A Royal Banquet at the Tudor Court
Henry VIII was determined to make the court of England equal in magnificence to those of France and Spain. He expressed his royal power through the splendour of his dress, his palaces and his pageantry. His household officers and servants provided lavish hospitality and opulent masques to impress visiting ambassadors.
The members of the royal court were entitled to live at the palaces and dine every day at the king's expense. This required the household to move between the various Tudor palaces situated in London and the home counties every few months in order to maintain the necessary food supplies.
The foreign ambassadors recorded their experiences of attending important royal banquets in their correspondence. In May 1527 the Venetian ambassador, Lodovico Spinelli, recorded his impressions of the Greenwich Revels which included a feast and a masque in a newly-built banqueting house in the palace tiltyard:
"The walls were hung with the most costly tapestry in England, representing the history of David; and there was a row of torches closely set, illuminating the place very brilliantly, being ranged below the windows, which were at no great distance from the roof. The royal table was prepared in front of the hall, with a large canopy of tissue, beneath which was the king, with the queens, his wife and sister, at the sides. Then came two long tables, at one of which, on the right-hand side, were seated the French ambassadors and the Princes, each pairing with some great lady. At the other table, to the left, the Venetian ambassador and the one from Milan placed themselves, with the rest of the lords and ladies.
At no great distance from the two tables were two cupboards, reaching from the floor to the roof, forming a semicircle, on which was a large and varied assortment of vases, all of massive gold, the value of which it would be difficult to estimate, nor were any of them touched; silver gilt dishes of another sort being used for the viands of meat and fish, which were in such variety and abundance that the banquet lasted a long while."
What would it have been like to have witnessed a feast at the royal court for the first time? In "The Tudor Fool" I describe the impressions of Master Will Somers at his first banquet:
"The first time that I witnessed a feast in the royal court I thought that I was present at the great banquet of the righteous in heaven. Master Weston had been delegated to guide me and he led me to a vantage point halfway along the Presence Chamber.
“Stand here, Master Will, and you will see everything,” he said. I was feeling self-conscious in my new costume of green silk, but the spectacle of the feast quite distracted me. The walls of the Presence Chamber were hung with huge tapestries portraying scenes from the life of King David. The king’s board was set upon a raised dais under a crimson canopy of state at the far end of the hall. It was covered with a cloth of fine linen patterned with the arms of England. The board was laid with a salt cellar of gold in the form of a castle set with jewels. Next to it stood a golden flagon of wine, a pair of trenchers and manchet loaves wrapped in fine napkins. On either side of the dias stood two tall cupboards which were filled with a magnificent display of gold and silver dishes. Each one was flanked by two sturdy members of the Yeomen of the Guard with long halberds. They wore splendid scarlet liveries embroidered with roses and crowns to show that they were the king’s personal bodyguards.
The trumpet-heralds sounded a fanfare as the king and queen entered and took their places at the king’s board. They were followed by the nobles who made their reverence and stood at the side tables at the top of the hall. Finally, their gentlemen retainers entered, made their obeisance, and stood at the tables at the bottom end. Two noblemen approached the king to assist in the ceremony of the formal washing of his hands. The nobleman of secondary estate held a gold basin under his hands and poured perfumed water from a cup of assay over them. The nobleman of greatest estate dried them with a linen towel and then they both bowed and withdrew. Two ladies of rank attended to the queen in the same manner. A chaplain pronounced the words of grace aloud in Latin and the company was seated. Then the trumpet-heralds sounded three loud blasts to signal the arrival of the food.
A great procession of servers bearing sixteen gold dishes were led into the hall by the Lord Chamberlain holding aloft his staff of office. In the middle of the hall they halted and knelt down, then again for a second time as they approached the royal board and then finally for a third time before the king and queen. Then the servers placed the dishes on the side trestles and removed the covers to reveal great joints of roasted meat and massive golden baked pies. They carved and served these wonderful dishes at the tables as if they were nothing out of the ordinary. The sight and smell of so much good food made me ravenous.
Master Weston regarded me with satisfaction as I gazed open-mouthed at the astonishing scene. “Quite a sight, isn’t it? However, we servants don’t eat in such grand style for we dine in the Great Hall. Follow me.” I duly followed him to the Great Hall where countless rows of trestle tables and benches had been arranged. There the servants were eating their dinners of thick pottage ladled onto trenchers of brown bread with flagons of ale. I took my place with them and quickly devoured my portion. From time to time, pages came into the hall bringing special dishes to particular individuals. I noticed the envious looks of the others as the platters of delicious viands passed before their eyes. “Sometimes one of the lords will send a dish down to their servant as a sign of favour,” said my companion. “But that only makes the others feel more aggrieved.” I shrugged as this common fare was just what I was accustomed to eating. The servants were encouraged to finish quickly and return to their duties while the nobles embarked on their second course of roasted songbirds, poached fish in sauce, vegetable salad, fruit tarts and cheese.
Master Weston gave me a knowing look. “The banquet will last for hours,” he said. “It is not even halfway through yet.” I sidled back into the Presence Chamber to watch the rest of the marvellous spectacle. The second course was followed by the voider course which was served on golden spice-plates. It consisted of a marvellous array of sweetmeats including gilded marchpane, gingerbread, coloured jellies, quince marmalade and sugared wafers. Finally, the pages brought in the last course of fruit and sweet hippocras wine. I noticed some strangely coloured fruits on the king’s table and wondered what they were. I asked a page who was hurrying by to refill the wine cups and he replied, “Them’s pomegranates and oranges – ain’t you never seen one before?” The king washed his hands to signal the end of the feast and retired to his Privy Chamber. Afterwards, the servants cleared the tables and took the remains down to the kitchens."
Extract from "The Tudor Fool: My Life with Henry VIII."
Elizabeth Kelly.
Book 3 in The Tudors Series
