The War of the Roses
"England hath long been mad, and scarr’d herself:
The brother blindly shed the brother’s blood;
The father rashly slaughter’d his own son;
The son, compell’d, been butcher to the sire.
All this divided York and Lancaster..."
William Shakespeare, Richard III
The brother blindly shed the brother’s blood;
The father rashly slaughter’d his own son;
The son, compell’d, been butcher to the sire.
All this divided York and Lancaster..."
William Shakespeare, Richard III
Even though there were some water processions by English monarchs before the Tudors, for instance King Henry V’s funeral procession, it was them who really pioneered this area. They were basically the first who used the Thames, purposefully, as kind of a stage.
Usually, the Tudor family was not supposed to be on the throne at all. But due to King Edward III, who had five children, and due to his grandson King Richard II, who died without leaving an heir, the struggle between the two families that had a claim on the throne began: House of Lancaster and House of York. Both families, which are represented by roses, the red rose of Lancaster, and the white rose of York, fought for their claim, which is why it is called the ‘war of the roses’.
It was Henry Tudor who finally united the two roses and established the House of Tudor on the English throne. In 1485, he defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth and became King Henry VII. By marrying Edward IV eldest daughter, Elizabeth of York, he managed to unite the two families and bring peace to the country. This is where our journey begins. Two years after his succession, in 1487, his wife, Elizabeth of York was crowned Queen. Usually, kings were crowned together with their queens, but since Henry married Elizabeth two years after his succession, she got her own coronation ceremony. On the 23rd November 1487, in preparation for her coronation, she went on a water procession from Greenwich palace to the Tower of London, where she was welcomed by Henry. This procession on the Thames was a break with earlier practices and the beginning of a new Tudor tradition. It symbolised the unification of the two Houses, and clebrated the end of the civil war, and the greatness of Henry VII. |
"The Queen's barge was attended by the Mayor, Sherriffs, Aldermen, and guilds, in their own craft each garnished with a badge and arms appropriate to the companies concerned, and decorated with banners and silken streamers" (Anglo, 49). There were also other barges, music, and "a barge garnyshed and apparellede, passing al other, wherin was ordeynede a great red Dragon [the Tudor emblem] spowting Flamys of Fyer into Temmys" (qtd. Anglo, 49). "And also many other gentlemanly pageants well and curiously devised to do her Highness sport and pleasure with" (qtd. Archer Royal River, 81).
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When looking at the ships and barges that attended the procession, one will find that the whole ceremony was a representation of the city of London. As listed above, there was the Mayor, the royal family itself and other noblemen, as well as guilds. These guilds represented the common citizens of the city, craftsmen. This way, all of London's people, except of the poor and homeless, were taking part in the ceremony: politicians, noblemen and common people. But of course only selected representatives. The Thames, here, worked as the common ground that brought all parts of London together, and, out of all their differences, formed something great.
Arthur's and Katherine's wedding procession
But, according to the historian David Starkey, one of the "most magnificent and protracted celebration[s] that London had ever seen" (Starkey Royal River, 10) was the wedding of the Prince of Wales, Arthur and Katherine of Aragon. The wedding itself took place at St. Paul's Cathedral on 14th November 1501, and the festivities continued four more days at Westminster Abbey, and finished with a grand procession on the Thames to Richmond Palace. To plan this spectacle, "a committee of eight city dignitaries had been appointed to have communication 'from tyme to tyme with the kynges commyssioners touchyng preparacion to be made [...]' " (Anglo, 57). And even though there were some men who were supervising the preperations, there is no evidence whatsoever, according to which plan these preperations were made. About this, there is no information provided.
When Arthur, heir to throne, died only a few months after their wedding in April 1502, it was Arthur’s brother Henry, who would marry Katherine on 11 June 1509. On 24 June, Katherine was crowned Queen in a joint coronation ceremony with her second husband Henry VIII. The fact that Henry married his brother's widow was already pretty odd, which is why there was no river procession. Instead, they rode in Triumph through the well decorated city of London, one day before the coronation.
When Arthur, heir to throne, died only a few months after their wedding in April 1502, it was Arthur’s brother Henry, who would marry Katherine on 11 June 1509. On 24 June, Katherine was crowned Queen in a joint coronation ceremony with her second husband Henry VIII. The fact that Henry married his brother's widow was already pretty odd, which is why there was no river procession. Instead, they rode in Triumph through the well decorated city of London, one day before the coronation.
Henry VIII: 6 wives - break with Rome - grand Thames processions
Henry VIII, oil on panel, studio of Hans Holbein
One of the most important aims for Henry VIII, as King of England, was to produce an heir, which means a legitimate male child, in order to guarantee the continuance of the Tudor dynasty. This need for a son would become significantly influential for Henry’s life and reign.
Katherine was a few times pregnant, but none of the foetuses survived. The couple only got one surviving daughter, Mary. After 24 years of marriage, Henry ‘fell in love’ with one of his wife’s mistresses, Anne Boleyn. In how far this was to be called ‘love’ is to be seen critically, since Henry still hasn’t managed to produce an heir, and Katherine of Aragon was already in her late fourty’s. A woman of her age, after that many pregnancies was not as beautiful as she was at the time of their marriage. Anne, on the other hand, was young, beautiful, and, above all, fertile!
There was just one problem: Henry was still married to Katherine. And as long as this marriage continued there was no chance for him to start a relationship with Anne, which furthermore means that, again, there was no chance of getting an heir. The only solution for Henry was to address the pope, Clement VII, and ask for an annulment of his marriage with Katherine in 1527, which Clement refused.
After years of struggle, Henry, finally, broke with the pope and declared himself Head of Church of England in 1531. In the same year, he separated from Katherine and banished her from court. On 23 May 1533 Archbishop Cranmer declared Henry’s marriage with Katherine to be invalid and unlawful, which paved the way for his marriage with Anne. Apparently, they already married in January secretly, and in May this marriage was announced to be valid.
Katherine was a few times pregnant, but none of the foetuses survived. The couple only got one surviving daughter, Mary. After 24 years of marriage, Henry ‘fell in love’ with one of his wife’s mistresses, Anne Boleyn. In how far this was to be called ‘love’ is to be seen critically, since Henry still hasn’t managed to produce an heir, and Katherine of Aragon was already in her late fourty’s. A woman of her age, after that many pregnancies was not as beautiful as she was at the time of their marriage. Anne, on the other hand, was young, beautiful, and, above all, fertile!
There was just one problem: Henry was still married to Katherine. And as long as this marriage continued there was no chance for him to start a relationship with Anne, which furthermore means that, again, there was no chance of getting an heir. The only solution for Henry was to address the pope, Clement VII, and ask for an annulment of his marriage with Katherine in 1527, which Clement refused.
After years of struggle, Henry, finally, broke with the pope and declared himself Head of Church of England in 1531. In the same year, he separated from Katherine and banished her from court. On 23 May 1533 Archbishop Cranmer declared Henry’s marriage with Katherine to be invalid and unlawful, which paved the way for his marriage with Anne. Apparently, they already married in January secretly, and in May this marriage was announced to be valid.
Queen Anne
On 1 June 1533, time was right to crown Anne Queen of England. The coronation ceremony took place at Westminster Abbey, but the festivities already began three days earlier. Anne went on a grand water procession from Greenwich to the Tower of London, where she was, just as Henry’s mother at her pre-coronation procession, welcomed by Henry with a kiss. Then Henry went back to Whitehall palace by barge, while his queen stayed at the Tower and went to Westminster by road one day before the coronation.
The procession on the Thames was similar to Elizabeth of York’s coronation procession. It followed the new tradition but had a different function. It demonstrated the popular support for Henry's second marriage and his break with the pope. But Anne’s festivities are better documented than Elizabeth’s: |
This is how fireworks could have looked like.
About fifty barges, decorated with flags, streamers and banners rowed down the Thames to Greenwich. Here, the English citizens already waited for Anne to enter her barge. Anne was dressed in rich cloth of cold and was accompanied by many ladies. “There had been a boat carrying ordnance, and a huge dragon continually moving abut and casting forth wildfire; while on deck stood ‘terrible monsters and wylde men casting fyer, and making hideous nyses’. There was also a barge bearing a mount, with virgins singing and playing on musical instruments” (Anglo, 248). Some barges were equiped with trumpets and other instruments, and were decorated with red and white roses. Besides the music, gunshots were heard. The Bachelor’s barge (batchelors were the junior householders) was decorated with rich cloth of gold, silk, flags and banners. The barges and foists (small escorting ships), including several noblemen as the duke of Suffolk, Anne’s father and the Lord Mayor, escorted the future queen to the Tower of London. The procession was said to be a great success and an immense spectacle.
With this specatcle Henry forced London's citizens to applaud and to support his marriage and politics. In the case of his marriage though, there was no need of finding a way for the people to sympathise with Anne. London's citizens already liked her because she was protestant, and the Reformation was pressing on. The description of the barges and monsters attending the procession creates an impression of a kind of carneval going on on the Thames. And this is actually what it was meant to be: Queen Anne torched the demons and made them go away.
This “waterborne triumph … was carried to such pitch of splendour that it threatened to overshadow the subsequent traditional land procession through London in which the new Queen reclined in a horse-litter dressed in virginal white and with her hair round her shoulders in the manner of a bride” (Starkey Royal River, 14). And even though Henry would have four more wives, none of them was crowned.
After this second coronation of a queen in only one regency, the citizens got bored with coronation festivities. After seperating from Anne, and her execution on 19 May 1536, Henry married his 3rd wife Jane Seymour only 11 days later.
After this second coronation of a queen in only one regency, the citizens got bored with coronation festivities. After seperating from Anne, and her execution on 19 May 1536, Henry married his 3rd wife Jane Seymour only 11 days later.
Jane Seymour
Henry VIII and Jane Seymour at Whitehall, 1667
Henry decided to replace the coronation with a pageant as an inauguration ceremony. Three days after Jane was proclaimed Queen at Greenwich, King and Queen went to Henry’s new palace Whitehall by barge. This procession, again, was accompanied by gun salutes, music and other barges.
But this procession was not as big and grandiose as the preceding ceremonies, maybe due to the short amount of time between the two processions.
Jane died in October 1537 but the next Queens weren't that far away.
But this procession was not as big and grandiose as the preceding ceremonies, maybe due to the short amount of time between the two processions.
Jane died in October 1537 but the next Queens weren't that far away.
Anne of Cleves
Henry married Anne of Cleves on 6 January 1540, and held a procession on the Thames on 4 February from Greenwich to Westminster. "All the familiar elements were present: The Lord Mayor and livery companies in their barges; salutes from shipping and the Tower ('above a thousand chambers of ordnance, which made a noise like thunder'); the shooting of London Bridge" (Starkey Royal River, 14).
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Katherine Howard
After he had annulled his marriage to Anne, he married Katherine Howard in August 1540 at Hampton Court, where she was proclaimed Queen the same day. It took another year before King and Queen rowed along the Thames from Westminster to Greenwich in March 1541. Here, again, the couple was greeted by the mayor and livery companies at London Bridge, and there were sounding guns when passing the Tower.
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Katherine Parr
"But even this was denied Henry's sixth Queen, Katherine Parr" (Starkey Royal River, 14). She was merely proclaimed Queen at Hampton court after her marriage in 1543. Her predecessor, Katherine Howard, was executed in 1542. Katherine Parr was the only Queen who survived Henry, who finally died on 28 January 1547.
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Henry VII and Henry VIII changed the usage of royal processions, especially according to the river. Also in terms of jousting and other festivities, especially Henry VIII used the power of entertainment cleverly in order to impress foreign ambassadors and his citizens. They created public spectacles which guaranteed the citizen's support, celebrated Tudor regency, and distracted public attention away from political and royal events.
The song of Henry's wives by Horrible Histories
... fun way to remember what happened ...
HORRIBLE HISTORIES - The Wives of Henry VIII (Terrible Tudors)