The Entertainment at Britain's Burse is a masque (kind of play) written by Ben Jonson in 1609 and rediscovered in 1997. [1] It was commissioned by Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, in celebration of the opening of the "New Exchange" (essentially a shopping mall), [2] on 11 April 1609. [3]
The text of the masque was discovered by James Knowles and published in 1997. [4] [5] It is an unusual Jonson text because it seems to be in celebration of consumer culture while so many of his other plays and poems condemn it—though there might be some satire intended. There are essentially only three characters. Each character performs a rather lengthy monologue including two songs by the final actor.
The masque begins with "The Key Keeper" who welcomes a "Maiestie" and "roiall lady", King James and the queen, Anne of Denmark, to the New Exchange. The Key Keeper describes the exchange like a "newe region", a place still foreign to himself containing many unexplored wonders. Then a "Shop Boy" describes all the many things for sell beginning and ending his speech asking "what doe you lacke?" Then "The Master", the owner of the shop, picks up where the shop-boy left off. He describes the many "mysterious" commodities and his adventures acquiring them. The play concludes with the master desiring wealth, saying, "And god make me Rich, which is the sellers prayer."
The Earl of Salisbury provided gifts for the royal family. Anne of Denmark was presented with a silver plaque, James had a cabinet, Prince Henry received a caparison for a horse, and courtiers were given rings. [6]
Benjamin Jonson was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence on English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for the satirical plays Every Man in His Humour (1598), Volpone, or The Fox, The Alchemist (1610) and Bartholomew Fair (1614) and for his lyric and epigrammatic poetry. He is regarded as "the second most important English dramatist, after William Shakespeare, during the reign of James I."
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio. A masque involved music, dancing, singing and acting, within an elaborate stage design, in which the architectural framing and costumes might be designed by a renowned architect, to present a deferential allegory flattering to the patron. Professional actors and musicians were hired for the speaking and singing parts. Masquers who did not speak or sing were often courtiers: the English queen Anne of Denmark frequently danced with her ladies in masques between 1603 and 1611, and Henry VIII and Charles I of England performed in the masques at their courts. In the tradition of masque, Louis XIV of France danced in ballets at Versailles with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully.
Inigo Jones was an English architect who was first significant architect in England in the early modern era and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings. As the most notable architect in England, Jones was the first person to introduce the classical architecture of Rome and the Italian Renaissance to Britain. He left his mark on London by his design of single buildings, such as the Queen's House which is the first building in England designed in a pure classical style, and the Banqueting House, Whitehall, as well as the layout for Covent Garden square which became a model for future developments in the West End. He made major contributions to stage design by his work as a theatrical designer for several dozen masques, most by royal command and many in collaboration with Ben Jonson.
Lady Anne Clifford, Countess of Dorset, Pembroke and Montgomery, suo jure 14th Baroness de Clifford was an English peeress. In 1605 she inherited her father's ancient barony by writ and became suo jure 14th Baroness de Clifford. She was a patron of literature and as evidenced by her diary and many letters was a literary personage in her own right. She held the hereditary office of High Sheriff of Westmorland which role she exercised from 1653 to 1676.
Theobalds House in the parish of Cheshunt in the English county of Hertfordshire, north of London, was a significant stately home and (later) royal palace of the 16th and early 17th centuries.
The Masque of Blackness was an early Jacobean era masque, first performed at the Stuart Court in the Banqueting Hall of Whitehall Palace on Twelfth Night, 6 January 1605. It was written by Ben Jonson at the request of Anne of Denmark, the queen consort of King James I, who wished the masquers to be disguised as Africans. Anne was one of the performers in the masque along with her court ladies, all of whom appeared in blackface makeup. In a ceremony earlier on the day, Prince Charles, Anne's second son was given the title of Duke of York.
Margaret Stuart, Scottish aristocrat and courtier in England. She served as lady-in-waiting to the queen consort of England, Anne of Denmark. She was the daughter of James Stewart, 2nd Earl of Moray, and Elizabeth Stuart, 2nd Countess of Moray. The sailor and patron of Ben Jonson, Sir Frances Stuart was her brother.
Hymenaei, or The Masque of Hymen, was a masque written by Ben Jonson for the marriage of Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, and Lady Frances Howard, daughter of the Earl of Suffolk, and performed on their wedding day, 5 January 1606. The costumes, sets, and scenic effects were designed by Inigo Jones, and the music composed by Alfonso Ferrabosco.
Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford was a major aristocratic patron of the arts and literature in the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras, the primary non-royal performer in contemporary court masques, a letter-writer, and a poet. She was an adventurer (shareholder) in the Somers Isles Company, investing in Bermuda, where Harrington Sound is named after her.
The Masque of Beauty was a courtly masque written by Ben Jonson, and performed in London's Whitehall Palace on 10 January 1608. It inaugurated the refurbished banquesting hall of the palace. It was a sequel to the preceding Masque of Blackness, which had been performed three years earlier, on 6 January 1605. In The Masque of Beauty, the "daughters of Niger" of the earlier piece were shown cleansed of the black pigment they had worn on the prior occasion.
Love Freed from Ignorance and Folly was a Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson and designed by Inigo Jones, with music by Alfonso Ferrabosco. It was performed on 3 February 1611 at Whitehall Palace, and published in 1616.
The Entertainment at Althorp, or The Althorp Entertainment, performed on 25 June 1603 is an early Jacobean era literary work, written by Ben Jonson. It is also known as A Particular Entertainment of the Queen and Prince, or The Satyr. The work marked a major development in Jonson's career, as the first of many entertainments and masques that he would write for the Stuart Court.
The Speeches at Prince Henry's Barriers, sometimes called The Lady of the Lake, is a masque or entertainment written by Ben Jonson in honour of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, the son and heir of King James I of England. The speeches were performed on 6 January 1610 in conjunction with the ceremony known as Prince Henry's Barriers.
Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue is a Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson and designed by Inigo Jones. It was first performed on Twelfth Night, 6 January 1618, in the Banqueting House at Whitehall Palace. The work's failure on its initial performance, and its subsequent revision, marked a significant development in Jonson's evolving masque technique.
Britain's Bourse, also known as the New Exchange, was a shopping arcade located on the Strand, London opened by James I in 1609. It was demolished in 1737.
Sir Edward Zouch of Woking was a courtier to English kings James and Charles I, a masque actor, and Knight Marshal of the King's Household.
John Wolfgang Rumler was a German physician and apothecary in Augsburg, known for his Observationes medicae, who eventually served the English royal family in the households of Prince of Wales, Queen Anne, King James and Charles I of England. He is also credited with making blackface theatrical grease-paint.
Robert Abercromby or Abircrumby was a Scottish leatherworker serving the Scottish monarchy in the 16th century.
The Entertainment of the Two Kings of Great Britain and Denmark or The Hours was written by Ben Jonson and performed at Theobalds House on 24 July 1606. John Harington of Kelston described another masque of Solomon and Sheba, performed one day at Theobalds after dinner. There is some doubt over Harington's account. In May 1607 another masque An Entertainment of the King James and Queen Anne at Theobalds was performed when the keys of the house were given to Anne of Denmark.
Zachary Bethell was an English courtier, an usher, and administrator in the wardrobes of Anne of Denmark and Henrietta Maria.