Living in an Early Tudor Castle: Households, Display, and Space, 1485-1547 Audrey Maria Thorstad
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Living in an Early Tudor Castle: Households, Display, and Space, 1485-1547 Audrey Maria Thorstad Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Leeds School of History November 2015 2 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. The right of Audrey Maria Thorstad to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. © 2015 The University of Leeds and Audrey Maria Thorstad 3 Acknowledgements The last four years of this research would not have been possible without the immense support form a great number of people. I must firstly thank my supervisors – past and present – all who have supported, challenged, and encouraged me along the way. To my current supervisors, Professor Emilia Jamzoriak and Axel Müller, a huge thank you is due. They have been endlessly helpful, critical, and whose insight helped to bring this project to fruition. Further thanks to Dr Paul Cavill who told me to ‘jump in with both feet’, which I have done and have not looked back since. I must also thank Professor Stephen Alford, whose knowledge on the Tudor period is infinite and whose support is much appreciated. Last, but certainly not least, my appreciation goes out to Kate Giles who helped make the viva experience a little less scary and a lot more fun. I am also grateful for the financial assistance provided by the School of History at the University of Leeds, to the Royal Historical Society, and particularly to the British Archaeological Association whose financial support during the final year of writing up this thesis has allowed me to focus solely on my project. And to the ever helpful staff of the local and national archives that I visited, your wisdom and assistance were hugely helpful in the research for this project. Without the dedication, commitment, and love of historical documents from the archival staff, this thesis simply would not have been possible. I would also like to extend my gratitude and appreciation to Simon Orr, general manager and historical consultant at Hedingham Castle, who literally gave me the keys to the castle and let me roam the grounds; to Becky Taylor, from Cowdray Heritage Trust, who opened the gates to Cowdray in the winter season despite the cold; to the staff at Pembrokeshire National Park who have kept good care of Carew Castle; and the staff at Thornbury Castle, your knowledge and excitement are unmatched. The Institute for Medieval Studies and the School of History at the University of Leeds has provided me with an amazing community of scholars. The friendship and support from my colleagues has spurred me on when research and writing was slow going. The daily users of the Le Patrourel Room never said no to a cup of tea and always had chocolate to share, for that I am ever grateful. In particular, to Isabella Bolognese and Kirsty Day, whose support, coffee breaks, and infinite wisdom have shaped me into a better scholar, colleague, and friend. Further thanks are due to Rory 4 Sellgren, Kathryn Maude, and Sheryl McDonald-Werronen who read and edited sections of my thesis and made helpful and insightful comments. To Courtney and Arnold LaPlante, your friendship, endless laughs, and support from across the Atlantic have also been appreciated during my journey. This project would not have been possible without the support from my family. My parents, Terese and Michael, have spent numerous hours on Skype, driving to conferences, and encouraging and supporting my goals. The maps in Chapter One can be attributed to my father, whose cartographic knowledge and GIS wizardry cannot be matched. I would also like to thank my little brother, Peter, whose resolve has taught me that living the dream is not always easy, but it is totally worth it (just remember little buddy: ‘it’s a long way to the top if you want to rock ‘n roll’). Skype has allowed the Thorstads to communicate across many different time zones and continents, which has helped my sanity (somewhat). I am eternally grateful to my partner, Richard Low, whose patience is endless, who has read many different versions of this thesis, and who has visited too many castles to list, all in the name of research. And finally, to my two fur babies, Ellie and Eli, your unconditional love is sometimes all I need after a long day of writing. Despite the many people who have helped me along the way, all the errors in this thesis are my own. We may call Eurydice forth from the world of the dead, but we cannot make her answer; and when we turn to look at her we glimpse her only for a moment, before she slips from our grasp and flees. As all historians know, the past is a great darkness, and filled with echoes. Voices may reach us from it; but what they say to us is imbued with the obscurity of the matrix out of which they come; and try as we may, we cannot always decipher them precisely in the clearer light of our own day.1 1 Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale (London: Virago 1987), p. 324. 5 Abstract This thesis examines castles in the early Tudor period between 1485 and 1547, considering these buildings as case studies for English and Welsh daily life, rather than as purely military or symbolic structures. The four buildings and their owners investigated here are: Carew Castle, Pembrokeshire and Sir Rhys ap Thomas, Cowdray Castle, West Sussex and Sir William Fitzwilliam, Hedingham Castle, Essex and John de Vere, thirteenth earl of Oxford, and finally, Thornbury Castle, Gloucestershire and Edward Stafford, third duke of Buckingham. Evaluating these four sites in combination with their owners broadens the current scholarship and provides an opportunity to assess the households, spatial arrangements, organisation and display of early Tudor castles. In conjunction, this thesis applies a new methodology that incorporates an interdisciplinary approach in order to investigate and analyse a more rounded set of evidence. The innovative methodology incorporates archaeology, building remains, access analysis maps, and written records to construct a more holistic picture of the castle’s function and role in everyday life. The first half of the thesis explores the relationship between the lord, the castle, and the regional landscape and community. It establishes that the castle cannot be examined in isolation; instead these aspects need to be incorporated into castle studies in order to provide a clearer picture. The first part forms a vital precursor to the examination of the interaction that happened within the castle itself, which forms the second part of this thesis. The spatial arrangements and the households of each of the four case studies are comparatively examined in order to determine the movement of the household, guests, and the lord through the castle. Each of the chapters reveals similarities between the sites, their layout, and the daily life that took place within them. This furnishes a rich seam of information that contributes to scholarship on the early Tudor period, bringing to the forefront of the discussion the focus on people and place. 6 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... 3 Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 5 List of Figures .............................................................................................................. 9 List of Tables .............................................................................................................. 10 List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................. 11 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 12 The Field of Castle Studies .................................................................................... 12 The Scope and Methodological Approach ............................................................ 16 Documentary Material...................................................................................... 18 Archaeological Evidence ................................................................................... 20 Space Syntax Theory and Access Maps .......................................................... 21 Carew Castle, Pembrokeshire and Sir Rhys ap Thomas (1449-1525) ................. 26 Cowdray Castle, West Sussex and Sir William Fitzwilliam, Earl of Southampton (1490-1542) ........................................................................................................ 30 Hedingham Castle, Essex and John de Vere, Thirteenth Earl of Oxford (1442- 1513) .................................................................................................................. 34 Thornbury Castle, Gloucestershire and Edward Stafford, Third Duke of Buckingham (1478-1521) ................................................................................. 38 The Aim and Scope of the Thesis ........................................................................... 42 1. Regional Authority and Influence in the Early Tudor Period: The Castle as a