1603-1610 James I
1603-1610 James I is in 17th Century Events.
1603 Knighting at Theobalds House
On 07 May 1603 during his journey south King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland (age 36) stayed at Theobalds House, Hertfordshire as a guest of William Cecil 1st Baron Burghley.
King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland knighted:
Gervase Helwys (age 41)
John Leventhorpe 1st Baronet (age 43)
Michael Stanhope (age 54).
Thomas Bisshopp 1st Baronet (age 50).
Arrival of Anne of Denmark
On 03 Jun 1603 a number of English noble ladies selected by the Privy Council greeted Anne of Denmark Queen Consort Scotland England and Ireland (age 28) at Berwick on Tweed, Northumberland [Map] with two-hudred horse including ...
Frances Howard Countess Kildare
Elizabeth Hastings Countess of Worcester (age 57)
Philadelphia Carey Baroness Scrope Bolton
Penelope Devereux Countess Devonshire (age 40).
Anne Lady Herbert (age 20)
Audrey Shelton Lady Walsingham (age 34).
The Entertainment at Althorp
On 25 Jun 1603 the Ben Johnson (age 31) Masque The Entertainment at Althorp was performed at Althorp House, Northamptonshire [Map] to welcome the new Royal Family on their journey from Edinburgh to London following the death of Queen Elizabeth. The performance was attended by Anne of Denmark Queen Consort Scotland England and Ireland (age 28) and her son Henry Frederick Stewart Prince of Wales (age 9).
Coronation of James I
On 21 Jul 1603 King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland (age 37) created a number of new Baronies ...
Thomas Egerton (age 63) was created 1st Baron Ellesmere. Alice Spencer Countess Derby (age 54) by marriage Baroness Ellesmere.
Robert Spencer (age 33) was created 1st Baron Spencer Wormleighton.
John Harrington (age 63) was created 1st Baron Harington of Exton. Anne Keilway Baroness Harington (age 49) by marriage Baroness Harington of Exton.
On 23 Jul 1603 King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland (age 37) created a number Knights at the Royal Gardens Whitehall Palace:
Henry Savile 1st Baronet (age 24), William Morgan (age 43), George Carew, Baptist Hicks 1st Viscount Campden (age 46), Richard Musgrave 1st Baronet (age 18), James Calthorpe (age 44), Thomas Gresham (age 56), George Fane of Burston (age 22), Francis Fane 1st Earl of Westmoreland (age 23), Robert Chichester (age 25), William Pope 1st Earl Downe (age 29), Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet (age 15), Thomas Berkeley (age 28), Edward Montagu 1st Baron Montagu (age 40), William Herbert 1st Baron Powis (age 30), Anthony Irby (age 26), Drue Drury of Eccles and Rollesby in Norfolk and Arnold Lygon (age 45).
24 Jul 1603 Richard Browne Clerk (age 64).
Diary of Anne Clifford 1603. 25 Jul 1603. Upon the 25th of July the King and Queen (age 28) were crowned at Westminster, my Father (age 44) and Mother (age 43) both attended in their robes, my Aunt of Bath and my Uncle Russell (age 45), which solemn sight my Mother would not let me see because the plague was hot in London, therefore I continued at Norbury, where my cousin did so feed me with breakfasts and pear pies and such things, as shortly after I fell into sickness.
On 25 Jul 1603 King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland (age 37) was crowned I King England Scotland and Ireland at Westminster Abbey [Map].
Charles Howard 1st Earl Nottingham (age 67) was appointed Lord High Steward.
On 26 Jul 1603 Thomas Bennett (age 60) and Thomas Cambell (age 67) were knighted.
On 27 Jul 1603 William Wrey 1st Baronet was knighted at Whitehall Palace [Map].
On 30 Jul 1603 Richard Preston 1st Earl Desmond was knighted at Whitehall Palace [Map].
Bishop Thomas Bilson (age 56) gave the sermon. While the wording conceded something to the divine right of kings, it also included a caveat about lawful resistance to a monarch.
Main and Bye Plots
In Jun 1603 and Jul 1603 Griffin Markham 13th Baron Latimer of Braybrooke (age 33) took part in both the Main and Bye Plots for which he was convicted (1603) and sentenced to death. In 1605 he was reprieved and although his attainder appears to have remained. Baron Latimer of Braybrook forfeit.
In Jul 1603 the Main and Bye Plots led by Henry Brooke 11th Baron Cobham (age 38) and Thomas Grey 15th Baron Grey of Wilton (age 27) sought to replace King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland (age 37) with Arabella Stewart (age 28).
Thomas Grey 15th Baron Grey of Wilton was sentenced to death, attainted, and imprisoned in the Tower of London [Map].
On 19 Jul 1603 Walter Raleigh (age 49) arrested for his part in the Main and Bye Plots.
On 05 Dec 1603 George Brooke (age 35) was executed for his part in the Main and Bye Plots.
On 09 Jul 1614 Thomas Grey 15th Baron Grey of Wilton (age 38) died at Tower of London [Map] having been imprisoned for eleven years for his involvement in the Bye Plot. Baron Grey of Wilton extinct.
Prince Henry's Welcome at Winchester
Prince Henry's Welcome at Winchester was a masque produced by Anne of Denmark and performed in 1603 at Winchester on a day between 11 and 17 October.
Diary of Anne Clifford 1603. Before 25 Dec 1603. Before Xmas my cousin Frances was sent for from Nonsuch to North Hall by reason that her Grace was to go from thence to be brought up with the Lady Harrington in the country. All this time we were merry at North Hall. My cousin Frances Bouchier (age 16) and my cousin Frances Russell and I did use to walk much in the garden and were great with one another. Now there was much talk of a masque which the Queen (age 29) had at Winchester and how all the ladies about the Court had gotten such ill names that it was grown a scandalous place, and the Queen herself was much fallen from her former greatness and reputation she had in the world.
Note 1. The Diary appears to pass at once from 1603 to 1616.
Masque of the Twelve Goddesses
The Elizabethan Stage by E K Chambers Volume 3 The Twelve Goddesses 08 Jan 1604. 1604. The true discription of a Royall Masque. Presented at Hampton Court, vpon Sunday night, being the eight of Ianuary, 1604. And Personated by the Queenes most Excellent Majestie, attended by Eleuen Ladies of Honour. Edward Allde.[278]
The Vision of the 12 Goddesses, presented in a Maske the 8 of Ianuary, at Hampton Court: By the Queenes most Excellent Maiestie, and her Ladies. T. C. for Simon Waterson. [A preface to Lucy, Countess of Bedford, is signed by Daniel, who states that the publication was motived by 'the unmannerly presumption of an indiscreet Printer, who without warrant hath divulged the late shewe ... and the same very disorderly set forth'. Lady Bedford had 'preferred' Daniel to the Queen 'in this imployment'.]
See Collections.
Editions by Nichols, James, i. 305 (1828), E. Law (1880), and H. A. Evans (1897, English Masques).
The maskers, in various colours and with appropriate emblems, were twelve Goddesses, and were attended by torchbearers (cf. Carleton, infra); the presenters, 'for the introducing this show', Night, Sleep, Iris, Sibylla, and the Graces; the cornets, Satyrs.
The locality was the Hall at Hampton Court. At the lower end was a mountain, from which the maskers descended, and in which the cornets played; at the upper end the cave of Sleep and, on the left (Carleton), a temple of Peace, in the cupola of which was 'the consort music', while viols and lutes were 'on one side of the hall'.
The maskers presented their emblems, which Sibylla laid upon the altar of the temple. They danced 'their own measures', then took out the lords for 'certain measures, galliards, and corantoes', and after a 'short departing dance' reascended the mountain.
his was a Queen's mask, danced, according to manuscript notes in a copy of the Allde edition (B.M. 161, a. 41) thought by Mr. Law to be 'in a hand very like Lord Worcester's' (vide infra), and possibly identical with the 'original MS. of this mask' from which the same names are given in Collier, i. 347, by the Queen (Pallas), the Countesses of Suffolk (Juno), Hertford (Diana), Bedford (Vesta), Derby (Proserpine), and Nottingham (Concordia), and the Ladies Rich (Venus), Hatton (Macaria), Walsingham (Astraea), Susan Vere (Flora), Dorothy Hastings (Ceres), and Elizabeth Howard (Tethys).
Anticipations of masks at Court during the winter of 1603-4 are to be found in letters to Lord Shrewsbury from Arabella Stuart on 18 Dec. (Bradley, ii. 193), 'The Queene intendeth to make a Mask this Christmas, to which end my Lady of Suffolk and my Lady Walsingham hath warrants to take of the late Queenes best apparell out of the Tower at theyr discretion. Certain Noblemen (whom I may not yet name to you, because some of them have made me of theyr counsell) intend another. Certain gentlemen of good sort another'; from Cecil on 23 Dec. (Lodge, iii. 81), 'masks and much more'; and from Sir Thomas Edmondes on 23 Dec. (Lodge, iii. 83):
'Both the King's and Queen's Majesty have a humour to have some masks this Christmas time, and therefore, for that purpose, both the young lords and chief gentlemen of one part, and the Queen and her ladies of the other part, do severally undertake the accomplishment and furnishing[279] thereof; and, because there is use of invention therein, special choice is made of Mr. Sanford to direct the order and course for the ladies';
also in the letters of Carleton to Chamberlain on 27 Nov. (Birch, i. 24; Hardwicke Papers, i. 383), 'many plays and shows are bespoken, to give entertainment to our ambassadors', and 22 Dec. (S. P. D. Jac. I, v. 20; Law, 9):
'We shall have a merry Christmas at Hampton Court, for both male and female maskes are all ready bespoken, whereof the Duke [of Lennox] is rector chori of th' one side and the La: Bedford of the other.'
I suppose Mr. Sanford to be Henry Sanford, who, like Daniel, had been of the Wilton household (cf. Aubrey, i. 311) and may well have lent him his aid.
The masks of lords on 1 Jan. and of Scots on 6 Jan. are not preserved. The latter is perhaps most memorable because Ben Jonson and his friend Sir John Roe were thrust out from it by the Lord Chamberlain (cf. ch. vi). Arabella Stuart briefly told Shrewsbury on 10 Jan. that there were three masks (Bradley, ii. 199). Wilbraham's Journal (Camden Misc. x), 66, records:
The masks of lords on 1 Jan. and of Scots on 6 Jan. are not preserved. The latter is perhaps most memorable because Ben Jonson and his friend Sir John Roe were thrust out from it by the Lord Chamberlain (cf. ch. vi). Arabella Stuart briefly told Shrewsbury on 10 Jan. that there were three masks (Bradley, ii. 199). Wilbraham's Journal (Camden Misc. x), 66, records:
But the fullest description was given by Carleton to Chamberlain on 15 Jan. (S. P. D. Jac. I, vi. 21, printed by Law, 33, 45; Sullivan, 192).
'On New yeares night we had a play of Robin goode-fellow and a maske brought in by a magicien of China. There was a heaven built at the lower end of the hall, owt of which our magicien came downe and after he had made a long sleepy speech to the King of the nature of the cuntry from whence he came comparing it with owrs for strength and plenty, he sayde he had broughte in cloudes certain Indian and China Knights to see the magnificency of this court. And theruppon a trauers was drawne and the maskers seen sitting in a voulty place with theyr torchbearers and other lights which was no vnpleasing spectacle. The maskers were brought in by two boyes and two musitiens who began with a song and whilst that went forward they presented themselves to the King. The first gave the King an Impresa in a shield with a sonet in a paper to exprese his deuice and presented a jewell of 40,000£ valew which the King is to buy of Peter Van Lore, but that is more than euery man knew and it made a faire shew to the French Ambassadors eye whose master would have bin well pleased with such a maskers present but not at that prise. The rest in theyr order deliuered theyr scutchins with letters and there was no great stay at any of them saue only at one who was putt to the interpretacion of his deuise. It was a faire horse colt in a faire greene field which he meant to be a colt of Busephalus race and had this virtu of his sire that none could mount him but one as great at lest as Alexander. The King made himself merry with threatening to send this colt to the stable and he could not breake loose till he promised to dance as well as Bankes his horse. The first measure was full of changes and seemed confused but was well gone[280] through with all, and for the ordinary measures they tooke out the Queen, the ladies of Derby, Harford, Suffolke, Bedford, Susan Vere, Suthwell th' elder and Rich. In the corantoes they ran over some other of the young ladies, and so ended as they began with a song; and that done, the magicien dissolved his enchantment, and made the maskers appear in theyr likenes to be th' Erle of Pembroke, the Duke, Monsr. d'Aubigny, yong Somerset, Philip Harbert the young Bucephal, James Hayes, Richard Preston, and Sir Henry Godier. Theyr attire was rich but somewhat too heavy and cumbersome for dancers which putt them besides ther galliardes. They had loose robes of crimsen sattin embrodered with gold and bordered with brood siluer laces, dublets and bases of cloth of siluer; buskins, swordes and hatts alike and in theyr hats ech of them an Indian bird for a fether with some jewells. The twelfe-day the French Ambassador was feasted publikely; and at night there was a play in the Queens presence with a masquerado of certaine Scotchmen who came in with a sword dance not vnlike a matachin, and performed it clenly.... The Sunday following was the great day of the Queenes maske.'
This Carleton describes at length; I only note points which supplement Daniel's description.
'The Hale was so much lessened by the workes that were in it, so as none could be admitted but men of apparance, the one end was made into a rock and in several places the waightes placed; in attire like savages. Through the midst from the top came a winding stayre of breadth for three to march; and so descended the maskers by three and three; which being all seene on the stayres at once was the best presentacion I have at any time seene. Theyre attire was alike, loose mantles and petticotes but of different colors, the stuffs embrodered sattins and cloth of gold and silver, for which they were beholding to Queen Elizabeth's wardrobe.... Only Pallas had a trick by herself for her clothes were not so much below the knee, but that we might see a woman had both feete and legs which I never knew before.'
He describes the torchbearers as pages in white satin loose gowns, although Daniel says they were 'in the like several colours' to the maskers. The temple was 'on the left side of the hall towards the upper end'. For the 'common measures' the lords taken out were Pembroke, Lennox, Suffolk, Henry Howard, Southampton, Devonshire, Sidney, Nottingham, Monteagle, Northumberland, Knollys, and Worcester.
'For galliardes and corantoes they went by discretion, and the yong Prince was tost from hand to hand like a tennis bal. The Lady Bedford and Lady Susan tooke owt the two ambassadors; and they bestirred themselfe very liuely: speceally the Spaniard for the Spanish galliard shewed himself a lusty old reueller.... But of all for goode grace and goode footmanship Pallas bare the bell away.'
The dancers unmasked about midnight, and then came a banquet in the presence-chamber, 'which was dispatched with the accustomed confusion'.
Carleton also mentions the trouble between the Spanish and French ambassadors, which is also referred to in a letter of O. Renzo to G. A. Frederico (S. P. D. Jac. I, vi. 37; cf. Sullivan, 195), and is the subject of several dispatches by and to the Comte de Beaumont[281] (King's MSS. cxxiv, ff. 328, 359v, 363, 373, 381, 383v, 389; cf. Reyher, 519, Sullivan, 193-5). was the object of the Court not to invite both ambassadors together, as this would entail an awkward decision as to precedence. Beaumont was asked first, to the mask on 1 Jan. He hesitated to accept, expressing a fear that it was intended to ask De Taxis to the Queen's mask on Twelfth Night, 'dernier jour des festes de Noël selon la facon d'Angleterre et le plus honnorable de tout pour la cérémonie qui s'y obserue de tout temps publiquement'. After some negotiation he extracted a promise from James that, if the Spaniard was present at all, it would be in a private capacity, and he then dropped the point, and accepted his own invitation, threatening to kill De Taxis in the presence if he dared to dispute precedence with him. On 5 Jan. he learnt that Anne had refused to dance if De Taxis was not present, and that the promise would be broken. He protested, and his protest was met by an invitation for the Twelfth Night to which he had attached such importance. But the Queen's mask was put off until 8 Jan., a Scottish mask substituted on 6 Jan., and on 8 Jan. De Taxis was present, revelling it in red, while Anne paid him the compliment of wearing a red favour on her costume.
Reyher, 519, cites references to the Queen's mask in the accounts of the Treasurer of the Chamber and of the Office of Works. E. Law (Hist. of Hampton Court, ii. 10) gives, presumably from one of these, 'making readie the lower ende with certain roomes of the hall at Hampton Court for the Queenes Maiestie and ladies against their mask by the space of three dayes'.
Allde's edition must have been quickly printed. On 2 Feb. Lord Worcester wrote to Lord Shrewsbury (Lodge, iii. 87): 'Whereas your Lordship saith you were never particularly advertised of the mask, I have been at sixpence charge with you to send you the book, which will inform you better than I can, having noted the names of the ladies applied to each goddess; and for the other, I would likewise have sent you the ballet, if I could have got it for money, but these books, as I hear, are all called in, and in truth I will not take upon me to set that down which wiser than myself do not understand.
Note 278. Henslowe Papers, 139.
Note 279. James IV, 106, 605, 618, 1115.
Note 280. Looking Glass, 152, 1756.
On 08 Jan 1604 the Masque of the Twelve Goddesses was performed in the Great Hall at Hampton Court Palace, Richmond [Map]. The performers included:
Anne of Denmark Queen Consort Scotland England and Ireland (age 29) played Pallas.
Catherine Knyvet Countess Suffolk (age 40) played Juno.
Frances Howard Duchess Lennox and Richmond (age 25) played Diana.
Lucy Harrington Countess Bedford (age 24) played Vesta.
Elizabeth Vere Countess Derby (age 28) played Proserpine.
Margaret Stewart 1st Countess Nottingham (age 13) played Concordia.
Penelope Devereux Countess Devonshire (age 41) played Venus.
Elizabeth Cecil Lady Hatton (age 26) played Macaria.
Audrey Shelton Lady Walsingham (age 35) played Astraea.
Susan Vere Countess Montgomery (age 16) played Flora.
Dorothy Hastings (age 25) played Ceres.
Elizabeth Howard Countess Banbury (age 21) played Tethys.
Treaty of London
Around 1604 John Critz (age 53) is believed to have contributed to the Somerset House Conference painting of the negotiation of the Treaty of London in which Thomas Sackville 1st Earl Dorset (age 68), Charles Howard 1st Earl Nottingham (age 68), Charles Blount 1st Earl Devonshire (age 41), Henry Howard 1st Earl of Northampton (age 63) and Robert Cecil 1st Earl Salisbury (age 40) are represented on the right side.
On 18 Aug 1604 the Treaty of London was signed concluding the nineteen-year Anglo-Spanish War. The treaty restored the 'Status quo' between the two nations. The negotiations probably took place at Somerset House [Map] in Westminster and are sometimes known as the Somerset House Conference.
Marriage of Philip Herbert and Susan Howard
In 1605 Philip Herbert 4th Earl Pembroke 1st Earl Montgomery (age 20) was created 1st Earl Montgomery. Susan Vere Countess Montgomery (age 17) by marriage Countess Montgomery.
Memorials of affairs of state in the reigns of Q Elizabeth and K James I Volume 2 Dudley Carleton to Mr Winwood Jan 1605. Jan 1605. Dudley Carleton (age 32) to Ralph Winwood (age 42)
Sir
I had written unto you at this time, though I had not been invited by your Letters I received by Captain Doyly. For in Mr. Chamberlain's Absense, I come in quarter, and have waited so diligently at Court this Christmas, that I have Matter enough, if the Report of Masks and Mummings can please you.
On St. John's Day we had the Marriage of Sir Philip Herbert (age 21) and the Lady Susan (age 18) performed at Whitehall, with all the Honour could be done a great Favourite. The Court was great, and for that Day put on the best Bravery. The Prince (age 11) and Duke of Holst (age 26) led the Bride to Church, the Queen (age 31) follow'd her from thence. The King (age 39) gave her, and she in her Tresses, and Trinketts brided and bridled it so handsomly, and indeed became her self so well, that the King said, if he were unmarried he would not give her, but keep her himself. The Marriage Dinner was kept in the great Chamber, where the Prince and the Duke of Holst, and the great Lords and Ladies accompanied the Bride. The Ambassador of Venice was the only bidden Guest of Strangers, and he had place above the Duke of Holst, which the Duke took not well. But after Dinner he was as little pleased himself; for being brought into the Closet to retire himself, he was there suffered to walk out his Supper unthought of. At Night there was a Mask in the Hall, which for Conceit and Fashion was fuitable to the Occasion. The Actors, were the Earle of Pembrook (age 25), the Lord Willoby, Sir Samuel Hays, Sir Thomas Germain, Sir Robert Cary (age 22), Sir John Lee, Sir Richard Preston, and Sir Thomas Eager. There was no smal Loss that Night of Chaines and Jewells, and many great Ladies were made shorter by the Skirts, and were well enough served that they could keep cut no better. The Presents of Plate, and other Things given by the Noblemen, were valued at £2500, but that which made it a good Marriage, was a Gift of the King's of £500 Land for the Bride's Joynture. They were lodged in the Councill Chamber, where the King in his Shirt and NightGown gave them a Reveille Matin before they were up, and spent a good time in or upon the Bed, chuse which you will believe. No Ceremony was omitted of Bride-Cakes, Points, Garters, and Gloves, which have been ever since the Livery of the Court; and at Night there was sewing into the Sheet, casting off the Bride's left Hose, with many other petty Sorceries.
On 27 Dec 1605 Philip Herbert 4th Earl Pembroke 1st Earl Montgomery (age 21) and Susan Vere Countess Montgomery (age 18) were married at Whitehall. The bride was escorted into the church by the Queen's (age 31) brother Prince Ulrik Oldenburg (age 26) and her son Henry Frederick Stewart Prince of Wales (age 11). She the daughter of Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford and Anne Cecil Countess of Oxford. He the son of Henry Herbert 2nd Earl Pembroke and Mary Sidney Countess Pembroke (age 44).
New Years Honours
On 05 Jan 1605 King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland (age 4) was created 1st Duke York and Knight of the Bath by his father King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland (age 38)
Francis Manners 6th Earl of Rutland (age 27) and Thomas Somerset 1st Viscount Somerset (age 26) was @@appointed Knight of the Bath.
Memorials of affairs of state in the reigns of Q Elizabeth and K James I Volume 2 Dudley Carleton to Mr Winwood Jan 1605. On Twelfth-Day we had the Creation of Duke Charles (age 4) now Duke of York; the Interim was entertained with making Knights of the Bath, which was three Days Work. They were eleven in Number, besides the little Duke, all of the King's Choice; namely, the Lords Willoby, Compton, Chandois, and Norres; William Cecyll, Allen Percy, Thomas Somerset (age 26), Francis Manners (age 27), Clifford, young Howard, second Son of my Lord Chamberlaine, and Harrington. The Solemnity of the Creation was kept in the Hall, where first the Duke was brought in accompanyed with his Knights, then carried out againe, and brought back by Earles in their Robes of the Garter. My Lord Admiral bare him, two others went as Supporters, and six marched before with the Ornaments. The Patent was read by my Lord of Cranborne (age 13), and drawn in most eloquent Law Latin by Mr. Attorney; but so, that we have a Duke of York in Title, but not in Substance. There was a publick Dinner in the great Chamber, where there was one Table for the Duke and his Earls Assistants, another for his Fellow Knights of the Bath.
Masque of Blackness
Memorials of affairs of state in the reigns of Q Elizabeth and K James I Volume 2 Dudley Carleton to Mr Winwood Jan 1605. At Night we had the Queen's Maske in the Banqueting-House [Map], or rather her Pagent. There was a great Engine at the lower end of the Room, which had Motion, and in it were the Images of Sea-Horses with other terrible Fishes, which were ridden by Moors: The Indecorum was, that there was all Fish and no Water. At the further end was a great Shell in form of a Skallop,wherein were four Seats; on the lowest sat the Queen (age 30) with my Lady Bedford (age 25); on the left were placed the Ladies Suffolk (age 41), Darby (age 29), Rich (age 42), Effingham (age 30), Ann Herbert (age 22), Susan Herbert (age 17), Elizabeth Howard (age 22), Walsingham (age 36) and Bevil (age 39). Their Apparell was rich, but too light and Currizan-light for such great ones. Instead of Vizzards, their Faces, and Arms up to the Elbows, were painted black, which was Disguise sufficient, for they were hard to be known; but it became them nothing so well as their red and white, and you cannot imagine a more ugly Sight, then a Troop of lean-cheeked Moors. The Spanish and Venetian Ambassadors were both present, and sate by the King in State; at which Monsieur Beaumont quarrells so extreamly, that he saith the whole Court is Spanish. But by his Favour, he should fall out with none but himself, for they were all indifferently invited to come as private Men, to a private Sport; which he refusing, the Spanish Ambassador willingly accepted, and being there, feeing no Cause to the contrary, he put off Don Taxis, and took upon him El Senor Embaxadour, wherein he outstript our little Monsieur. He was privately at the first Mask, and fate amongst his Men disguised; at this he was taken out to dance, and footed it like a lusty old Gallant with his Country Woman. He took out the Queen, and forgot not to kiss her Hand, though there was Danger it would have left a Mark on his Lips. The Night's Work was concluded with a Banquet in the great Chamber, which was so furioufly assaulted, that down went Table and Tresses before one bit was touched. They say the Duke Holst will come upon us with an after reckoning, and that we shall see him on Candlemas Night in a Mask, as he hath shewed himself a lusty Reveller all this Christmas.
On 06 Jan 1605, Twelfth Night, the Ben Johnson (age 33) Masque of Blackness was performed at the Banqueting House, Whitehall Palace [Map]. The performers included:
Anne of Denmark Queen Consort Scotland England and Ireland (age 30) played Euphoris.
Lucy Harrington Countess Bedford (age 25) played Aglaia.
Anne Lady Herbert (age 22) played Diaphane.
Elizabeth Vere Countess Derby (age 29) played Eucampse.
Catherine Knyvet Countess Suffolk (age 41) played Kathare.
Penelope Devereux Countess Devonshire (age 42) played Ocyte.
Frances Knyvet Lady Bevill (age 39) played Notis.
Anne St John Lady Effingham (age 30) played Psychrote.
Elizabeth Howard Countess Banbury (age 22) played Glycyte.
Susan Vere Countess Montgomery (age 17) played Malacia.
Mary Sidney Lady Wroth (age 18) played Baryte.
Audrey Shelton Lady Walsingham (age 36) played Periphere.
Christening of Princess Mary Stuart
On 04 May 1605 new Baronies were created in celebration of the christening of Princess Mary Stewart:
Thomas Arundell 1st Baron Arundel (age 45) was created 1st Baron Arundel of Wardour in Wiltshire. Mary Wriothesley Baroness Arundel Wardour by marriage Baroness Arundel of Wardour in Wiltshire.
John Stanhope 1st Baron Stanhope (age 56) was created 1st Baron Stanhope of Harrington. Margaret Macwilliams Baroness Stanhope by marriage Baroness Stanhope of Harrington.
On 05 May 1605 Princess Mary Stewart was christened at the Palace of Placentia [Map]. Elizabeth Vere Countess Derby (age 29) carried the child. The infant's clothing, a train of purple velvet, embroidered with gold and furred with Ermines, was supported by two countesses, being so long that it fell to the ground. Richard Bancroft Archibishop Canterbury (age 60) performed the christening. The Queen's (age 30) brother Prince Ulrik Oldenburg (age 26), the King's (age 38) first cousin Arabella Stewart (age 30) and Dorothy Devereux Countess Northumberland (age 41) were godparents. The King presented Queen Anne (who was not present) with new jewelry.
Bristol Channel Floods
On 30 Jan 1607 around midday the Bristol Channel suffered from unexpectedly high floodings that broke the coastal defences in several places devastings significant areas of South-Wales and Somerset. It is estimated that 2,000 or more people were drowned, houses and villages were swept away, an estimated 200 square miles (51,800 ha) of farmland inundated, and livestock destroyed, wrecking the local economy along the coasts of the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary. The coast of Devon and the Somerset Levels as far inland as Glastonbury Tor, 14 miles (23 km) from the coast, were also affected. The sea wall at Burnham-on-Sea [Map] gave way, and the water flowed over the low-lying levels and moors.
Flight of the Earls
In Sep 1607 describes the leaving of Ireland by Hugh O'Neill 1st Earl of Tyrone (age 57) and Rory O'Donnell 1st Earl of Tyrconnell (age 32), and around ninety of their followers, from Ireland to Europe. The event was first named as a "flight" in a book by the Reverend C. P. Meehan that was published in 1868. The set sail from Rathmullan.
Masque of Beauty
On 10 Jan 1608 the Ben Johnson (age 36) Masque of Beauty was performed at the Banqueting House, Whitehall Palace [Map] to celebrate the completion of its refurburbishment. King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland (age 41) attended.
The performers included:
Anne of Denmark Queen Consort Scotland England and Ireland (age 33).
Alethea Talbot Countess Arundel, Surrey and Norfolk (age 23).
Catherine Brydges Countess Bedford (age 28).
Elizabeth Vere Countess Derby (age 32).
Susan Vere Countess Montgomery (age 20).
Lettice Perrot Baroness Chichester (age 48).
Audrey Shelton Lady Walsingham (age 39).
Catherine Somerset Baroness Windsor (age 33).
Anne Clifford Countess Dorset and Pembroke (age 17).
Elizabeth Barkham Lady Garrard (age 15).
Elizabeth Somerset (age 18).
Elizabeth Cecil Lady Hatton (age 30).
Mary Neville 3rd Baroness Despencer (age 54).
Catherine Somerset Baroness Windsor.
Arabella Stewart (age 33).
Masque of The Hue and Cry After Cupid
On 09 Feb 1608 John Ramsay 1st Earl Holderness (age 28) and Elizabeth Radclyffe Viscountess Haddington were married at Whitehall Palace [Map]. She by marriage Viscountess Haddington. She the daughter of Robert Radclyffe 5th Earl of Sussex (age 34) and Bridget Morrison Countess Sussex.
James I (age 41) gave the bride away and sent the bride a gold cup containing a grant of lands worth an income of £600 per year, also paid off Ramsay's debts of £10,000.
The marriage was celebrated with the Masque of The Hue and Cry After Cupid in the evening of 09 Feb 1608 at the Banqueting House, Whitehall Palace [Map] written by Ben Johnson (age 36).
The principal masquers, nobles and gentlemen of the Court, appeared in the guise of the twelve signs of the Zodiac; the men, five English and seven Scottish courtiers, were:
Ludovic Stewart 2nd Duke Lennox 1st Duke Richmond (age 33).
Thomas Howard 21st Earl of Arundel 4th Earl of Surrey 1st Earl Norfolk (age 22).
Philip Herbert 4th Earl Pembroke 1st Earl Montgomery (age 23).
William Herbert 3rd Earl Pembroke (age 27).
Esmé Stewart 3rd Duke Lennox (age 29).
Theophilus Howard 2nd Earl Suffolk (age 25).
James Hay 1st Earl Carlisle (age 28).
Robert Crichton 8th Lord Sanquhar.
John Kennedy, Master of Mar.
Robert Rich 2nd Earl Warwick (age 20).
Mr Erskine.
Death of Bess of Hardwick
On 13 Feb 1608 Bess of Hardwick (age 81) died. She was buried in All Saints Church, Derby [Map]. Her monument, which she had constructed before her death, was designed by Robert Smythson (age 38). She left nothing in her will for her 'bad son' Henry Cavendish (age 57). He did, however, inherit Chatsworth House [Map] which he subsequently sold in 1609 to his brother William Cavendish 1st Earl Devonshire (age 55) for £10,000.
The date of her funeral somewhat complicated. Rawsons 1910 book "Bess of Hardwick and her Circle" quotes Simpson's National Records of Derby for 1608: "The old Countess of Shrewsbury died about Candlemas this year, whose funeral was about Holy Thursday. A great frost this year. The witches of Bakewell hanged." Holy Thursday, the Feast of the Ascension, is thirty-nine days after Easter. Easter in 1608 was on the 6th of April, putting Holy Thursday on the 15th of May.
Ethel Carleton Williams "Bess of Hardwick", 1959, has a note: "9. The date of Bess of Hardwick's funeral is uncertain. The date on the coffin plate is said to be February 1608 (Cox and Hope, Chronicles of the Collegiate Church of All Saints, Derby), but on 31 March 1608 Gilbert Talbot wrote to Robert Cecil, excusing himself for not attending St George's Feast on the ground that his mother-in-law's funeral was to be on St George's Day (23 April). Later, on 3rd of April, the Earl of Arundel wrote to Gilbert (his father-in-law), 'the funeral at Derby is appointed to be either on the fourth or fifth of May, which Garter yet knoweth not, but rather thinketh on the fourth because the other is a holy day'".
Neither of which provide a definite answer. The former being around the 15th of May, the latter 'rather thinketh' the 4th of May. Are there any other contemporary sources available?
Stewart-Wharton Duel
On 08 Nov 1609 George Wharton (age 26) and James Stewart (age 24) killed each other in a duel at Islington Fields over a game of cards. They were buried together in the same grave in Islington, by the King's command on 10 Nov 1609.