles of headgear. Again, to some readers the biographical details and descriptions of appearance and mannerisms, although the result of much painstaking research, have appeared irrelevant; and, indeed, I am informed that many actors purposely refrain from studying such matters because either author or producers (or perhaps both) hold views altogether at variance with the facts. Such details have been inserted, however, with due regard to their sartorial significance, quite apart from any historical interest.

    It is again my pleasant task to thank my former helpers, Major and Mrs. D. S. Paterson; as also my publishers, Messrs. J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., for their continued helpfulness and patience in considering my every request; to Macmillan & Co. for permission to quote the long extract from Major Martin A. S. Hume’s Philip II of Spain; and Ernest Benn Ltd., for the extracts from the same author’s The Year after the Armada.

    For valuable work in translation from the original sources I am indebted to Marc Caulier, M. B. Elliott, Alice Maud Norris, Anthony Thorne, Mary Lowndes, Patrick Treble, James Wardrop, and Althea M. H. Westland.

    Other kind friends have helped the production in various ways. Too numerous for individual mention here are the authors from whose works references have been taken, the owners of private collections of portraits, and the directors of Art Galleries, Museums, and Libraries at home and abroad; to all of these I wish to express my gratitude for their extensive and generous assistance.

    I particularly wish to record my special thanks to J. Howard Brown for his valuable assistance in editing my manuscript.

    HERBERT NORRIS.

    THAME, OXON.

    October 1938.

    Table of Contents

    Title Page

    Copyright Page

    INTRODUCTION TO THE DOVER EDITION

    FOREWORD

    Table of Figures

    AUTHORITIES QUOTED

    CHAPTER I - THE REIGN OF KING HENRY VII 1485—1509

    CHAPTER II - THE REIGN OF KING HENRY VIII 1509—1547

    BOOK II - TUDOR COSTUME AND FASHION

    CHAPTER III - THE REIGN OF KING EDWARD VI 1547–53

    CHAPTER IV - THE REIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH 1558–1603

    GENERAL INDEX

    INDEX OF NAMES - This Index does not contain references to the Historical Data

    Table of Figures

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    AUTHORITIES QUOTED

    C. K. ADAMS

    JAMES PETTIT ANDREWS, F.S.A.

    KATHERINE ANTHONY

    Antiquarian Repertory

    Archaeologia

    EDWARD ARMSTRONG, M.A.

    WILLIAM A. BAILLIE-GROHMAN

    Bannatyne Club

    DR. CHARLES R. BEARD

    Biographies

    Dictionary of National Biography

    MICHAUD’s Biographie Universelle

    W. J. BISHOP

    PIERRE DE BOURDEILLE

    BRANTÔME

    MARY CROOM BROWN

    J. HOWARD BROWN, B.Sc.

    MURIEL ST. CLARE BYRNE, M.A.

    Calendars of State Papers

    ALBERT F. CALVERT, F.C.S., F.R.G.S.

    Camden Society

    FREDERICK CHAMBERLIN, LL.B., F.S.A., F.R.Hist.S.

    G. E. CHAMBERS, F.S.A.

    BARBARA McCLENAGHAN

    SIR W. LAIRD CLOWES

    CHARLES HENRY COOPER

    F. H. CRIPPS-DAY

    SIR LIONEL HENRY CUST, K.C.V.O.

    THOMAS DELONEY

    EDWARD DILLON

    F. M. O’DONOGHUE, F.S.A.

    HERBERT DRUITT

    CAMILLE ENLART

    JOAN EVANS, F.S.A., D.Litt., F.R.Hist.S.

    CHARLES FFOULKES, C.B., O.B.E., Hon. D.Litt. (Oxon), F.S.A.

    PATRICK FRASER-TYTLER

    CANON FRANCIS W. GALPIN, M.A., F.L.S.

    ARTHUR GARDNER

    HEREFORD B. GEORGE

    SEBASTIAN GIUSTINIAN

    MRS. EVERETT GREEN

    GEORG GRONAU

    HENRY M. HAKE, C.B.E., F.S.A.

    HALL’S Chronicles

    CHRISTOPHER HARE

    HARRINGTON’s Nugae Antiquae

    G. B. HARRISON, M.A., Ph.D.

    WILLIAM HARRISON

    HELEN W. HENDERSON

    WILLIAM HERBERT

    A. J. HIPKINS, F.S.A.

    CHRISTOPHER HOLFORD

    MARTIN A. S. HUME, F.R.Hist.S.

    GEORGE LELAND HUNTER

    Inventories

    A. JAQUET

    MARGARET JOURDAIN

    FRANCIS M. KELLY

    VICTOR VON KLARWILL

    ERNEST LAW, F.S.A.

    ROBERT LESLIE

    LOSELEY MSS.

    DAVID LOTH

    J. SEYMOUR LUCAS, R.A.

    HENRY MACHYN’S Diary

    SIR FREDERICK MADDEN, F.S.A.

    DE MAISSE’s journal

    J. G. MANN, M.A., B.Litt., F.S.A.

    Manuscripts

    G. E. MAINWARING

    JEAN H. MARIEJOB

    SIR CLEMENTS ROBERT MARKHAM, K.C.B., F.R.S., D.Sc.

    FRANCIS AND HUGH MARSHALL

    JULIAN MARSHALL

    DR. ERIC G. MILLAR

    JOSEPH RAMON MÉLIDA

    ANDRES MUÑOZ

    NAUNTON’S Fragmenta Regalia

    PROFESSOR J. E. NEALE, M.A.

    SIR NICHOLAS HARRIS NICOLAS, C.B., G.C.M.G.

    C. C. OMAN

    JEHANNE D’ORLIAC

    Oxford Dictionary

    MRS. BURY PALLISER

    SAMUEL PEGGE

    J. R. PLANCHE, Somerset Herald

    A. F. POLLARD, M.A., Hon. Litt.D., F.B.A.

    SIR WALTER SHERBURNE PRIDEAUX

    FRANÇOIS RABELAIS

    ANGELO S. RAPPOPORT, Ph.D., B.ès.L.

    ARY RENAN

    E. M. G. ROUTH

    G. B. ARCHIBALD RUSSELL, Lancaster Herald

    L. F. SALZMAN, M.A., F.S.A.

    SIR GEORGE SCHARF

    PHILIP W. SERGEANT, B.A.

    GEORGE SLOCOMBE

    G. F. HERBERT SMITH, M.A., D.Sc., F.R.A.S.

    H. CLIFFORD SMITH, M.A., F.S.A.

    State Papers

    SIR WILLIAM STIRLING-MAXWELL, Bart.

    J. M. STONE

    STOW’S Chronicles and Annales

    RALPH STRAUS, B.A.

    EDWIN W. STREETER

    PHILIP STUBBES

    LAWRENCE E. TANNER, F.S.A., M.V.O., B.A., M.A., F.R.Hist.S.

    Testamenta Vetusta

    C. J. S. THOMPSON, M.B.E., Ph.D.

    G. A. THRUPP

    ELEANOR E. TREMAYNE

    GEORGE UNWIN

    AYLMER VALLANCE

    EUGÈNE EMMANUEL VIOLLET-LE-Duc

    Walpole Society

    Wardrobe Accounts

    JOHN DOVER WILSON, C.H., M.A., Litt.D., F.B.A.

    VIOLET A. WILSON

    BRIG.-GEN. G. F. YOUNG, C.B.

    CHAPTER I

    THE REIGN OF KING HENRY VII 1485—1509

    CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS

    1485.

    Accession of Henry VII, 22nd August. Fulgens and Lucres by Henry Medwall. The earliest English printed play, published 1485–90.

    1486.

    Bartolommeo Diaz, Portuguese navigator, led an expedition fitted out by Joam II to the Cape of Good Hope.

    1487.

    Rebellion of Lambert Simnel (son of an organ maker at Oxford). Crushed at Stoke, 15th June.

    1490.

    Thomas Cromwell born, son of a blacksmith at Putney: destroyer of the famous shrines throughout the country. Executed 1540.

    John Cabot arrives in England and settles at Bristol. Born during the first half of the fifteenth century at Genoa, he went to Venice in 1461. In 1496 he was granted by Henry VII ‘the right to seek islands and countries,’ and with his three sons sailed from Bristol in May 1497, reaching the American mainland the 24th June following. Date of death unknown.

    Sebastian Cabot, born probably at Venice in 1474, was the second son of John. Accompanied his father in 1496, and eventually they discovered Newfoundland, Labrador, and Cape Florida; was later employed by Henry VIII until 1512. He then entered the service of Spain (with the exception of two years’ banishment in Africa 1532) until 1547. Returning to England in that year, he was nominated first Governor of the Merchant Adventurers 1553, and died in London in the last quarter of 1557. His pension was paid in September of that year, but not in December. His portrait may be seen in the Bristol Art Gallery; another, by Lorenzo Lotto, belongs to the Earl of Harewood.

    1492.

    Christopher Columbus discovered America, 12th October. Born about 1436 at Genoa (?), son of a woolcomber. Died at Valladolid, 1506.

    Perkin Warbeck’s Rebellion, 1492–9.

    1494.

    War between France and Italy, until 1496.

    1495.

    Francois Rabelais born at Chinon. A mendicant friar, author, and one of the most scholarly men of his age. Qualified as a physician. Died 1553.

    1497.

    Cornishmen’s Revolt.

    1498.

    Desiderius Erasmus came to England. Born 1466 at Rotterdam. Secretary to the Bishop of Cambrai 1491. Bachelor of Divinity, Cambridge, 1505. Died at Basle 1536.

    Vasco da Gama reached India by sea route round the Cape of Good Hope. Born about 1469 at Sines, Portugal. Died at Cochin 1524.

    1498 (about).

    Edward Hall born, citizen of London, lawyer. Died 1547. His Chronicle extended from 1399 to 1547.

    1499.

    Edward, Earl of Warwick (nephew of Richard III), the last Prince of the House of York, beheaded 24th November. Born in 1474/5 he was the only son of George, Duke of Clarence, and Isabel, daughter and coheir of Richard, Earl of Warwick and Salisbury.

    1503.

    War between France and Spain. In this campaign the Chevalier Bayard (1476–1524) performed prodigies of valour.

    Abuse of Privileges of the Church by ecclesiastics leads to the Pope allowing investigations to be made into various monasteries—the prelude to the political Reformation.

    1504.

    John Colet became Doctor of Divinity. Born about 1467, son of a City knight. Dean of St. Paul’s 1505. Founder of St. Paul’s School 1510. Died 1519.

    1505.

    Polydore Vergil, an Italian, commissioned by Henry VII to write a history of England. Born about 1470 at Urbino. Returned to Italy 1550. Died 1555.

    Martin Luther entered an Augustinian monastery. Born 1483 at Eisleben, son of a miner. Excommunicated 1520. Translated the Bible 1522. Married a nun 1525. Died at Eisleben 1546.

    1506.

    John Leland, the first English antiquary, born in London. He was at St. Paul’s School and Christ’s College, Cambridge. Appointed King’s Antiquary 1533, and made his antiquarian tour 1534 to 1543. Rector of Haseley, Oxon, 1542. Died 1552. Author of Itinerary and Collectanea.

    Nicholas Udall born. Wrote the first true English comedy, Ralph Roister Doister, 1553-4. Head master of Eton 1534. Head master of Westminster 1554. Died 1556.

    1508.

    The League of Cambrai: France, Spain, and the emperor unite with many Italian powers against Venice.

    Ferdinand Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba or Alva, born. Present at the Battle of Pavia 1525. Sent to subdue the Netherlands 1567; recalled after six years. Called upon to suppress Portugal 1581. Died 1582.

    1509.

    John Calvin, the Protestant Reformer, born at Noyon. Died 1564.

    Death of Henry VII, and accession of Henry VIII.

    THE ARTS, 1485–1509

    SCULPTURE—MONUMENTAL EFFIGIES

    Sculptured monumental effigies continue to afford valuable sources of information on costume throughout the period covered by volume iii.

    As previously, the Gothic style prevailed: the figures were recumbent, i.e. lying on their backs, with their hands clasped; the heads of knights rested upon their helmets, while ladies had embroidered cushions to support them. At the feet were animals, usually from their heraldic achievements. Cushions were also used under the heads of civilians.

    Weepers appear on many monuments at this time, and were in use sparingly almost to the end of the sixteenth century.

    Men of rank were nearly always shown wearing full armour, sometimes with their mantles of office over it. Effigies of women are the most useful, because they are usually wearing their best dresses. What is so helpful about effigies is, that one can walk round them and examine details at close quarters.

    MEMORIAL BRASSES

    Memorial brasses in England have been grouped broadly, by the eminent historian, Herbert Haines, into three main periods. The first covers the earliest examples, and finishes at the end of the fourteenth century; the second closes with the death of Henry VII; and the third surveys the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

    The first period, and the major part of the second, have been dealt with briefly in volume ii of this work.

    More brasses were laid down towards the end of the fifteenth century than during the periods previously described. They were used by all classes of the community, and great numbers commemorative of civilians are still in existence.

    The artistic deterioration of memorial brasses continued. Over-abundance of shading and too much detail were introduced, which spoilt the composition; and conventionality of treatment became more noticeable. The metal used was thinner than before, and the engraving necessarily shallower.

    To effigies of man and wife were frequently added groups of their children —the sons under the figure of their father, and the daughters under that of their mother. About the same time, figures of the deceased in the attitude of prayer were substituted for the older recumbent effigies.

    The method of showing women with their heads in profile, or three-quarter, in order to display the headdress to better advantage, was still continued.

    Lettering of the inscriptions was somewhat crowded: the older use of the Norman-French language and Lombardic capitals was superseded by Latin (and occasionally English), with Gothic letters.

    The second period of the classification of brasses ends in 1509.

    TAPESTRY

    Tapestries of the period comprised in this volume are divided into two classes:

    Gothic, fifteenth century to 1515.

    Renaissance, 1515 to 1615.

    Tapestry characteristic of the period 1485–1509 is known as late Gothic, and was for the most part woven in French Flanders. After the fall of Arras in 1477 tapissers from that town settled in Bruges, Brussels, and Tournai. The following are some of these master-craftsmen: Stephen of Brumberghe, who worked thirty years on ‘The Acts of the Apostles’; John Roubronck, Perquid d’Ervine, Peter van Oppenom, and John van der Brugghe. The men who were responsible for these masterpieces were artists as well as master-weavers, collaborating with the designer, and at their discretion altering the detail of a cartoon, choosing the colouring, and even introducing new figures into the composition, if, in their judgment, they considered the cartoon unsuitable for translating into tapestry.

    In workmanship, colour, and design, tapestries of this period are second only in excellence to the earlier Gothic tapestries executed before 1480. Those made in Brussels during the period dealt with in this chapter, interwoven with gold and silver, are considered by some equal in beauty to those of an earlier date.

    The costumes and accessories depicted in late Gothic tapestries are of the greatest value for study, particularly as the artist-cartoonist at this time designed his own figures, whether biblical, classical, historical, or ‘up to date,’ wearing fashionable contemporary dress.

    The ‘sets’ are too numerous to mention here, but ‘The Story of David’ in the Musée Cluny contains ten panels rich with gold. They afford excellent material for the study of costume, etc., of this period, especially in some panels which depict Court scenes.

    The ‘Salvation Series’ of tapestries consists of many sets, of which some were called ‘The Story of the Seven Deadly Sins.’ One set of the latter woven at Brussels about 1500 was purchased in 1531 by Cardinal Wolsey, to hang in the Legates’ Chamber of his palace at Hampton Court, where some of them still remain. Reproductions of this set of tapestries are excellent illustrations of the dressing of morality characters during the last ten years of the fifteenth century.

    ‘The Trojan War’ series is an interesting set to be seen at Zamora Cathedral in Spain, of which there are several replicas by the same makers in public and private collections.

    The tapestry in St Mary’s Hall, Coventry, is said to depict Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou, but it is obviously dated about the year 1490 (see vol. ii, p. 355, and Figs. 6, 7, 69, and 145 of this volume).

    Mention is made in vol. ii, p. 355, footnote, of the wonderful tapestries now at the Musée Historique Lorraine at Nancy, and described by Viollet-le-Duc as having been taken as loot by the Swiss from the camp equipment of Charles le Téméraire after the Battle of Granson in 1476. The authorities of the Musée have been kind enough to furnish minute details of the tapestries in their possession, from which it is certain that they were wrongly ascribed by Viollet-le-Duc. They were, in fact, not in existence at the time of Charles le Téméraire’s death. The series represents ‘The Condemnation of Banquet and Supper,’ and was woven at Tournai in 1510. It is particularly useful for the study of costume, etc.

    The tapestries actually taken by the Swiss in 1476 are now preserved in the Berne Museum. They are of the kind known as ‘Gothic Verdure Armorial.’ In such tapestries the whole surface is covered with flowering plants growing, as it were, in grass. Armorial bearings and initials are frequently set in the midst of this verdure, but they are useless to the student of costume.

    The most wonderful collection of Flemish or late Gothic tapestries in existence belonged to ex-King Alphonso XIII of Spain. They are most interesting and informative for the study of costume and other details.

    A fine set of four panels was made in the Netherlands for Philippe le Beau and his wife, Joanna, the sister of Henry VIII’s first queen. The subject is ‘The Story of the Holy Virgin,’ and the set was designed, it is said, by Jan van Eyck. They are woven in silk, wool, gold, and silver, with the figures garbed in contemporary fashions. They adorned the private apartments in the Castle of Tordesillas on the Douro occupied by the unfortunate mad Queen Joanna ¹ during her detention of forty-seven years. On this account, perhaps, they were affectionately cherished by her descendants.

    Tapestries depicting the hunt were much in favour during the period under discussion, and examples can be found in many collections. The ‘Chasse au Faucon’ set in the Musée Cluny shows wonderful costumes of the time of Charles VIII.

    Some subjects are working men and others peasants. A useful set showing the former, woven in the last decade of the fifteenth century, is to be found in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.

    ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS

    As stated on p. 356, vol. ii, the best illuminated manuscripts of this later period were produced in Flanders, where the art reached its highest point of excellence at the end of the fifteenth century and during the early years of the sixteenth. These were greatly prized by collectors of the period.

    The figures are well proportioned, their clothes well defined, and the draperies arranged in very beautiful folds, though perhaps a little formal. Furniture and all kinds of useful everyday objects executed with neat draughtsmanship are to be found in the folios of these valuable works of art. Landscapes and architecture are treated in a very delightful manner, and full justice is done to atmosphere in depicting really lovely scenery. These pictures with their borders occupy, as a rule, a full page.

    Borders consisted of a rather wide monochrome band decorated with naturalistic flowers—single blossoms of roses (see Fig. 54), carnations, cornflowers, pansies, daisies, etc. Often short sprays of these flowers were painted with their shadows to give the effect of their being laid on the background.

    Fruit, especially the strawberry, was frequently introduced, and it was quite usual for insects of all kinds to be dotted about amongst the flowers and fruit.

    The work of the French manuscript artists approached in excellence the finished style of the Flemish, in fact they were very close rivals; and their work shows strong affinities with Flemish art. Illuminated manuscripts produced in south-east France display Italian influences in the technique.

    Long after the introduction of painting, Illum. MSS. continued to be produced in France, but very few Illum. MSS. were done in England at this period; most of those that were made here were the work of resident Flemish artists who had been invited over by those interested in their art.

    PORTRAITS AND PAINTERS

    A very useful supplement to other authorities on costume is the study of portrait painting, an art which made considerable strides during the fifteenth century, and, towards the end of it, had attained a notable distinction.

    Full-length portraiture was not attempted by the artists in this country, the head and shoulders only being depicted. Portraits were usually painted in oil upon wood, oak panels often being used, sometimes with semicircular tops (Fig. 2). Backgrounds were in gold, or a pattern was painted to represent a rich brocade. In front of the figure a parapet was often shown, covered with tapestry or brocade, on which the hands rested (see Fig. 226).

    Since the time of Henry III no English sovereign took so much interest in art, or was so generously its patron, as Henry VII. His privy purse expenses abound with items relating to payments to artists: ‘Thomas Paynter for paynting,’ and ‘Maynard the King’s Payntour,’ are two among the names recorded.

    There is some doubt as to the existence of any creative school of English portrait painters at this period; but there is sufficient evidence that a few English painters, other than those already mentioned as being remunerated by Henry VII, were at work, many as copyists from Flemish original works. The portraits at Windsor of the kings from Henry V to Henry VII (see vol. ii, p. 356), and those of many other personages in various collections, were probably painted by Flemish artists. By command of Henry VII many copies of the portraits in the royal collection were probably made by English artists, chiefly for display at the Palaces of Westminster, Greenwich, and Sheen. They are now scattered throughout the land; some are still in the possession of private persons, and a number of them now belong to the Society of Antiquaries. These portraits are most valuable for the details of head attire, and especially of jewellery. The limited portions of the costumes they depict are those fashionable in western Europe during the reign of Henry VII.

    Fig. 2. The Emperor Ferdinand I

    Before the dawn of the sixteenth century, when HANS MEMLINC (1430—94) was at his prime, and JEROME BOSCH (1460—1516) was about to make his name, no Flemish artists of any repute considered it worth their while to give up their connections on the Continent and seek their fortunes in England. It has been suggested that JENIN GOSSART DE MAUBEUGE (1470—1534), better known as JAN VAN MABUSE, made short visits to this country to execute commissions before the year 1503, and some portraits of the reign of Henry VII are attributed to this artist.

    The family of HOORENBAULT, established at Ghent from 1414 until 1544, were responsible for many portraits of continental notabilities, and, most likely, of some of their English contemporaries.

    JEHAN BOURDICHON (1478–1516) was an artist of the Franco-Flemish school and became Court painter to Charles VIII and Anne of Brittany about 1495. He was also valet de chambre to the King.

    Another artist of the same school, JEHAN PERRÉAL, known as JEHAN DE PARIS, was born at Lyons, where he painted as early as 1483. In 1497 he was appointed Court painter to Charles VIII and toured Germany and Italy, painting portraits of many distinguished people. He entered the service of the Archduchess Marguerite of Austria in 1504. In 1507 he painted several members of the French Court, under Louis XII, to whom he had been appointed Court painter.

    BERNHARD STRIGEL, born 1460—1, was a prominent artist of the German school who painted portraits of the Emperor Maximilian, Mary of Burgundy, the Emperor Charles V in his youth, etc. He died in 1528.

    Another artist of the German school, LUCAS CRANACH (or KRANACH), was born at Kronach in 1472. He was court painter to the Elector of Saxony, Frederick III, the Wise, from 1504 onwards. His portraits are very useful for the study of costume of the Maximilian epoch.

    Chief, of course, of this school is ALBRECHT DÜRER, born at Nuremberg in 1471, son of a Hungarian goldsmith.

    ANDREA SOLARI, born about 1460, was a Lombard-Milanese painter. He went to Flanders after 1509, but spent the latter part of his life in Italy, probably at Milan. His work is distinguished by the subtle modelling of the heads and its delicate execution. He died about 1515.

    One of the greatest artists of all time was RAPHAEL SANZIO. He was born at Urbino on 28th March 1483, the son of Giovanni Sanzio or de Santi, an eminent artist of the Umbrian School. Entering the atelier of Pietro Perugino at Perugia in 1494, he remained there till 1503. His works, pictures, frescoes, designs for tapestries, etc., are notable for their grandeur of conception and calm realism of the loftiest ideal achieved by perfect harmony of grouping, colouring, and drapery. Raphael died on 6th April 1520.

    Other artists of the Italian school are too numerous and well known to be included in these sections.

    SECTION I: 1485—1509

    INTRODUCTION

    The victory of Bosworth Field, 22nd August 1485, placed Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, on the throne as Henry VII.

    This accession of the House of Tudor marks in English history the division between the Middle Ages and the Age of New Learning and New Faith, known as the RENAISSANCE.

    It may be well to recapitulate briefly the sequence of events which brought about this new access of culture in England (see vol. ii, p. 467).

    In 1453 the Turks captured Constantinople, which had been the home of Greek art and scholarship for a thousand years. Many of its treasures were dispersed—through ignorance as much as cupidity—countless examples of inestimable value were destroyed and the rest scattered far and wide. This completed the destruction and dissipation of art treasures begun by the first Fall in 1204.

    The Turks were not left alone to garner the spoils. Such a rich harvest attracted a swarm of seekers, whose wealth or power gave them a chance of acquiring some of the loot. The process continued over many years. With a lively sense of intrinsic value as well as artistic merit, the de’ Medici grasped the opportunity to acquire vast quantities of treasure, including a wealth of Ilium. MSS., destined to have an incalculable influence on western culture. Successive popes did the same, sending agents to search for and purchase the scattered proceeds of the sack.

    This gave a great impetus to the new cultural movement in Italy, which had begun much earlier to rival Byzantium as a centre of learning; indeed, the Renaissance period in Italy may be said to start with Petrarch (1304—74), and to reach its zenith during the pontificate of Leo X (Giovanni de’ Medici, 1513—21).

    The Renaissance influence in France was the outcome of the Italian wars, waged by Charles VIII, Louis XII, and Francis I.

    Although these wars involved a tremendous waste of life and energy, their indirect benefits were of the highest value. In Italy the French had greatly widened their knowledge of the masterpieces of the arts and literature, mainly the literature of ancient Greece and Rome; this new appreciation emphasized the Italian influence on French thought and outlook which had been at work for the past century. It also wrought a marked effect upon French culture, and, largely through that nation, transformed the whole intellectual outlook of northern and western Europe. To this period the French gave the name of ‘Renaissance’ (new birth, regeneration). In the early years of the Tudor period, the Renaissance movement found its way to England through the enthusiasm of a few learned men; notably Bishop Fox, Confessor to the Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond. It was usually spoken of as the New Learning.

    ROYALTY AND NOBILITY—MEN: 1485—1509

    KING HENRY VII

    Henry VII was born at Pembroke Castle on 26th July 1455.¹ In appearance his face was pale and long with small pretensions to good looks, but his features were regular, his eyes ‘grey shining and quick,’ and his hair ‘yellow, like burnished gold.’ In middle age it was dark brown. According to the fashion of the time he was always clean-shaven, showing a red wart upon his right cheek. Of middle height, his figure was slight and well proportioned.

    As a young man Henry Tudor was of a romantic and poetic disposition, much interested in Celtic lore and the genealogy of his own family; in fact, an antiquary of no mean order. Having spent many of his early years either in exile or as a prisoner, he developed much seriousness of mind. During the first part of his reign he was decidedly popular, and his pleasant expression and ready smile won all hearts.

    copal Palace.’²

    Fig. 3. Badge of Henry VII

    The three standards referred to were the Red Cross of St. George upon white silk: the fiery Red Dragon of the Tudors on parti-per-pale white and green sarsenet, Fig. 4, and the Dun Cow of the Warwicks³ on yellow tiretaine (Fig. 5). Henry VII was crowned 30th October 1485 at Westminster Abbey by Cardinal Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury. He was referred to by his contemporaries as ‘The King our Sovereigne Lord’ and ‘The Kings Highnes.’

    Fig. 4. The Dragon Standard

    His marriage took place at Westminster, 10th January 1486, and was celebrated ‘with all religious and glorious magnificence’ by Cardinal Bourchier. His bride was the Princess Elysabeth Plantagenet, eldest daughter of King Edward IV and Elizabeth Wydeville, and heiress of the Royal House of Plantagenet. This marriage led to the union of the Red Rose badge of the House of Lancaster and the Yorkist White Rose, resulting in what was called the Union or Tudor Rose, represented in blazon as ‘a rose quarterly gules and argent barbed vert and seeded or’ (see Fig. 53), but more commonly shown as a white rose charged upon a red one, barbed green and seeded gold (Fig. 316). Sometimes the Rose of Lancaster is blazoned gold.

    The following is a description of Henry VII, written in 1598, by Edward Hall in his Chronicle:

    Fig. 5. The Black Bull of the Nevilles

    ‘He was a man of body but leane and spare, albeit mighty and strong therewith, of personage and stature, somewhat higher than the mean sort of men be, of a wonderful beauty and fair complexion, of countenance merry and smiling, especially in his communications, his eyes grey, his teeth single, and hair thin, of wit in all things quick and prompt, of a princly stomacke and haute courage.’

    From another source, dated 1498, we learn that ‘his Crown is, nevertheless, undisputed, and his government is strong in all respects. He is disliked, but the Queen beloved, because she is powerless. They love the Prince [Arthur] as much as themselves, because he is the grandchild of his grandfather [Edward IV]. Those who know him love him also for his own virtues. The King looks old for his years, but young for the sorrowful life he has led. One of the reasons why he leads a good life is that he has been brought up abroad. . . . Although he professes many virtues, his love of money is too great.’

    In his youth, and at the time he ascended the throne, Henry VII must have dressed well, and in the manner expected of so important a man; but after the death of the Queen in 1503, he ceased to trouble overmuch about his own wardrobe, but was nevertheless jealous of his subjects if they made a better show of raiment than himself. It was about this time that Henry became silent, suspicious, and reserved, characteristics which were, no doubt, symptomatic of the avarice and parsimony of his remaining years. On the other hand, a contemporary writes: ‘Though frugal to excess in his own person, he does not change any of the ancient usages of England at his Court, keeping a sumptuous table,’ 600 to 700 persons sitting down to dinner, which cost the royal household £14,000 sterling annually. In earlier days his own personal expenses with that of his family amounted to £20,000.

    In the year 1504, he started a campaign against the extravagant dress of his nobles and their retainers; and Edward Hall, within a few years of this event, states in his Chronicle: ‘He sought out the penal laws, and put them into execution, and they that were found offenders, were easily at the beginning fined and scourged. After that he appointed two masters and surveyors of his forfaytes, ye one Sir Richard Empson [an infamous Minister and Master Court-Leech] and the other Edmund Dudley, both learned in the Laws of the realm. And these two persons contended, which of them by most bringing in might most please and satisfy his master’s desire and appetite. Wherefore in the beginning, they armed with a company of accusers [commonly called promotors] which brought to them the names of the offenders, esteemed and regarded so much the gain of money, that they clearly forgot and banished out of their remembrance their duty present, the peril that might ensue, and the thank and goodwill that they might have obtained, and yet they had warning of great and sage persons to close their hands from such uncharitable doings and cruel extremities, according to the Adage, the extremity of injustice, is extreme injury.’

    John de Vere, Earl of Oxford, was one of these unfortunate offenders. He had entertained Henry VII most lavishly at Castle Hedingham, and with more ostentation in ceremonial, hospitality, and dress than his sovereign thought fit. The day after the termination of the King’s visit the Royal attorney called upon the Earl and fined him 15,000 marks, equal to £10,000.

    To offset these suggestions of craft and stinginess it is cheering to find items in the King’s privy purse expenses enumerating rewards paid to various people on a liberal scale: ‘My Lorde of Northumblande pleyers,’ 1492; ‘Three pleyers of Wycombe’ and ‘Frenshe pleyers,’ 1494; and in 1495, ‘Jakes Haute for disguysing.’ It is probable that this versatile individual was a dabbler in what is now known as stage production, for not only is his name found ‘Jakes Haute for the Tenes playe,’ but ‘Jacques Haulte [obviously the same man] for producing a disguysing’ at Christmas 1498.

    In 1502 there are entries: ‘pleyers of St Albones,’ and the following year, ‘pleyers of Essex.’ All these ‘pleyers’ were probably touring companies of actors.

    The game of ‘Tenyse’ also interested Henry Tudor. He paid one shilling to Hugh Denes in 1494 for balls at the ‘Paume play,’ and two years later gave £4 ‘to the new pleyer of Tenes’ (see p. 43).

    An excellent comparison, made by the well-known biographer, Martin Hume, is here quoted: ‘Ferdinand of Aragon⁴ and Henry Tudor were well matched. Both were clever, unscrupulous and greedy; each knew that the other would cheat him if he could, and tried to get the better of every deal, utterly regardless, not only of truth and honesty, but of common decency. But, though Ferdinand usually beat Henry at his shuffling game, fate finally beat Ferdinand, and a powerful modern England is the clearly traceable consequence.’

    Various portraits of Henry VII are to be found in Illum. MSS. and some contemporary paintings. One is at Windsor Castle. The head and shoulders portrait by Michiel Sithium in the National Portrait Gallery, London, No. 416, is pronounced by authorities to be an excellent likeness. In it the King wears an underrobe of black velvet and an overrobe of gold brocade and ermine, obviously a costume such as is seen in Fig. II. His bonet is of blocked felt (see Fig. III) and the collar of the Toison d’Or lies upon his shoulders. A red rose is held in the right hand. The recently discovered terra-cotta bust,⁵ illustrated in Old Furniture, vol. v, p. 187, and the bronze effigy on his tomb in Westminster Abbey, are the last portraits of Henry VII. The King died 21st April 1509.

    An Illum. MS. dated 1496 shows Henry VII in state dress at the age of forty-one, and Plate I is a drawing made from one of the miniatures which it contains. The King is wearing a robe, cut on similar lines to that shown in Fig. 561, vol. ii, but without the padding on the shoulders and the slit in the sleeves; it is long enough to trail upon the ground. This robe is of cloth of gold lined with miniver, which shows in the turned-back portions of the front and at the edges of the sleeves. It is girded at the waist by a jewelled belt; and a hooded cape surmounted by a jewelled collar covers the shoulders. Hardly any part of the purple underrobe is visible, except just below the knee where the robe falls slightly apart. The crown is a band of moderate depth, jewelled, supporting four crosses patée alternating with four fleurs-de-lys, surmounted by two arches (the crown above shows four), with a ball, and a cross above their intersections. The King carries a sceptre with a fleur-de-lys above a double cross. The background is composed of the livery colours, white (silver) and green, of the House of Tudor, with the arms, supporters, and crown superimposed. King Henry was elected a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1491. He received the insignia from the Emperor Maximilian and was the first of the few English kings honoured by the grant of this famous Order. For details of the Order of the Golden Fleece see vol. ii, p. 402.

    Figs. 6—7. Henry VII (from the Coventry Tapestry)

    The Palace of Whitehall contained a famous and magnificent fresco, said to have been Holbein’s finest work, painted in 1537. It portrayed Henry VII, Elysabeth of York, Henry VIII, and Jane Seymour.

    This fresco was destroyed when the Palace of Whitehall was burnt in 1698. It is fortunate that Charles II had the foresight to commission a small copy of this fresco executed from the original by Remigius van Leemput in 1667, and now to be seen in Wolsey’s Room at Hampton Court Palace. In this fresco Henry VII is dressed almost exactly like the nobleman shown in Fig. 8 except that his sleeves are slit vertically at elbow level. The robe is of cloth of gold lined with ermine, the underrobe being of crimson velvet. Above this costume is a long black silk scarf passed round the neck and hanging down the front on both sides. The King wears the French bonet of black velvet, with a jewelled brooch and pendant pearl fixed on the right side.

    Fig 8. AN ENGLISH NOBLEMAN, 1496

    Fig 9. A FRENCH PRINCE, 1500

    Several portraits of Henry VII show him wearing a scarf, and in some cases, where a jewelled collar is worn, the scarf passes over this. A portrait, No. 572—1882, in the Victoria and Albert Museum shows this King wearing a scarf of black velvet lined with brown fur.

    Henry VII and his Queen were admitted to the Trinity Guild at Coventry in the year 1490, and there is no doubt that the figures in the tapestry (see vol. ii. p. 355) in St Mary’s Hall there represent the King, his Queen, and Court. Fig. 7 is a drawing constructed from this tapestry, and shows Henry VII kneeling at a prie-dieu covered with a piece of blue damask (see Fig. 198) on which is placed a missal and the Royal crown. The King wears an ample gown with sleeves similar in shape to those seen in Fig. 8, and made of a large patterned gold brocade, the design of which is shown in Fig. 199, faced and lined with ermine—the only difference being that the revers are ‘stepped’ back. On the chest is seen the upper part of the pourpoint, and a massive gold chain is wound twice round the neck. The French bonet of black velvet is turned up with an embattled brim of ermine—a mode borrowed from Germany.

    Another version of this gown shows some of the fullness front and back pleated or gathered into the shoulder seam (see Fig. 233).

    NOBILITY: MEN

    After the Wars of the Roses, and as a natural consequence, the ranks of the old nobility were greatly diminished and their power gradually declined. Like all the Tudors, Henry VII disregarded the advantages and traditions of noble birth, and one of his great ambitions was the extermination of the medieval aristocracy. In their place he sought to elevate unknown persons, not only men of wealth, such as the upper rural class and non-noble free landowners—the country gentlemen—but versatile, competent individuals, many of great ability.

    ‘They all from time immemorial wear very fine clothes, and are extremely polite in their language. . . . In addition to their civil speeches, they have the incredible courtesy of remaining with their heads uncovered, with an admirable grace, whilst they talk to each other.’ This comes from an Italian —and Italians were renowned for good manners.

    An English nobleman is represented in Fig. 8, which is taken from an Illum. MS. written and illustrated at Sheen, Surrey, in 1496. It shows the Italian and Flemish influences. This nobleman is wearing a robe like that described

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