Research Project Eng3046

8/13/2019 Research Project Eng3046

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24486388

I. Introduction

In this work, different theatrical forms from the Medieval period to the Renaissance

literary movement will be explored !he forms of mas"#e and tri#mph that were commonly

#sed in this period were considered to be drama, whereas it wo#ld not be considered drama

nowadays beca#se o#r conception of entertainment has chan$ed !here are different points to

bear in mind considerin$ every theatrical form is #ni"#e, s#ch as when, where and how they

were performed as well as the type of a#dience it was aimed for %n the one hand, the

concepts of dis$#isin$, m#mmin$, mas"#e, and carnival pop#lar d#rin$ the fo#rteenth and

fifteenth cent#ry will be explored !his kind of civic entertainment took place ann#ally

d#rin$ the &hristmas season in the ho#seholds of mayors and sheriffs who were members of

companies, b#t they were also presented at co#rt, or informally from door to door ' %n the

other hand, royal entries and tri#mphs were a common practice since the thirteenth cent#ry

!hese took place on special occasions s#ch as coronations( the whole city had to be decorated

for the event, all inhabitants were involved, and a ro#te for a procession had to be desi$ned,

which more elaborated over time2 !he fact that there are texts that resemble the c#lt#re in this

period is very important, beca#se nowadays we have evidence of their cost#mes )s Richard

*#tton wisely stated(

!o i$nore the civic pa$eants of the !#dor and +t#art period is to i$nore the one form of drama which we

know m#st have been familiar to all citiens of -ondon, and th#s important key to or #nderstandin$ of

those times and of the place of dramatic spectacle in early modern ne$otiations of national, civic and

personal identity3

' -ancashire, )nne London Civic Theatre. City Drama and Pageantry from Roman Times to 1558

.&ambrid$e( &/0, 2112 p '182 -ancashire 43 processional ro#te thro#$h the streets5 with rich cloths han$in$ from the windows of

b#ildin$s and, certainly by the mid fo#rteenth cent#ry if not earlier, also with street sta$es erected to display

symbolic fi$#res and scenes Mechanical devices were also #sed3 *#tton, Richard Jacobean Civic Pageants .7eele( Ryb#rn 0#blishin$, '9 p :

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II. Use of different theatrical forms

a Mas"#e

!here are different conceptions of Mas"#e that occ#r in the late Medieval and

Renaissance period in ;n$land, considered as an evol#tion of other anti"#e forms of drama by

which people entertained themselves It became a pop#lar activity amon$ different se$ments

of pop#lation, from the &o#rt, to the lower social class that consisted of the #se of masks for

special occasions or events s#ch as m#mmin$ and carnival festivities

!he oldest and most simple form of what later developed into the mas"#e was the

dis$#isin$, which did not necessarily imply any dramatic action, b#t it was foc#sed on

cost#mes -ater, it developed into M#mmin$, a c#stom #s#ally practised in &hristmas time in

which the performers, who are dis$#ised in maskin$ habit, $o from ho#se to ho#se and are not

allowed to say nothin$ that wo#ld betray their identity while playin$ dice or dancin$ 4

Moreover, the m#mmer<s plays involve action bro#$ht by the dis$#ised(

In them, the central incident is still the killin$ and restorin$ to life of one of the characters, and there is

still eno#$h dancin$ to show their descent from the sword=dance >irst, the characters are introd#ced in a

speech? then comes the drama, in which each persona$e has his own introd#ctory anno#ncement? and the

whole winds #p with the entrance of s#bsidiary characters, more dancin$ and the inevitable collection@

in itself a s#rvival of hoary anti"#ity9

Ay the sixteenth cent#ry, the names of m#mmin$ and dis$#isin$ were replaced by mas"#e6

!he development of this form of entertainment into a form of composition was first heard in

;n$land d#rin$ the rei$n of Benry CIII: Mas"#e was said to be the main am#sement of the

;n$lish co#rt and nobility, and the pa$eant was still very pop#lar amon$ the citiens Aoth of

4 Dard E !rent, et al The Cambridge History of Engish and !merican Literat"re. Few Gork( H0 0#tnams

+ons, '1:J2'? Few Gork( Aartlebycom, 2111 &itations of this work will be referenced to in the form ofvol#me, chapter and section Col#me C, &hapter KIII, section 3

9 Col#me C, &hapter II, section ''6

Col#me C, &hapter KIII, section 3: Col#me C, &hapter I, section 8

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them were so commonly practised that for the time bein$, made them the most obvio#s, if

not the most characteristic, of the national activities, the means by which corporate and

national feelin$ most readily expressed itself8

Aen Lonson was commanded to s#pply "#een

)nne with a mas"#e, The #as$"e of %ac&nesse' personated at the &o#rt at Dhitehall on the

!welfth=Fi$ht, '619, in which the "#een and her ladies were the mas"#ers !his is a

description of the event, which re"#ired colo#r and li$ht, fi$#res and contains many scenes(

!he mas"#ers are all placed in a $reat concave +hell, like mother of pearl, c#rio#sly made to move

on those waters and rise with the billow? the torch=bearin$ %ceaniae are on the backs of six h#$e

sea=monsters, disposed ro#nd the $reat shell &#nnin$ly placed li$hts raise the whole elaborate

show to the hi$hest point of brilliance 5Dhen the shell came to a standstill, a triton and two sea=

maidens san$ a son$@a tenor and two trebles !hen, %cean#s en"#ires of Fi$er why he is far o#t

of his co#rse here in the west Fi$er explains that his da#$hters, havin$ heard the fable of 0haeton,

are discontented with their blackness, and have seen a vision which ordered them to seek a land

whose name ends in the syllables tania 5!hen comes the main dance of the mas"#ers Dhen it

is finished, and the mas"#ers are abo#t to make choice of their men, one from the sea was heard to

call them with this &harm, s#n$ by a tenor voice !he son$ very aptly bids the sirens of the sea

beware of the sirens of the land 5 and the mas"#ers in a dance ret#rned to sea where they took

their +hell, and with this f#ll son$ went o#t

Makin$ a clear distinction between the different forms of dis$#isin$ s#ch as m#mmin$

and &arnival is very diffic#lt beca#se it is not only the bo#ndaries of $enre, b#t those

between $ame and performance that are bl#rred( masks are worn in a whole spectr#m of

activities, from to#rnaments to pa$eants to dances, in which the demarcation between

<performer< and <spectator< becomes thoro#$hly el#sive and sometimes non=existent'1, b#t

they coexisted in some places like the -ow &o#ntries and they took place in the same winter

8 Col#me CI, &hapter KIII, +ection '

Col#me C, &hapter KIII, section 9'1

!wycross, Me$ #as&s and #as&ing in #edieva and Eary T"dor Engand .A#rlin$ton( )sh$ate, 2112 p'12

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time of the year ;ven tho#$h &arnival was more widely extended in the +o#th and M#mmin$

tended to belon$ to the Forthwestern areas of ;#rope, both activities involve maskin$ and

dis$#isin$( #d$in$ from the records, carnival maskin$ seems to be an extension of the

pop#lar m#mmin$ ho#se=visit''

&arnival was one of the most spectac#lar traditions that took place in ;#rope d#rin$

medieval times and beca#se it was widely spread amon$ different co#ntries, classes and was

associated with the &hristian beliefs( it was the festival to celebrate and bid farewell to

plenty immediately before the privations of -ent'2 , b#t also related to some kind of

liberation, for people wore masks in order to feel #ninhibited and feel free to act differently

from their a$e or social position +adly, street maskin$ enco#ra$ed crime violence and theft

d#e to the fact that criminals were not reco$nied and they were likely not to be prosec#ted(

>roissart<s story of the mask of wild men catchin$ fire is repeated in many different forms,

all emphasisin$ that it was the masks, constr#cted with pitch and other inflammable

s#bstances, that made it impossible for the maskers to escape the flames '3 !his is one of the

reasons why at the end of the sixteenth cent#ry the act of coverin$ the face and therefore

maskin$, was condemned by protestantism and christians beca#se it hid the tr#e identity of

individ#als and was related to the *evil( !he interpretation of the >all knits to$ether a

complex series of ideas abo#t maskin$( symbolically, masks belon$ to the *evil beca#se it is

proper for him to lie? literally he p#t on the mask of a serpent to deceive )dam and ;ve? the

sin to which he sed#ced them was to abandon the tr#e ima$e of Hod in favo#r of a mask of

sin'4

'' !wycross, 93'2 !wycross, 92'3

!wycross, 31'4 !wycross, 311

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b &ivic !ri#mph

!his art form was pop#lar in the northern area of ;#rope since the fo#rteenth cent#ry,

where they celebrated the ceremonial arrivals of their soverei$ns with dramatic

embellishments of an already colo#rf#l rit#al that can be traced back to late classical times'9

!he civic tri#mph can be viewed as a series of pa$eants with dramatic and rit#al p#rposes, or

as a way to spread political ideas -on$ ceremonies took place when kin$s and "#eens entered

the &ity of -ondon 7iplin$ explains that certainly -ondon pa$eant makers were capable of

$reat technical sophistication, and -ondon shows had always been distin$#ished by elaborate

scenic display and spectac#lar mechanical devices'6, however the plannin$ of civic tri#mphs

co#ld take abo#t two weeks and therefore be scenically impoverished d#e to lack of time,

s#ch as )nne Aoleyn<s coronation? or they co#ld take #p to two years of plannin$, as occ#rred

with 7atharine of )ra$on<s civic tri#mph In this narrow or extended period of time several

tasks needed to be done( a water procession had to be prepared alon$ with pa$eants and sta$es

that had to be b#ilt for recitations of poetry and m#sical performances, and doens of actors

and m#sicians were re"#ired':

!here were two forms of entries, either by land or water -and entries $rad#ally

incorporated more pa$eants over the years beca#se patterns and circ#mstances chan$ed over

time !he act#al event was not as important to chroniclers as the political interest, this is why

there are not many records

'8

!he entries by land were not as spectac#lar as the water shows

!he water shows consisted of elaborate pa$eants held alon$ the !hames, it was very common

that both members of the co#rt and -ondon citiens travelled down the river for example from

'9 7iplin$, Hordon Enter the (ing) Theatre' Lit"rgy' and Rit"a in the #edieva Civic Tri"m*h .%xford(

&larendon 0ress, '8 p 6'6 Lohnston, )lexandra >, and D BNsken Civic Rit"a and Drama .-#d#s( Medieval and ;arly Renaissance

*rama 2? )msterdam( Rodopi, ': 7iplin$ cited in Lohnston p 43': 7iplin$ in Lohnston p 44'8 -ancashire '31 A#t chroniclers, it wo#ld appear, recorded what was politically important or otherwise of

special interest to them, rather that tryin$ to make a complete and consistent record of events as theyocc#rred, year by year and rei$n by rei$n

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-ondon to Destminster as m#ch as they did land o#rneys, so civic water shows were #st

another form of entertainment' It was also pop#lar d#rin$ the fo#rteenth cent#ry that the

sheriffs and mayors took their oaths by water, which seemed to be parallel to )nne Aoleyn<s

entry21

In the reconstr#ction of the event, the playwri$ht incl#des a series of aspects and

s#$$estions res#lt of his own point of view, which was not a common practice in play texts

Aer$eron reckons that in many occasions the dramatist en$a$es in a dialo$#e with himself and

the readers, and also adds new material to the event2' Bere is a description of the 7in$ Benry

CI<s tri#mphal entry into -ondon .'432 explained by Lonh -yd$ate, in which some

characteristics of the 7in$<s ability to rei$n are also stated(

!he seven5 pa$eants incl#ded a $iant at -ondon Arid$e, with an inscription declarin$ that the $iant

wo#ld protect the kin$ from forei$n enemies? a tower erected in the middle of the brid$e, feat#rin$

Fat#re, Hrace, and >ort#ne alon$ with seven maidens representin$ the seven $ifts of the Boly +pirit, who

san$ a ro#ndel of welcome to the kin$? a tabernacle at &ornhill, with *ame +apience and the seven

sciences? at the cond#it a child=kin$ on a throne s#rro#nded by Mercy, !r#th, and &lemency? at the

cond#it in &heapside, a well at which Mercy, Hrace, and 0ity offered wine and a paradise of fr#it trees

near which stood ;noch and ;lias? a castle of asper, with a pedi$ree showin$ Benrys linea$e and a Lesse

tree? and at the cond#it in +t 0a#ls, an ima$e of the !rinity with an$els 5 )s Benry CI processed

thro#$h -ondon, he was enveloped in the "#alities of the ideal kin$ on a kind of pil$rima$e that ended at

the celestial city at +t 0a#ls !he pa$eantry conveyed the hopes of -ondoners for their kin$, advice to

him abo#t the "#alities needed for $ood r#le, and an attempt to demonstrate -ondons presti$e and

importance22

In +"een,s #a-esty,s Passage is possible to see that the a#thor takes into acco#nt more

' -ancashire '4221 -ancashire'4 >or the civic records tell #s that when -ondon sent a fleet of vessels to welcome )nne at

Hreenwich, a bachelors< bar$e was provided, and also one or more foists2' Aer$eron, *avid M t"art Civic Pageants and Te/t"a Performance. Renaissance O#arterly Col 9', Fo '

.sprin$ '8 pp '63='83 .0#blished by( !he /niversity of &hica$o 0ress on behalf of the Renaissance

+ociety of )merica p '6822 -yd$ate, Lohn (ing Henry 0,s Tri"m*ha Entry into London) E/*anatory 2otes.

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than can be seenAesides describin$ the process of the coronation of O#een ;liabeth I, in

-ondon .'99, s#ch as her virt#es(

)nd her Hrace likewise of her side in all he >race<s passa$e showed herself $enerally an ima$e of a

worthy -ady and Hovernor A#t privately these especial points were noted in her Hrace, as si$ns of a

most prince=like co#ra$e, whereby her lovin$ s#bects may $ro#nd a s#re hope for the rest of her $racio#s

doin$s hereafter 23

)t one point !r#th formerly offers a bible to the O#een and she accepts it even tho#$h she

co#ld have reected the $ift !his act will b#ild an epiphany( In offerin$ an ;n$lish rather

than a C#l$ate bible the city establishment knowin$ly declares its 0rotestant sympathies24

)s one can see, pa$eants in civic tri#mphs were pres#mably a oy to the city, b#t not all

of them went on as $ood as expected, as happened with the so entitled The #agnificent

Entertainment , by !homas *ekker )fter O#een ;liabeth had died in '613 and +ir Robert

&ecil was proclaimed 7in$ of +cotland and ;n$land, the city of -ondon started preparin$ his

coronation, b#t #nl#ckily disaster str#ck? the pla$#e spran$ #p in -ondon in a partic#larly

vir#lent form= event#ally killin$ over 31,11 people29 Bowever the coronation went on as

planned altho#$h some pa$eants had to be s#spended #ntil the pla$#e was over

)part from civic pa$eants that co#ld only be seen once in a lifetime, there was a

procession that took place ann#ally d#rin$ the ni$ht before the reli$io#s feasts of +t Lohn

Aaptist .24 L#ne and +ts 0eter and 0a#l .2 L#ne that incl#ded armed men, li$ht=bearers,

mechanical $iants, m#sicians, devils, and wood and canvas pa$eants carried by posters26

!his was a maor theatrical occasion at the be$innin$ of the sixteenth cent#ry named !he

Mids#mmer Datch

23 Darkentin, Hermaine The +"een,s #a-esty,s Passage and reated doc"ments .!oronto( &entre forReformation and Renaissance +t#dies, 2114 p :1

24 7iplin$ '2:29

*#tton '26 -ancashire 91

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III. Conclusion

) series of problems can be enco#ntered when readin$ the text, beca#se it is not for

s#re that the ori$inal text resembled what happened on sta$e or vice versa It is important to

point o#t, that the co#rt mas"#e and tri#mphs represented act#al events and its pa$eants

contain both dramatic fictions and historical reality? a real soverei$n or mayor passed thro#$h

the streets and witnessed the vario#s dramatic scenes or tablea#x prepared for the

entertainment2: Readers are p#lled into the event thro#$ho#t the text beca#se they are

invited to revive it by bein$ ask to pretend act#al attendance from the a#thor 28, and this is a

kind of experience that the a#dience co#ld never have %ther a#thors s#ch as !homas *ekker,

prefer addressin$ the readin$ before as a preface(

Reader, yo# m#st #nderstand, that a re$ard, bein$ had that his Maiestie sho#ld not be wearied with

tedio#s speeches( ) $reat part of those which are in this booke set downe, were left #nspoken( +o that

tho# doest here receive them as they sho#ld have bene delivered, not as they were2

0res#mably, printed texts provide more information than spectators wo#ld beca#se these

mi$ht only had the chance to see or hear the s#rro#ndin$ action, altho#$h one still has to bear

in mind that there co#ld be a $ap between performance and text Ay describin$ the entire

event and p#ttin$ it into words for readers, the playwri$ht somehow immortalies the event

in a text with an expository and narrative f#nction that sets them apart from the typical

dramatic text31 Ay reflectin$ the event on a printed text either if it was a co#rt mas"#e or a

tri#mph, it is not for s#re that the reader f#lly #nderstood the messa$e of the play, b#t also the

a#dience that was present at the event, beca#se they wo#ld rather notice the 7in$ and O#een

2: Aer$eron '6928 Aer$eron ':4 In effect, Middleton asks the reader to pretend act#al attendance at the pa$eant J part of his

narrative fiction P5 Middelton also pres#poses the reader<s reaction when he writes2

Aer$eron '6631 Aer$eron '69

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than the act#al event3'

Re$ardin$ the a#dience, mas"#es and tri#mphs were performed and seen only once Dhereas

tri#mphs co#ld f#nction as political propa$anda d#e to its lar$e a#dience incl#din$ the lower

social classes and hi$her? mas"#es had comparatively smaller a#diences and did not have that

p#rpose, b#t was an opport#nity to stren$then ties between the political class and the crown32

It was also possible to have the form of mas"#e as tri#mph when the ties of antimas"#e and

mas"#e loosened res#lt of the >rench c#lt#ral infl#ence, so that a royal acclamation was

preceded by any n#mber of antimas"#e entries33

Dether is completely tr#e that some texts can be more reliable than others beca#se of the

point of view of the a#thor, one sho#ld bear in mind that if s#ch events had not been recorded,

there wo#ld not be an evidence of the partic#lar forms of entertainment typical from the early

a$es #ntil the Renaissance period nowadays, in the 2'st cent#ry

3' Mears, Fatalie Co"rts' Co"rtiers' and C"t"re in T"dor Engand !he Bistorical Lo#rnal, Col 46, Fo 3.+eptember 2113, pp :13=:22 !hey did not always #nderstand the messa$e of the play, or accept it if they

did If the monarch was present, the a#dience often watched him rather than the play p :'432 A#ttler, Martin. The t"art Co"rt #as$"e and Poitica C"t"re .&ambrid$e( &/0, 2118 p 2 !hey

.Mas"#es did not, then, f#nction as political propa$anda and information mana$ement in the way in which

we #nderstand those thin$s today33 A#tler 3'



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Bibliography

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'1

http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/scjlten.htm

http://www.bartleby.com/cambridge/

http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/scjlten.htm

http://www.bartleby.com/cambridge/

Research Project Eng3046

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