Tudor Costume and Fashion

Herbert Norris

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9780486141510
• Topic: Design
• Subtopic: Fashion Design

The period of Tudor rule in England (1485-1603) marked the appearance of an unprecedented opulence in fashions worn by royalty and members of the nobility, with social rank often reflected in attire. This monumental study by a brilliant and imaginative scholar examines that colorful period in fashion history, from the reign of Henry VII through that of Elizabeth I.
Because continental fashions heavily influenced clothing styles of the English nobility, the text includes brief introductory reviews of garments worn in France, Italy, Spain, and Germany. Each chapter focuses on costumes of a particular period, meticulously delineating not only the elegance of court dress but also describing the quotidian garments of the middle and lower classes — from tradespeople and common sailors to the peasantry and even court jesters. In addition to investigating an extraordinarily wide range of fashionable garb, the author meticulously describes elaborate headgear, hairstyles, jewelry, collars, footwear, and other wardrobe accessories.
Composed of two books bound as one, this carefully researched and profusely illustrated volume includes 1,000 black-and-white figures (including diagrams showing the construction of various garments and head coverings), 24 halftones, and 22 full-color plates, nearly all taken from contemporary sources, which enliven this authoritative and exhaustive study of period clothing, an indispensable resource for fashion designers and historians and a dazzling pageant of living history for the general reader.

BOOK II

TUDOR COSTUME AND FASHION

CHAPTER III

THE REIGN OF KING EDWARD VI 1547–53

THE REIGN OF QUEEN MARY 1553–8

CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS

HISTORICAL DATA, 1547–1558

1547. Accession of Edward VI and the establishment of Protestantism.

Protectorate of the Duke of Somerset, until 1549.

1548. First Act of Uniformity. French alliance with Scotland.

1549. The first Prayer Book published. The new Pilgrimage of Grace in the south-west.

Robert Ket’s rebellion in Norfolk and Suffolk, August.

1550. Treaty of Peace between England, Scotland, and France.

1551. William Camden born in the Old Bailey, son of a painter - stainer of Lichfield. Wrote Britannia, published in 1586, the first systematic survey of antiquities of England, partly based on John Leland. First English version 1610. Head master of Westminster 1593. Clarenceux King of Arms. Died at Chislehurst 1623.

War between France and Germany, until 1554.

1552. The second Prayer Book published; second Act of Uniformity.

1553. Richard Chancellor reaches Moscow and opens up trade with Russia.

John Lyly born. Wrote many plays, chiefly upon classic subjects, founder of the popular style called ‘euphuism,’ the type in literature and polite conversation much used in the sixteenth century. Died 1606.

Death of Edward VI, 6th July.

Lady Jane Grey. Queen from 8th July to the 19th.

Accession of Mary and the beginning of the Romanist reaction.

1554. ‘England returns to the bosom of the Roman Church,’ November.

Insurrection of Kent, headed by Sir Thomas Wyatt, to dethrone Queen Mary and replace Lady Jane Grey on the throne.

1555. The old laws against heresy revived and enforced with great severity.

Diet of Augsburg, in which ‘a complete liberty of conscience was granted to those States and Princes in the Empire who had embraced Protestant opinions.’

1555–6. Charles V resigned the Netherlands, the Spanish possessions in 1556 and, formally, the Empire in 1558.

The era of the Protestant martyrs. Bishop Hooper, 9th February. Bishops Ridley and Latimer, 16th October. Archbishop Cranmer, 21st March.

1557. War with France, until 1559.

1558. Surrender of Calais to the French. Mary of Scotland marries the Dauphin.

George Peele born. Wrote comedies and tragedies, and devised the Lord Mayor’s pageant in 1585 and in 1591. Died 1597/8.

Death of Queen Mary and accession of Queen Elizabeth.

THE ARTS, 1547–58

SCULPTURE: MONUMENTAL EFFIGIES

THE years covered by the reigns of Edward VI and Mary were not propitious for the craft of the monumental masons. A period of transition had arrived: the reckless destruction of many monumental effigies dating from the earlier centuries has deprived us of much detail of value and interest. Craftsmen of the Gothic tradition were dying out, and, when new monuments were required, the younger generation sought inspiration from Italy and from the Classic style which was just beginning to reach England.

At the same time, the conservative Englishman was not too eager to have the memory of his children, parents, and grandparents surrounded with the trappings of a foreigner. However, by degrees a compromise was achieved between the old and the new, and one notices the introduction of some Classic feature here and there into what at first appears to be the work of an earlier generation.

MEMORIAL BRASSES

During this period, the reigns of Edward VI and Mary, very few (if any) brasses were laid down: and this was a direct consequence of the religious controversies and political dissensions of the times.

TAPESTRY

Temp. Edward VI and Queen Mary

As a matter of course Edward VI and Queen Mary inherited most, if not all, the sets of tapestry previously possessed by their father. The subject of at least one set in use at this time is known, ‘The Siege of Antioch.’ It was hung in the Audience Chamber at Hatfield, while the Princess Elizabeth was in residence there in 1557.

During the period between 1547 and 1558, little of importance occurred in the history of tapestry, but some interesting details are at hand regarding the production of a masterpiece of the time. Detailed instructions issued to the famous Flemish tapestry weaver, William Pannemaker, are still extant in the ‘Imperial Command’ received by him in 1548 from the Emperor Charles V. These instructions had been revised and elaborated by the Emperor’s business-like sister Marie, Queen of Hungary, widow of Louis II, who edited a stringent contract by which Pannemaker was bound to supply the very best materials, etc. The silk used was to come from Granada, the gold from Milan. Eighty-three different tints of colour, each subdivided into twenty-two series, each of which again comprised from two to five tones, making altogether something like eight thousand shades of colour, are specified. The subject was to commemorate ‘The Conquest of Tunis.’ ¹ In the year 1535, the Emperor had taken the artist, Jan Vermeyen, with him on this expedition as a member of his retinue, to enable him to design with strict truthfulness the cartoons representing various events in the campaign.

The execution of Vermeyen’s cartoons occupied Pannemaker and eighty-four picked weavers for five years. The set was completed early in 1554.

The tapestries were justly prized by their owner, for they are reckoned among the most beautiful in existence. They consist of twelve panels, and are extremely useful for the study of military equipment, ships, and the costume of the Turks in the sixteenth century.

These twelve panels were sent on their completion to England for the marriage festivities of Queen Mary and Philip II. They were hung from pillar to pillar in the nave of Winchester Cathedral; the iron hooks which held the supporting rods are still in position. After the wedding the tapestries were returned to Spain with the utmost care, and thereafter were constantly used at Spanish Court functions. They used to ornament the palace of King Alphonso XIII in Madrid.

A reference to these tapestries in John Elder’s letter is of sufficient interest to be inserted here:

‘Where [Whitehall] in the mean season two princely presents came to Their Majesties. The one from the Emperor, which is XII pieces of Arras work, so richly wrought with gold, silver, and silk, as none in the world may excel them. In which pieces be so excellently wrought and set out all the Emperor’s Majesties procedings and Victories against the Turks as Apelles were not able (if he were alive) to mend any parcel thereof with his pencil.’

¹ The campaign in Tunis took place in 1535, and was undertaken to quell the invasion of northern Africa by the Turks. Charles V dispatched a fleet under the command of Doria, who achieved the conquest of Tunis.

Andrea Doria was born at Oneglia, near Genoa, in 1468. After having been in the service of the Genoese as Captain-General, he had sided with Francis I against the Emperor; but upon his native place being attacked by the French, he joined the Emperor Charles, and drove the French out of Genoa in 1528. This hero of the conquest of Tunis lived in great state in Genoa, and even at the age of ninety continued to command his galleys. He died in his bed in 1560.

PORTRAITS AND PAINTERS

Temp. Edward VI and Mary, 1547 to 1558

In addition to Hans Eworth and Corneille de Lyon, both of whom lived until 1574, the most important Flemish painters whose works are useful for the study of costume in fashion during the reigns of Edward VI and Queen Mary are the following:

The family POURBUS, father, son, and grandson, were artists to whom we owe much information on costume. PIETER POURBUS, the father, born at Gouda in 1510, was specially a painter of portraits. He died at Bruges in 1584.

ANTONIO MORO, born at Utrecht in 1517. The dates of his itinerary are useful:

In Italy 1550–1
In Madrid 1552
In England 1553
In Utrecht 1555
In Madrid 1559
In Utrecht 1564
In Antwerp 1568

He was sent to England by Marie, Queen of Hungary, to paint for her nephew, Prince Philip of Spain, a portrait of Queen Mary. The exact date of his receiving the honour of knighthood is not known, but since it was for services rendered to Queen Mary, the year must have been 1553. Sir Antonio died about 1576.

GWILLIM STRETES, STREETES, or STREATE, born in Holland. He flourished 1546–56, and was one of the successors to Holbein. His first portrait of any importance is that of the Earl of Surrey, at Hampton Court (considered by some to represent the Duke of Richmond, natural son of Henry VIII). He became painter to the King.

LUCAS DE HEERE, born at Ghent in 1534, did not come to England until 1568. He died in Paris in 1584.

HANS EWORTH came into prominence about 1550 and remained a fashionable portrait painter until 1575. During this period he signed himself HE. Up to quite recently (1912) some of his works were attributed to Antonio Moro and Lucas de Heere. His paintings are characterized by the truthful, yet perhaps unflattering, portraiture of his sitters, the detail of accessories, and the introduction of armorial bearings into the general design of his composition. He died about 1575–6.

ALONZO SANCHEZ COELLO, born at Bonifacio near Valencia in 1515, though of Portuguese nationality, is known as a Spa...