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{{short description|1604 court performance in Richmond, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{italic title}}
'''''The Masque of Indian and China Knights''''' was performed at [[Hampton Court]] in [[Richmond, London|Richmond]], England on 1 January 1604.<ref>Martin Butler, ''The Stuart Court Masque and Political Culture'' (Cambridge, 2008), p. 63.</ref> The [[masque]] was not published, and no text survives. It was described in a letter written by [[Dudley Carleton, 1st Viscount Dorchester|Dudley Carleton]].<ref>Maurice Lee, ''Dudley Carleton to John Chamberlain, 1603–1624'' (Rutgers UP, 1972), pp. 53–54.</ref> The historian Leeds Barroll prefers the title, ''Masque of the Orient Knights''.<ref>Leeds Barroll, ''Anna of Denmark, Queen of England: A Cultural Biography'' (Philadelphia, 2001), p. 83.</ref>
[[File:Hall, Hampton Court, Middlesex (BM 1948,0409.13).jpg|thumb|right|Eight courtiers masqueraded as Indian and Chinese knights in Great Hall of [[Hampton Court]] on New Year's day 1604]]
[[File:Lodovick Stuart, 1st Duke of Richmond, and 2nd Duke of Lennox by Paul Van Somer.jpg|thumb|right|The ''Masque of Knights'' was produced by [[Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox]]]]
[[File:Maroccus extaticus.png|thumb|right|[[James VI and I|King James]] reminded the audience of a famous performing horse, [[Bankes's Horse|Marocco]]]]
==Background==
This masque marked the return of the royal households to London after an outbreak of plague.<ref>Leeds Barroll, ''Anna of Denmark, Queen of England: A Cultural Biography'' (Philadelphia, 2001), p. 80: Alvin Kernan, ''Shakespeare, the King's Playwright: Theater in the Stuart Court, 1603–1613'' (Yale, 1995), pp. 25–28.</ref> The households of [[Anne of Denmark]] and [[Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales|Prince Henry]] had travelled to [[Winchester Castle|Winchester]], and entertained themselves in October with the masque, ''[[Prince Henry's Welcome at Winchester]]''.<ref>Martin Wiggins & Catherine Teresa Richardson, ''British Drama, 1533–1642: 1603–1608'', vol. 5 (Oxford, 2015), pp. 51–52.</ref> The French ambassador, [[Christophe de Harlay, Count of Beaumont]], heard that Anne of Denmark was planning more superior and costly events for Christmas time, to be realised as this masque and ''[[The Vision of the Twelve Goddesses]]''.<ref>Pierre Laffleur de Kermaingant, ''L'ambassade de France en Angleterre sous Henri IV: Mission de Christophe de Harlay, comte de Beaumont'' (Paris, 1886), p. 131: Letter to M de Villeroy from M de Beaumont, British Library Add MS 30639, f.283v: [https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b9059648c/f123.item.r=harley%20villeroy%201603 Another copy, BnF Français 3503, f.116v]</ref> There was also an equestrian show of [[running at the ring]], and a special "standing" was built for Anne of Denmark to use as a grandstand.<ref>Alan Young, ''Tudor and Jacobean Tournaments'' (London, 1987), 205.</ref>
===Merry gentlemen===
A letter written by [[Arbella Stuart]] appears to identify the ''Masque of Knights'' and another masque as the invention of a group of male courtiers rather than the queen's personal production, writing on 18 December 1603 that she was their confidante, "Certain noblemen (whom I may not yet name to you because some of them have made me of their counsel) intend another. Certain gentlemen of a good sort another".<ref>[[Sarah Gristwood]], ''Arbella: England's Lost Queen'' (London: Bantam, 2004), p. 284: Sara Jayne Steen, ''Letters of Arbella Stuart'' (Oxford, 1994), p. 197.</ref> On 21 December [[Dudley Carleton, 1st Viscount Dorchester|Dudley Carleton]] wrote that the [[Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox|Duke of Lennox]] was the deviser or producer of the masques to be performed by men, "We shall have a merry Christmas at Hampton Court, for both male and female masques are all ready bespoken, whereof the Duke is ''rector chori'' of the one side, and the [[Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford|Lady Bedford]] of the other".<ref>[[Ernest Law]], ''History of Hampton Court'', vol. 2 (London, 1888), p. 6: Leeds Barroll, ''Anna of Denmark, Queen of England: A Cultural Biography'' (Philadelphia, 2001), p. 81: Clare McManus, ''Women on the Renaissance stage: Anna of Denmark and Female Masquing in the Stuart Court, 1590–1619'' (Manchester, 2002), p. 100: [[Barbara Kiefer Lewalski]], 'Lucy, Countess of Bedford: Images of a Jacobean Courtier and Patroness', Kevin Sharpe & Steven N. Zwicker, ''Politics of Discourse: The Literature and History of Seventeenth-Century England'' (London, 1987), pp. 59, 307 footnote 19: Barbara Lewalski, ''Writing Women in Jacobean England'' (Harvard UP, 1993), p. 361 footnote 19 citing TNA SP14/5/20 (f.45r).</ref>
The French ambassador, [[Christophe de Harlay, Count of Beaumont]], and the Spanish ambassador [[Juan de Tassis, 1st Count of Villamediana]] competed for precedence at court. Beaumont was invited to Lennox's masque and Villamediana was invited to the more prestigious twelfth night masque, ''The Vision of the Twelve Goddesses''. Beaumont took this as a slight, but was compelled to attend the gentleman's masque or sword dance. The controversy delayed the production of ''The Vision of the Twelve Goddesses''.<ref>Mark Hutchings & Berta Cano-Echevarría, 'Between Courts: Female Masquers and Anglo-Spanish Diplomacy, 1603–5', ''Early Theatre'', 15:1 (2012), pp. 92–93.</ref>
===Travellers from afar===
The general theme of the masque is a visit of knights from distant lands to the new Stuart court in England.<ref>[[Bernadette Andrea]], ''The Lives of Girls and Women from the Islamic World in Early Modern British Literature and Culture'' (Toronto, 2017), pp. 75–76: Sujata Iyengar, 'Moorish Dancing', Susan P. Cerasano, ''Medieval and Renaissance Drama in England'', 20 (2007), p. 87: Ladan Niayesh, 'Impersonating the Alien in Jacobean Court Masques', Pauline Blanc, ''Selfhood on the Early Modern English Stage'' (Newcastle, 2008), p. 88.</ref> Their foreigness may have been intended to put into perspective differences between Scottish and English courtiers.<ref>Martin Wiggins, ''Drama and the Transfer of Power in Renaissance England'' (Oxford, 2012), pp. 58–59.</ref> The representation of a Chinese magician in the masque can be seen as an example of [[cultural appropriation]], while the imagined country he describes seems, from Carleton's report, to be a kind of fictionalised [[Utopia]].<ref>Jonathan E. Lux, ''The Invention of China in Early Modern England: Spelling the Dragon'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), pp. 13–17.</ref>
English court masques had previously featured arrivals, in January 1512 twelve masquers in disguise, "after the manner of Italy",<ref>Jane Ashelford, ''Dress in the Age of Elizabeth I'' (Batsford, 1988), p. 126.</ref> and in January 1527 [[Henry VIII]] and courtier shepherds arrived at Hampton Court.<ref>Janette Dillon, ''The Language of Space in Court Performance, 1400-1625'' (Cambridge, 2010), pp. 103-114.</ref> Precedents can also be found in the records of the Scottish court. Shepherds arrived at [[Castle Campbell]] for a wedding masque in January 1563.<ref>Michael Pearce, 'Maskerye Claythis for James VI and Anna of Denmark', ''Medieval English Theatre 43'' (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2022), pp. 109-110 {{doi|10.2307/j.ctv24tr7mx.9}}</ref> The ''Navigatioun'' by [[Alexander Montgomerie]] was probably performed in the Christmas season 1579/80.<ref>Roderick J. Lyall, ''Alexander Mongomerie: Poetry, Politics, and Cultural Change in Jacobean Scotland'' (Tempe, Arizona, 2005), pp. 70–75: David J. Parkinson, ''Alexander Montgomerie Poems'', vol. 1 (Scottish Text Society Edinburgh, 2000), pp. 90, 97.</ref> This masque involved the torchlit entrance at [[Holyrood Palace]] of a narrator and his three companions, a "Turk, the More, and the Egyptien".<ref>See, [https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/more_n 'Mor(e), Moir', ''Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue'']</ref><ref>[[Nandini Das]], João Vicente Melo, Haig Z. Smith, Lauren Working, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1t8q92s.7 'Blackamoor/Moor', ''Keywords of Identity, Race, and Human Mobility in Early Modern England'' (Amsterdam, 2021), pp. 40–50]</ref> The court musicians were bought "mask claithis" comprising red and yellow taffeta with swords and daggers. Montgomerie's prologue alludes to the [[Magi]] and [[Epiphany (holiday)|Epiphany]] to represent James VI as the [[Polaris|Northern Star]]. James was also characterised as [[Solomon]]. The masque was followed by dancing. The king's favourite, [[Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox]] may have been involved in this entertainment; the narrator describes himself as "german born", meaning he is a cousin.<ref>David J. Parkinson, ''Alexander Montgomerie Poems'', vol. 2 (Scottish Text Society Edinburgh, 2000), pp. 72–74, 78: Charles Thorpe McInnes, ''Accounts of the Treasurer, 1574–1580'', vol. 13 (Edinburgh, 1978), p. 301.</ref>
At the masque celebrating the [[baptism of James VI]] in 1566, Indian [[nereid]]s had used compasses to navigate their way to [[Stirling Castle]] following the [[Ursa Major|Great Bear]] from the [[New World]].<ref>Lesley Mickel, 'Our Hielandmen: Scots in Court Entertainments at home and abroad 1507–1616', ''Renaissance Studies'', 33:2 (April, 2019), pp. 200–201.</ref> The Indian knights at [[Hampton Court]] may have represented [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas]]. During the [[Entry and coronation of Anne of Denmark|inaugural Entry of Anne of Denmark]] into Edinburgh in May 1590, actors portrayed the "[[Anne of Denmark and her African servants|Moirs of Ind]]", who dwelt in harmony and abundance by "Synerdas", who had sailed to Scotland to offer her the wise counsel of their "most willing minds".<ref>Clare McManus, ''Women on the Renaissance stage: Anna of Denmark and Female Masquing in the Stuart Court, 1590–1619'' (Manchester, 2002), p. 78.</ref>
===Role of the Duke of Lennox===
The performance at Hampton Court may have been influenced by French practice, the ambassador the Comte de Beaumont said Lennox's ''ballet'' was organised ''à la Française'' and the [[Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester|Earl of Worcester]] described another of the January masques as a "ballet" rather a masque. Beaumont also mentions a third masque, a ''ballet d'Écossais'', the Scottish masque.<ref>John Nichols, ''Progresses of James the First'', vol. 1 (London, 1828), p. 317: Pierre Paul Laffleur de Kermaingant, ''L'ambassade de France en Angleterre sous Henri IV.: Mission de Christophe de Harlay Comte de Beaumont'' (Paris, 1895), pp. 175–178.</ref> Carleton says this was a masquerade on 6 January by "Scotchmen" in the Queen's presence involving a [[Scottish sword dances|sword dance]] comparable to a Spanish ''[[Matachines|matachin]]''.<ref>Maurice Lee, ''Dudley Carleton to John Chamberlain, 1603–1624'' (Rutgers UP, 1972), p. 54.</ref> There are some similarities in Carleton's description of the ''Masque of Knights'' with the ''Ballet des Princes de la Chine'' performed at the French court in 1601. One of the 1604 masquers, Lord Aubigny, younger brother of Lennox, may have attended this ballet in person.<ref>Anne Daye, 'Dancing at Court', Sophie Chiari & John Mucciolo, ''Performances at Court in the Age of Shakespeare'' (Cambridge, 2019), p. 147: The French verses for the ''Ballet des Princes'' in 1601 were written by [[Jean Bertaut]].</ref>
David Bergeron notes in connection with the ''Masque of Knights'' that the Duke of Lennox had previously helped to plan the reception of Anne of Denmark in May 1590 and the [[masque at the baptism of Prince Henry]] at [[Stirling Castle]] in 1594, and mentions that Lord Aubigny hosted [[Ben Jonson]] from 1604 onwards.<ref>David Bergeron, 'The Stuart Brothers in and English Theater', Jim Pearce & Ward J. Risvold, ''Renaissance Papers'' (2015), pp. 3–4, 8: David M. Bergeron, ''The Duke of Lennox, 1574-1624: A Jacobean Courtier's Life'' (Edinburgh, 2022), pp. 20-1, 174-5.</ref>
==The show==
According to the report of [[Dudley Carleton, 1st Viscount Dorchester|Dudley Carleton]],<ref>Maurice Lee, ''Dudley Carleton to John Chamberlain, 1603–1624; Jacobean Letters'' (Rutgers University Press, 1972), pp. 53–54, 9, TNA SP 14/6/21.</ref> the masque was staged at night after a performance of a [[Puck (folklore)|Robin Goodfellow]] play, probably ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]''.<ref>Leeds Barroll, ''Anna of Denmark, Queen of England: A Cultural Biography'' (Philadelphia, 2001), p. 83.</ref><ref>Martin Wiggins & Catherine Teresa Richardson, ''British Drama, 1533–1642: 1603–1608'', vol. 5 (Oxford, 2015), pp. 35–36.</ref> The scene opened with Heaven, built in the hall, from where a Chinese magician made a long speech describing his country, comparing it "for strength and plenty" with England.<ref>Maurice Lee, ''Dudley Carleton to John Chamberlain, 1603–1624; Jacobean Letters'' (Rutgers, 1972), p. 53.</ref> He announced the arrival of "certain Indian and China knights", who he had magically conveyed on clouds to Hampton Court. A curtain or "traverse" was pulled back to reveal the masquers playing the knights and carrying torches and lanterns. After some songs, the masquers approached the king in turn.<ref>Martin Butler, ''The Stuart Court Masque and Political Culture'' (Cambridge, 2008), p. 63.</ref>
William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, presented [[James VI and I]] with a shield bearing an impresa or poem, which he explained. He gave the king an expensive jewel. Dudley Carleton wrote that King James was planning to buy this jewel from the financier [[Peter Vanlore]]. The jewel cost "a great sum of money", although the price mentioned by Carleton, £40,000, seems far too high.<ref>Maurice Lee, ''Dudley Carleton to John Chamberlain, 1603–1624'' (Rutgers UP, 1972), pp. 53–54: Martin Wiggins, ''Drama and the Transfer of Power in Renaissance England'' (Oxford, 2012), p. 55.</ref> The jewel was perhaps a diamond with a pendant pearl delivered with a ruby ring to the king on 1 January, which cost £760.<ref>Martin Wiggins, ''Drama and the Transfer of Power in Renaissance England'' (Oxford, 2012), p. 55: Frederick Devon, ''Issue of the Exchequer'' (London, 1836), p. 19.</ref> Soon after King James obtained a large table ruby and two lozenge diamonds, for which he sent Vanlore a parcel of [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth's]] jewels worth £5492–11s–2d in part-payment.<ref>[[Thomas Rymer]], [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_DYiIbJk7CQYC/page/n579/mode/2up ''Foedera'', vol. 16 (London, 1715), pp. 564–565]</ref>
The other masquers presented shields with emblems. [[Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke|Philip Herbert]]'s shield depicted a horse in a green field, which he explained was descendent of Alexander's [[Bucephalus]]. The king made a joke about a showman called [[Bankes's Horse|Bankes whose act involved a dancing and calculating horse]], and then on cue, the formal dance of the masque took place. Next, Anne of Denmark and her ladies in waiting joined in the dancing, "taken out" of the audience by the masquers. Carleton mentions the [[Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford|Countess of Bedford]], the [[Frances Stewart, Duchess of Lennox|Countess of Hertford]], [[Susan Herbert, Countess of Montgomery|Susan Vere]], [[Penelope Blount, Countess of Devonshire|Penelope Rich]], and [[Elizabeth Howard, Countess of Carrick|Lady Southwell the elder]]. The event ended with the return of the magician who dissolved the entertainment by revealing the identities of the eight masqued English and Scottish courtiers.<ref>Martin Butler, ''The Stuart Court Masque and Political Culture'' (Cambridge, 2008), pp. 63, 66: Leeds Barroll, ''Anna of Denmark, Queen of England: A Cultural Biography'' (Philadelphia, 2001), p. 86.</ref>
Some surviving music was copied by Nicholas Le Strange from the January 1604 masques at Hampton Court.<ref>Martin Wiggins & Catherine Teresa Richardson, ''British Drama, 1533–1642: 1603–1608'', vol. 5 (Oxford, 2015), pp. 65–66.</ref> William Bankes and his famous horse had visited Edinburgh in April 1596.<ref>Robert Chambers, ''Domestic Annals of Scotland'', vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1858), p. 271.</ref>
The courtier [[Roger Wilbraham]] wrote a summary of his impressions of the entertainments at court in January 1604 and their costs;<blockquote>King James was at his court at Hampton, where the French, Spanish, and Polonian ambassadors were severallie solemplie feasted, many plaies & daunces with swordes, one mask by English & Scottish lords, another by the Queen's Maiestie & eleven more ladies of her chamber presenting giftes as goddesses. These maskes, especially the laste, costes £2000 or £3000, the aparells, rare musick, fine songes, and in jewels most riche £20,000, the least to my judgment, & [[Jewels of Anne of Denmark|[jewels for] her Majestie £100,000]], after Christmas was [[running at the ring]] by the King & 8 or 9 lords for the honour of those goddesses & then they all feasted together privatelie."<ref>Harold Spencer Scott, [https://archive.org/details/ocm23190029.2605.emory.edu/page/n93/mode/2up 'Journal of Roger Wilbraham', ''Camden Miscellany'' (London, 1902), p. 66]</ref></blockquote>
==The masquers==
The eight courtiers wore robes of crimson satin embroidered with gold and dressed with silver lace over silver doublets, with swords and hats with an Indian bird feather. These costumes, according to Dudley Carleton, were too cumbersome for dancing.<ref>Maurice Lee, ''Dudley Carleton to John Chamberlain, 1603-1624; Jacobean Letters'' (Rutgers University Press, 1972) pp. 53-9: Leeds Barroll, ''Anna of Denmark, Queen of England: A Cultural Biography'' (Philadelphia, 2001), p. 83.</ref>
* [[Thomas Somerset, 1st Viscount Somerset|Thomas Somerset]]
* [[Henry Goodere (died 1627)|Henry Goodere or Goodyer]]
* [[William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke|William Herbert]]
* [[Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke|Philip Herbert]]
* [[Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox]]
* [[Esmé Stewart, 3rd Duke of Lennox|Esmé Stewart, Lord Aubigny]]
* [[James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle|James Hay]]
* [[Richard Preston, 1st Earl of Desmond|Richard Preston]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* [https://blog.hrp.org.uk/curators/shakespeare-plague-and-christmas-at-hampton-court/ Shakespeare, Plague, and Christmas at Hampton Court, Brett Dolman, HRP]
* [https://lostplays.folger.edu/Knights_of_India_and_China,_A_Masque_of_the A Masque of the Knights of India and China: Lost Plays Database]
* [https://lostplays.folger.edu/Scots,_A_Masque_of A Masque of Scots: Lost Plays Database]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masque of Indian and China Knights}}
[[Category:English Renaissance plays]]
[[Category:1604 plays]]
[[Category:1604 in England]]
[[Category:Masques]]
[[Category:Court of James VI and I]]
[[Category:European court festivities]]
[[Category:Hampton Court Palace]]