Italian Material Culture at the Tudor Court
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Italian Material Culture At The Tudor Court Charlotte Bolland Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of London, August 2011 Department of History, Queen Mary, University of London I, Charlotte Bolland, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. Charlotte Bolland 1 Abstract This thesis analyses the means by which items of Italian material culture came into the possession of the Tudor monarchs. The different modes of acquisition provide the structure for an investigation into Anglo-Italian relations during the sixteenth century. Although the items that came to England took many forms a synthesising approach is made possible by the fact that the ‘biographies’ of the objects which have been selected all share a common element – they reached England and were owned by the Tudor monarchs as a result of direct contact with Italian individuals. As a result, disparate items such as glass, armour, books, textiles and horses can be discussed as part of a broader whole in which elements of one culture travelled to another. This is not a discussion of the developing dominance of Italian culture over Western Europe during the sixteenth century, for, although the adjective ‘Italian’ carried clear connotations in late sixteenth-century England it appears to have been rarely used in relation to material culture. Instead it is a study of the appreciation of technical skill and the attempts that were made to appropriate it, which in turn provides a point of access to the life histories of the Italians who came to England in the sixteenth century and the way in which their interaction with the highest levels of the court played a role in shaping the idea of Italy and the Italian in England. 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgements p. 3 List of Abbreviations p. 4 Archive Abbreviations p. 5 List of Illustrations p. 6 Editorial Notes p. 13 Introduction p. 15 Chapter 1: Italians in the Household p. 44 Chapter 2: Gifts and Diplomacy p. 91 Chapter 3: Gifts and Patronage p. 133 Chapter 4: Buying Italian p. 173 Chapter 5: Italians in England p. 224 Conclusion p. 278 Bibliography p. 283 3 Acknowledgements Over the course of four years numerous people have provided the advice and support that are so essential when working on a doctoral thesis. To my supervisor Kate Lowe I owe an enormous debt of gratitude for her encouragement, guidance and insightful analysis. This thesis was made possible through a Collaborative Doctoral Award funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and Desmond Shawe-Taylor and Lucy Whitaker at the partner institution, The Royal Collection, provided continuous support as well as the possibility to pursue unexpected opportunities. I would also like to thank my colleagues at The Royal Collection, in particular Vanessa Remington, Jennifer Scott and Chris Stevens, for all of their help. At Queen Mary Miri Rubin provided an invaluable alternative perspective and Michael Questier suggested many useful avenues of research as my examiner when I upgraded from MPhil to PhD. At Historic Royal Palaces Kent Rawlinson kindly shared with me his extensive knowledge of Hampton Court Palace and his own unpublished research. Alessandro Scafi, Charles Hope and Jenny Stratford improved my Italian and palaeography, whilst Susan Foister generously shared some of her unpublished research. I would also like to thank fellow PhD students Nicola Clark, Nick Holder, Benjamin Hebbert and Zoe Willis who helped with useful information and archive tips. The Arts and Humanities Research Council provided funding for research in Italy, and a grant from the Central Research Fund enabled me to return the following year. The opportunity to participate in the Making Publics summer seminar in Montreal opened up new research possibilities and my thanks go to the seminar conveners Robert Tittler and Brian Cowan, and to my fellow seminarians, for the hours of stimulating debate and discussion. I am grateful to the staff of numerous libraries and archives in London, Venice, Milan, Mantua, Modena, Florence, Genoa and Lucca, who kindly offered assistance in navigating their collections. Alden Gregory, Edward Town and Olivia Fryman were there for hours of fruitful conversation and made the whole process far more enjoyable, whilst Olivia Saunders always provided a sympathetic ear. Thank you also to the other, very patient, friends who put up with me for four years. Finally, thank you to my parents and sister who were always there. 4 List of Abbreviations 1542 Inventory M. Hayward, ed., The 1542 Inventory of Whitehall: The Palace and its Keeper, 2 vols. (London, 2004). 1547 Inventory D. Starkey, ed., The Inventory of King Henry VIII: The Transcript (London, 1998). APC Acts of the Privy Council of England, New Series: 1542-1631, 46 vols. (London, 1890-1964). BDECM A. Ashbee, D. Lasocki, P. Holman and F. Kisby, A Biographical Dictionary of English Court Musicians, 1485-1714, 2 vols. (Aldershot, 1998). CPR Calendar of the Patent Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office: Henry VII, 2 vols. (London, 1914-16); Edward VI, 6 vols. (London, 1924-9) Mary I, 3 vols. (London, 1937-9); Elizabeth I, 9 vols. (London, 1939-86). CSPD Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, Of the Reigns of Edward VI, Mary, Elizabeth, 1547-[1625]: Preserved in the State Paper Department of Her Majesty’s Public Record Office, 8 vols. (London, 1856-72). CSPF Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series, of the Reign of Edward VI, 1547-53 (London, 1861); Mary (London, 1861); Elizabeth, 23 vols. (London, 1863-1950). CSPM Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts Existing in the Archives and Collections of Milan, A. B. Hinds, ed., (London, 1912). CSPS Calendar of Letters, Despatches, and State Papers, Relating to the Negotiations between England and Spain: preserved in the archives at Simancas and Elsewhere, 13 vols. (London, 1862- 1954) and Calendar of Letters and State Papers Relating to English Affairs Preserved Principally in the Archives of Simancas, 4 vols. (London, 1892-9). CSPV Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts Relating to English Affairs, Existing in the Archives and Collections of Venice, and In 5 Other Libraries of Northern Italy, R. Brown, ed., 38 vols. (London, 1864-1947). DBI Dizionario biografico degli Italiani, A. Ghisalberti, director (Rome, 1960-). Foedera T. Rymer, Foedera: conventiones, litterae, et cujuscunque generis Acta publica, inter Reges Angliae, et alios quosuis Imperatores, Reges, Pontifices, Principes, vel Communitates, ab ingressu Gulielmi I in Angliam, A.D. 1066, ad nostra usque tempora habita aut tractate, 10 vols. (The Hague, 1739-45). L&P Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII: Preserved in the Public Record Office, the British Museum, and Elsewhere, J. Brewer, ed., 23 vols. (London, 1862-1932). ODNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: From the Earliest Times to the Year 2000, H. Matthew and B. Harrison, eds., 61 vols. (Oxford, 2004). RECM Records of English Court Music, A. Ashbee, ed., 9 vols. (Aldershot, 1986-96) Sanuto M. Sanuto, I diarii di Marino Sanuto, 58 vols. (Bologna, 1969- 70). SR Statutes of the Realm: From Original Records (1101-1713), A. Luders, T. Edlyn Tomlins, J. France, W. Taunton and J. Raithby, 11 vols. (London, 1810-28). Archive Abbreviations ASF Florence, Archivio di Stato di Firenze ASG Genoa, Archivio di Stato di Genova ASL Lucca, Archivio di Stato di Lucca ASM Milan, Archivio di Stato di Milano ASMn Mantua, Archivio di Stato di Mantova ASV Venice, Archivio di Stato di Venezia BL London, British Library TNA London, The National Archives 6 List of Illustrations Fig. 1: The Stonyhurst Cope, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum © Victoria and Albert Museum, London p. 16 Fig. 2: Battista Agnese, Atlas, Lambeth Palace Library © Lambeth Palace Library p. 16 Fig. 3: Hampton Court Palace, aerial view © Historic Royal Palaces p. 22 Fig. 4: St. James’ Palace, London, view of the surviving Tudor elements. Photo: Author’s own p. 22 Fig. 5: St. George’s Chapel, Windsor © Bridgeman Art Library p. 22 Fig. 6: Antonis Van der Wyngaerde, Whitehall Stairs, Ashmolean Museum © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford p. 23 Fig. 7: Antonis Van der Wyngaerde, Richmond Palace, Ashmolean Museum © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford p. 23 Fig. 8: Antonis Van der Wyngaerde, Greenwich Palace, Ashmolean Museum © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford p. 23 Fig. 9: Remigius van Leemput, Henry VII, Elizabeth of York, Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, The Royal Collection © 2011 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II p. 24 Fig. 10: Joris Hoefnagel, The Progress of Queen Elizabeth to Nonsuch Palace, British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum p. 24 Fig. 11: Girolamo da Treviso, A Protestant Allegory, The Royal Collection © 2011 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II p. 24 Fig. 12: Sebastiano del Piombo, Cardinal Pole The State Hermitage Museum © The State Hermitage Museum. Photo by Vladimir Terebenin, Leonard Kheifets, Yuri Molodkovets p. 30 Fig. 13: Woodcut from Andrew Boorde’s The Fyrst Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge (London, c. 1547) p. 30 Fig. 14: Katherine Parr’s copy of Il Petrarcha con l’espositione d’Alessandro Vellutello (Venice, 1544), British Library © The British Library Board p. 36 Fig. 15: Antonis Van der Wyngaerde, London Bridge, sheet from the Panorama of London, Ashmolean Museum © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford p. 55 Fig. 16: The shippe of the Romish church from John Foxe’s Acts and Monuments 7 (London, 1563) p. 55 Fig. 17: Stephen Harrison, print by William Kip, The Italian Triumphal Arch from The Arches of Triumph, British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum p. 58 Fig. 18: Francesco Montemezzano, Giacomo Ragazzoni and Mary Tudor, Sala degli Imperatori, Palazzo Ragazzoni, Sacile © Silvio Vicenzi, Circolo della Cultura del Bello p.