Tudor Royal Progresses
Tudor Royal Progresses were an important way to for the Tudor monarchs to consolidate their rule throughout England.[1] Following his victory at the Battle of Bosworth in August 1485, the first Tudor monarch, Henry VII, ensured his coronation (November 1485), called a parliament (November 1485), married Elizabeth of York (January 1486) – all in London before embarking on his first Royal Progress in March 1486.[2] The last Tudor Royal Progress took place in summer 1602,[3] as Elizabeth I, the last Tudor monarch died in March 1603.[4]
Henry VII: 1485–1509[edit]
- 1486: Bristol; York.[5]
- 1487: York
Prince Arthur[edit]
- 1498: Coventry.[6]
Henry VIII[edit]
- 1535: Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucester; Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn went to Gloucester in July 1535. They used Gloucester as a base for hunting trips to Painswick, Coberley, and Miserden. They left Gloucester for Leonard Stanley, on their way to Berkeley Castle.[7]
- 1541: August, Grimsthorpe Castle and Lincoln; September, York; Pontefract Castle
Edward VI[edit]
1552: Edward VI embarked on a short progress to Guilford, but this was soon abandoned.[8]
Mary I[edit]
As a Princess, Mary Tudor accompanied her father on royal progresses.
- 1525–1526; as Princess; September, Thornbury Castle and Gloucester;[9] November, Tewkesbury; January, Tickenhill and Worcester; April, Hartlebury Castle.[10]
- 1526: as Princess; Coventry.[11]
As Queen, Mary was less ardent about making royal progresses. The unpopularity of her husband and her own ill health led her to remain in her royal residencies near London.
- 1554: Following her marriage to Philip II of Spain in Winchester, the newly weds proceeded to London via their royal residencies in Basing House, Windsor Castle and Richmond Palace.
Elizabeth I[edit]
The Elizabethan Royal Progresses played an important role in enabling Elizabeth I to exercise and maintain her royal authority. During each year of her 44 years reign she insisted her court accompanied her on a progress in the spring and summer months.[8]
- 1558: November, Monken Hadley and London Charterhouse.
- 1559: July-August, Dartford Priory, Cobham Hall, Gillingham, Otford Palace, Eltham Palace, Croydon Palace, Nonsuch Palace
- 1561: Suffolk
- 1564: Cambridge.[12]
- 1566: Oxford.[13]
- 1572: Warwick
- 1573: Kent; August, Sandwich.[14]
- 1574: Bristol[15]
- 1575: Woodstock; Kenilworth; August, Worcester; Shrewsbury; Lichfield
- 1578: July and August, East Anglia; Bury St Edmunds, Euston Hall, Norwich.[16]
- 1591: Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire; August, Cowdray House
- 1592: Bisham;[17] October, Ryecote; Elvetham
- 1602: August, Harefield.[18]
References[edit]
- ^ "Royal progresses and their importance - Tudor Tuesdays". Hever Castle. Hever Castle Ltd. 11 May 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
- ^ Wheeler, Helen (30 July 2017). "King Henry VII 1485 - 1486 Chronology - Tudor Nation". www.tudornation.com. Tudor Nation. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
- ^ Pearce, Ken. "History Show - Queen Elizabeth I comes to Harefield". You Tube. Uxbridge FM. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
- ^ "Elizabeth I slept here - a look at the Queen's summer progresses". British Heritage. British Heritage Travel. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
- ^ C. E. McGee, 'Mysteries, Musters, and Masques', Jayne Elisabeth Archer, Elizabeth Goldring, Sarah Knight, Progresses, Pageants, and Entertainments of Queen Elizabeth (Oxford, 2007), p. 108.
- ^ C. E. McGee, 'Mysteries, Musters, and Masques', Jayne Elisabeth Archer, Elizabeth Goldring, Sarah Knight, Progresses, Pageants, and Entertainments of Queen Elizabeth (Oxford, 2007), p. 109.
- ^ Historical Manuscripts Commission, 12th Report, Appendix 9: Gloucester (London, 1891), p. 444.
- ^ a b Cole, Mary Hill (1999). The portable queen: Elizabeth I and the politics of ceremony (PDF). Amherst: University of Massachusetts press. ISBN 1-55849-214-3.
- ^ Historical Manuscripts Commission, 12th Report, Appendix 9: Gloucester (London, 1891), pp. 442–3.
- ^ Melita Thomas, The King's Pearl: Henry VIII and his daughter Mary (Amberley, 2017), pp. 80-83.
- ^ C. E. McGee, 'Mysteries, Musters, and Masques', Jayne Elisabeth Archer, Elizabeth Goldring, Sarah Knight, Progresses, Pageants, and Entertainments of Queen Elizabeth (Oxford, 2007), p. 109: David Loades, Mary Tudor (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1989), p. 45.
- ^ Siobhan Keenan, 'Spectator and Spectacle: Royal Entertainments at the Universities in the 1560s', Jayne Elisabeth Archer, Elizabeth Goldring, Sarah Knight, Progresses, Pageants, and Entertainments of Queen Elizabeth (Oxford, 2007), p. 87.
- ^ Siobhan Keenan, 'Spectator and Spectacle: Royal Entertainments at the Universities in the 1560s', Jayne Elisabeth Archer, Elizabeth Goldring, Sarah Knight, Progresses, Pageants, and Entertainments of Queen Elizabeth (Oxford, 2007), p. 95.
- ^ C. E. McGee, 'Mysteries, Musters, and Masques', Jayne Elisabeth Archer, Elizabeth Goldring, Sarah Knight, Progresses, Pageants, and Entertainments of Queen Elizabeth (Oxford, 2007), p. 105.
- ^ C. E. McGee, 'Mysteries, Musters, and Masques', Jayne Elisabeth Archer, Elizabeth Goldring, Sarah Knight, Progresses, Pageants, and Entertainments of Queen Elizabeth (Oxford, 2007), p. 115.
- ^ Zillah Dovey, An Elizabethan Progress: The Queen's Journey into East Anglia (Stroud: Alan Sutton, 1996).
- ^ Peter Davidson & Jane Stevenson, 'Elizabeth's Reception at Bisham', Jayne Elisabeth Archer, Elizabeth Goldring, & Sarah Knight, The Progresses, Pageants, & Entertainments of Queen Elizabeth (Oxford, 2007), p. 207.
- ^ Gabriel Heaton, Writing and Reading Royal Entertainments: From George Gascoigne to Ben Jonson (Oxford, 2010), pp. 102-116.