A Sonnet for a Former Princess
Between 1538 and 1543, the Tudor literary courtier Henry Parker, Lord Morley (about 1486-1556), presented the future queen Mary I with a New Year’s gift that included ‘an Italion ryme called soneto’ in English.[i]...
Tagged: courtier
Anti-Popery, Scottish Identity, and the Uses of Travel at the Early Stuart Court
In the Jerusalem section of his 1632 travel account, the Scottish adventurer William Lithgow paused to tell a story that had taken place closer to home, in Whitehall. One day in 1612, Lithgow wrote,...
Burghley 500: Reflecting on the past and looking to the future
On 13th September 1520 (or 1521 – surviving records give both dates), William Cecil, the future Lord Burghley, was born in the town of Bourne in Lincolnshire. So, whilst 2020 was, almost universally, an...
The Past, Present and Future of Court Studies
What is court studies? Easy, one may think – it is the study of the court. Kings and queens, castles and palaces. But what about their servants? Their animals? What happens when this court...