Chivalry and Courtly Love: Cultural Shifts, Gender Relations, and Politics in early Tudor Court Culture Hilary Jane Locke M.Phil Candidate The University of Adelaide Department of History, School of Humanities February 2019 Contents Introduction 1 Chapter One ‘There Shalle Ye See Manhode’: Chivalric Culture and the Foundations of the Tudor Dynasty 1485-1509 13 Chapter Two ‘All Goodly Sport, For My Comfort’: Prince Arthur, King Henry, and the Chivalric Tudor Dynasty 33 Chapter Three ‘Yours as long as life endures’: Courtly Love and Chivalry, Gender and Politics in the Court of Henry VIII. 58 Conclusion 82 Bibliography 86 Abstract The aim of this thesis is to explore and uncover the strong presence chivalry had during the development of the early Tudor dynasty, particularly following the end of the Wars of the Roses and into the early modern era. It seeks to answer the questions of how prevalent the phenomena of chivalry and courtly love were during the transition from the medieval to the early modern period, as well as their importance in the political and dynastic foundations of the Tudor dynasty. Further, the work aims to examine what chivalry and courtly love reveals about gender, politics, and social dynamics during the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII. In the foundations of his reign, Henry VII craved dynastic stability, legitimacy, and monarchical power. In establishing his dynasty, Henry attempted to create a legacy that emphasised the conceptual ideals of chivalry, and courtly love, as critical for strength, courtly performance and politics. The thesis will argue that the early Tudor kings sought to drive cultural chivalric elements into the political, and dynastic foundations of the early Tudor public sphere. It will explore how chivalric and courtly love ideals created a framework for conversation and behaviour, gauging how gender roles were perceived and performed by courtiers during the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII. Chivalry’s place in Tudor court culture has been considerably understated, discussed as a cultural undertone, and not properly contextualised. By focussing on this cultural ideal in early Tudor court life, the thesis will argue chivalric discourse was crucial to both kings and courtly performance. Thesis Statement I certify that this work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in my name in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. In addition, I certify that no part of this work will, in the future, be used in a submission in my name for any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution without the prior approval of the University of Adelaide and where applicable, any partner institution responsible for the joint award of this degree. I give consent to this copy of my thesis, when deposited in the University Library, being made available for loan and photocopying, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I also give permission for the digital version of my thesis to be made available on the web, via the University's digital research repository, the Library Search and also through web search engines, unless permission has been granted by the University to restrict access for a period of time. SIGNED: __ _________DATE: _________________________________ For: My Mum, Jane Locke My Grandma, Kath Edgecombe (1935-2014), My Dad, John Robert Locke (1954-2015), My Co-supervisor, Heather Kerr (1957-2019) and Logan Niblock Acknowledgements There have been many challenges and hard times throughout the writing of this thesis and there are many people that deserve recognition for the help and support extended to me. First of all, my supervision team, Professor David Lemmings and Dr. Heather Kerr, have dedicated with their time, advice, editing skills and help. Most importantly, they have been incredibly patient as I have dealt with struggles (both personal and academic) and multi-tasking over the length of my candidature. I would also like to thank Dr. Claire Walker, who’s conversations directed my research interests, and her dedication as the postgraduate coordinator (for most of my candidature) was grounding and a constant reassurance. Professor Robin Prior has been wonderfully supportive and encouraging, reading drafts and engaging enthusiastically with my topic — also establishing a postgraduate seminar group which has given me, and everyone that participated in these evenings, such a sense of community and a renewal of motivation and purpose as we go forward in our careers. Dr. Gareth Pritchard and Dr. Tom Buchanan were also invaluable, for their commitment to student wellbeing, dedication, passion and checking up periodically with conversations and laughs along the way. To my mother Jane Locke, thank you for the support over this on-going and long process, my grandfather Mike Edgecombe, for getting me to conferences and getting on my professional feet, Marg Edgecombe and George Popplewell for your undivided attention and interest in my research, Robert, Liam and Clare Edgecombe, and the rest of my extended family, for always asking, and taking great interest in what I am doing and where I am going. The wider history and politics postgraduate community at the University of Adelaide have been warm and friendly, all understanding the trials and problems with researching and writing a thesis. In particular, however, I have my small bunch of postgraduate colleagues and friends that I owe my warmest thanks to. The lovely people in my office, William Prescott, Justin Anthony Madden, and Astrid Lane (especially for getting me singing again), for all the times we laughed, drank, had fun, and stressed together. This is extended to Stephanie Thomson and David Milazzo. You have all been my collective rock, and I will always hold you dear to my heart. I whole-heartedly reserve a very special mention for my best and dearest friend Dr. Thomas A. Mackay: words cannot adequately express just how much your support, love, friendship, and silliness has meant to me over the last few years, in both everyday and thesis life. Further thanks goes to Dr. Kylie Galbraith, Dr. Mark Neuendorf, Daniel Ashdown, Dr. Steven Anderson, Dr. Bodie Alexander Ashton, Dr. Marina Gerzić, Yvette Wijnatis, Karina Burns, Jessica McCandless, Margaret Galbraith, Siobhan Finney, and Andi Tran. You all have my sincere thanks for the support, coffees, brunches, fun times, and chats. Lastly, and above all, to Logan Niblock, who came into my life unexpectedly, and changed it in surprising and beautiful ways. Your kindness, support, humour, encouragement, and love has given me all that I needed to get this project finished. Thank you, I love you. I would like to acknowledge that while this thesis was under examination my co-supervisor Heather Kerr passed away. I was deeply saddened by her passing, but extremely grateful for her influence, support, friendship, and the time I had getting to know her better during this thesis. She will be sadly missed by everyone at the University of Adelaide, and her colleagues around the world. Vale, Heather, the best co- supervisor I could have hoped for. A Note on the Source Material As a large number of the primary sources used in this thesis come from online databases, there has been an effort to treat them as close to the original document where possible. Therefore in the footnotes, books, pamphlets, and letters have been referenced with as much information as possible and the databased they were accessed from and the place of their original collection. The URL of used databases are within the references in the introductions and the bibliography only. Similarly, all documents from Letters and Papers volumes have volume notes, with the full editions listed in the Primary Sources section of the bibliography. The work, as possible, also utilises as much of the original Middle English and spelling. However, there has been some texts that needed modern translations and consequently new editions have been used. "1 Introduction In 2009, to mark the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII’s succession to the throne, several exhibitions opened across the United Kingdom to celebrate the life and times of this controversial king. One of these included the Henry VIII: Dressed to Kill exhibit, filled with collections of the king’s personal armour, hosted by the Tower of London. Displaying the evolving styles, and figure, of Henry VIII, the exhibition included several suits made for and worn by the king from his early kingship through to his death; most notably, the armour commissioned for celebration events such as The Field of Cloth of Gold in 1520, and the field armour the king probably wore during the 1544 conflict with France.1 The display of the suits provided clear visual evidence of how Henry VIII would have appeared and, crucially, how his body developed and changed throughout his life. His last suits, made in the 1540s, had to match his massive weight gain, making for a large and intimidating figure — the armour used for the king’s May Day celebrations in 1540 measured 129 centimetres at the waist and 136 centimetres at the chest.2 As the exhibit showed, this armour evolved to become highly decorative and, as time progressed, largely impractical. This transition, from function to decoration, highlights the evolution of chivalry within Henry VIII’s reign: the utilisation of the cultural ideal for representational employment, and a powerful tool for political and personal ends. Ironically, by the 1540s the king was bulking in his armour and weight, and could not fight on a battlefield. But the armour was continually commissioned throughout Henry VIII’s reign because it formed an important political function during his kingship.