The Masque of Owls at Kenilworth was written by Ben Jonson and performed at Kenilworth Castle on 19 August 1624 for Prince Charles. [1]
On 19 August 1624, King James was at Whichnor for dinner with Henry Griffiths of Burton Agnes, and then went to Tamworth, while Prince Charles was at Kenilworth with Sir Robert Carey. The Prince's dinner involved artichokes, ducks, and a barrell of sturgeon, after which he was entertained by an interlude, The Masque of Owls. [2]
The masque opens with the ghost of Captain Cox riding a hobby horse. His speech alludes to previous entertainments at Kenilworth for Elizabeth I, including The Princely Pleasures . [3] He had found a nest of six owls, formerly men. The first owl was a London tobacconist, the second a cheesemonger. The third owl was dressed in Coventry blue, and had lost his living as spinner of embroidery thread, and so on. The fifth owl, a language teacher, had pinned his hopes on the Spanish Match. [4]
The court apothecary John Wolfgang Rumler was with the Prince's party at Kenilworth. He was involved in court theatre, and in 1621 had devised special theatrical makeup for Ben Jonson's masque, The Gypsies Metamorphosed to darken the actors' faces. [5] On 20 August 1624 Rumler and Dr James Chalmers, a Scottish court physician, went to an inn called the Red Lion on the green at Kenilworth. They were angry to find no food and drink and left disappointed, saying they might as well burn the inn's sign. A bystander called Gilbert Tonckes joined in their abuse of the landlord, but went on to criticise hospitality in Scotland, where it was thought few inns offered hospitality on the English model. Chambers and Rumler, as servants of the Scottish-born King James took exception to this. The argument was renewed in the evening. Tonckes' speech against the Scots was considered seditious and he was examined by a magistrate. He begged for the king's mercy for himself and his wife. [6]
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 and 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. Often the masquers, who did not speak or sing, were 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.
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.
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.
John Harington, 1st Baron Harington of Exton in Rutland, was an English courtier and politician.
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 by the alternative title 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 Memorable Masque of the Middle Temple and Lincoln's Inn was a Jacobean era masque, written by George Chapman, and with costumes, sets, and stage effects designed by Inigo Jones. It was performed in the Great Hall of Whitehall Palace on 15 February 1613, as one item in the elaborate festivities surrounding the marriage of Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King James I, to Frederick V, Elector Palatine in the Rhineland.
The King's Entertainment at Welbeck in Nottinghamshire, alternatively titled Love's Welcome at Welbeck, was a masque or entertainment written by Ben Jonson, and performed on 21 May 1633 at the Welbeck estate of William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle. It has been argued that the philosopher Thomas Hobbes may have participated in the entertainment as a performer.
Lovers Made Men, alternatively titled The Masque of Lethe or The Masque at Lord Hay's, was a Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson, designed by Inigo Jones, and with music composed by Nicholas Lanier. It was performed on Saturday 22 February 1617, and was significant in the development and acceptance of opera in seventeenth-century England.
Thomas Somerset, 1st Viscount Somerset (1579–1651) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1601 and 1611. He was raised to the Peerage of Ireland in 1626.
Sir Francis Stuart or Frank Stewart (1589–1635), sailor, aristocrat, Member of Parliament and courtier
Tethys' Festival was a masque produced on 5 June 1610 to celebrate the investiture of Prince Henry (1594–1612) as Prince of Wales.
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.
Mary Middlemore was a Courtier and Maid of Honour to Anne of Denmark, subject of poems, and treasure hunter.
Charles Cauchon de Maupas et du Thour or de Tour (1566-1629), was a French ambassador to the Scottish and English court of James VI and I.
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.
Prince Henry's Welcome at Winchester was a masque produced by Anne of Denmark and performed in 1603.
The Masque of Indian and China Knights was performed at Hampton Court in Richmond, England on 1 January 1604. The masque was not published, and no text survives. It was described in a letter written by Dudley Carleton. The historian Leeds Barroll prefers the title, Masque of the Orient Knights.
The wedding of Princess Elizabeth (1596–1662), daughter of James VI and I, and Frederick V of the Palatinate (1596–1632) was celebrated in London in February 1613. There were fireworks, masques, tournaments, and a sea-fight or naumachia. Preparations involved the construction of a "Marriage room", a hall adjacent to the 1607 Banqueting House at Whitehall Palace. The events were described in various contemporary pamphlets and letters.
The Entertainment of the Two Kings of Great Britain and Denmark or The Hours at Theobalds House on 24 July 1606 was written by Ben Jonson. John Harington of Kelston described a masque of Solomon and Sheba, performed one day 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.
Anne of Denmark (1574-1619) was the wife of James VI and I, King of Scotland, and King of England after the Union of Crowns. Several recent scholars prefer to spell her name "Anna" in accordance with most examples of her signature. In 1617, she was depicted in a painting by Paul van Somer with an African servant holding her horse at Oatlands Palace. There are archival records of Africans or people of African descent, often called "Moors" or "Moirs", in her service. One of the first Scottish publications to mention Anne of Denmark's "Moir" was edited by James Thomson Gibson-Craig.