Editing Masque (section)

===Court masques in England and Scotland===
In England, [[Tudor dynasty|Tudor court]] masques developed from earlier ''[[guising]]s'', where a masked allegorical figure would appear and address the assembled company—providing a theme for the occasion—with musical accompaniment.<ref>Barbara J. Harris, "The View from My Lady's Chamber: New Perspectives on the Early Tudor Monarchy", ''Huntington Library Quarterly'', 60:3 (1997), p. 236.</ref> Costumes were designed by professionals, including [[Niccolo da Modena]].<ref>Ian Smith, 'White Skin, Black Masks', Jeffrey Masten & Wendy Wall, ''Renaissance Drama 32'' (Evanson, 2003), p. 44.</ref> [[Elizabeth of York]] paid for costumes for "disguysings" in June and December 1502. Minstrels were dressed in white and green Tudor livery.<ref>Nicholas Harris Nicolas, ''Privy Purse Expenses of Elizabeth of York: Wardrobe Accounts of Edward the Fourth'' (London: Pickering, 1830), pp. 21, 78.</ref> Henry VIII came to [[Catherine of Aragon]]'s chamber disguised as [[Robin Hood]] in January 1510, perhaps causing initial uneasiness, and there was dancing.<ref>Michelle Beer, ''Queenship at the Renaissance Courts of Britain: Catherine of Aragon and Margaret Tudor'' (Woodbridge, 2018), p. 81.</ref><ref>Peter Happé, "Dramatic Genre and the Court of Henry VIII", Thomas Betteridge & [[Suzannah Lipscomb]], ''Henry VIII and the Court: Art, Politics and Performance''(Ashgate, 2013) p. 274.</ref><ref>Rawdon Brown, ''Four years at the court of Henry VIII'', 1 (London, Smith, Elder, & Co, 1854), p. 93.</ref>

[[Edward Hall|Hall's ''Chronicle'']] explained the new fashion of Italian-style masque at the English court in 1512. The essential feature was the entry of disguised dancers and musicians to a banquet. They would appear in character and perform, and then dance with the guests, and then leave the venue.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.49015000231820&seq=538 ''Hall's chronicle: containing the history of England'' (London, 1809), p. 526]</ref> At the meeting at [[Lille]] in October 1513, when the ladies were dancing after a banquet, [[Henry VIII]] and eleven other dancers entered "richely appareled with bonettes of gold". At the conclusion of their performance they gave their masque costumes to the audience.<ref>John Gough Nichols, ''Chronicle of Calais'' (London: Camden Society, 1846), p. 70.</ref>

On 1 May 1515, Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon rode from Greenwich Palace to have breakfast in an arbour constructed in a wood at [[Shooter's Hill]]. Catherine and her ladies were dressed in Spanish-style riding gear, Henry was in green velvet. The royal guard appeared in disguise as Robin Hood and his men. There was a pageant chariot or car with Lady May and Lady Flora, followed by a masque and dancing.<ref>Rawdon Brown, ''Four years at the court of Henry VIII'', 1 (London, Smith, Elder, & Co, 1854), p. 90–93.</ref>

According to [[George Cavendish (writer)|George Cavendish]], in January 1527 [[Henry VIII]] came to [[Thomas Wolsey|Cardinal Wolsey's]] [[Hampton Court]], by boat "in a masque with a dozen of other maskers all in garments like shepherds made of fine cloth of gold and fine crimson satin paned, and caps of the same with visors", wearing false beards, accompanied with torch bearers and drummers. Their arrival at the palace water gate was announced by cannon fire. The King's part of the entertainment was organised by [[William Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys|William Sandys]] and [[Henry Guildford]]. The masquers played a dice game called [[mumchance]] before dancing.<ref>Richard P. Sylvester and Davis P. Harding, ''Two Earl Tudor Lives: Life and Death of Cardinal Wolsey'' (Yale, 1962), pp. 27–28.</ref> [[Edward Hall]] described similar masques involving the king's disguised appearance.<ref>Janette Dillon, 'Shakespeare and the Masque', ''Shakespeare Survey, 60: Theatres for Shakespeare'' (Cambridge, 2007), pp. 68–70.</ref>

In the play ''[[Henry VIII (play)|Henry VIII]]'', by [[John Fletcher (playwright)|Fletcher]] and [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]], the masque was recalled when Henry in shepherd's disguise meets [[Anne Boleyn]].<ref>Kevin A. Quarmby, ''The Disguised Ruler in Shakespeare and his Contemporaries'' (Ashgate, 2012), p. 198: Richard S. Sylvester & Davis P. Harding, ''Two Early Tudor Lives'' (Yale, 1962), p. 27.</ref> Anne Boleyn and seven ladies in "maskyng apparel of straunge fashion" performed for Henry VIII and [[Francis I of France]] at Calais on 27 October 1532.<ref>[[Maria Hayward]], ''Dress at the Court of Henry VIII'' (Maney, 2007), p. 181.</ref> Some of the costume, supplied by the yeoman of the revels Richard Gibson, was described as "masking gere".<ref>John Gough Nichols, ''Chronicle of Calais'' (London: Camden Society, 1846), p. 120.</ref>

Masques at [[Elizabeth I]]'s court emphasized the concord and unity between Queen and Kingdom. A descriptive narrative of a processional masque is the masque of the [[Seven Deadly Sins]] in [[Edmund Spenser]]'s ''[[The Faerie Queene]]'' (Book i, Canto IV). A particularly elaborate masque, performed over the course of two weeks for Queen Elizabeth, is described in the 1821 novel ''[[Kenilworth (novel)|Kenilworth]]'', by [[Walter Scott|Sir Walter Scott]]. Queen Elizabeth was entertained at country houses during her progresses with performances like the [[Harefield Entertainment]].<ref>Gabriel Heaton, 'Elizabethan Entertainments in Manuscript: The Harefield Festivities and the Dynamics of Exchange', in Jayne Elisabeth Archer, Elizabeth Goldring, Sarah Knight, ''Progresses, Pageants, and Entertainments of Queen Elizabeth'' (Oxford, 2007), pp. 227-244.</ref>

In Scotland, masques were performed at court, particularly at wedding celebrations, and the [[Servais de Condé|royal wardrobe provided costumes]].<ref>[[Susan Doran]], ''From Tudor to Stewart: the regime change from Elizabeth I to James I'' (Oxford, 2024), p. 67.</ref> At a banquet at the tournament of the [[Wild Knight and the Black Lady]] in 1507, the [[Ellen More|Black Lady]] came into the hall at [[Holyroodhouse]] with Martin the Spaniard who was equipped with an [[archery]] bow and dressed in yellow.<ref>Louise Olga Fradenburg, ''City, Marriage, Tournament: Arts of Rule in Late Medieval Scotland'' (University of Wisconsin, 1991), p. 255: ''Accounts of the Treasurer'', vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1902), pp. 64, 121, 129.</ref> A cloud descended from the roof and swept them both away.<ref>Frank Shuffelton, 'An Imperial Flower: Dunbar's "The Goldyn Targe" and the Court Life of James IV of Scotland', ''Studies in Philology'', 72:2 (April 1975), pp. 193-207, p. 202.</ref><ref>Lesley Mickel, [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/rest.12388 'Our Hielandmen': Scots in Court Entertainments at home and abroad 1507–1616', ''Renaissance Studies'', 33:2 (April, 2019), pp. 185-203 at p. 202]: [[Aeneas James George Mackay|Aeneas Mackay]], [https://digital.nls.uk/publications-by-scottish-clubs/archive/107424647 ''Historie and Cronicles of Scotland, by Robert Lindesay of Pitscottie'', vol. 1 (STS: Edinburgh, 1899), p. 244]</ref>

Performers at a wedding masque at [[Castle Campbell]] in 1562 dressed as shepherds.<ref>Michael Pearce, 'Maskerye Claythis for James VI and Anna of Denmark', ''Medieval English Theatre 43'' (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2022), pp. 108-123 {{doi|10.2307/j.ctv24tr7mx.9}}</ref> [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], [[Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley]], and [[David Rizzio]] took part in a masque in February 1566.<ref>W. Park, 'Letter of Thomas Randolph to the Earl of Leicester, 14 February 1566', ''Scottish Historical Review'', 34:118 Part 2 (October 1955), p. 138.</ref> Mary attended the wedding of her servant [[Bastian Pagez]], and it was said [[wardrobe of Mary, Queen of Scots|she wore male costume]] for the masque, "which apparel she loved often times to be in, in dancings secretly with the King her husband, and going in masks by night through the streets".<ref>R. H. Mahon, ''Mary, Queen of Scots, a study of the Lennox Narrative'' (Cambridge, 1924), pp. 99, 130: Thomas Finlay Henderson, [https://archive.org/details/cu31924088018555/page/n407/mode/2up ''Mary, Queen of Scots, her environment and tragedy, a biography'', 2 (London, 1905), p. 659]</ref> [[James VI]] and [[Anne of Denmark]] wore masque costumes to dance at weddings at [[Alloa Tower]] and [[Tullibardine Castle]].<ref>Michael Pearce, 'Anna of Denmark: Fashioning a Danish Court in Scotland', ''The Court Historian'', 24:2 (2019), pp. 146, 148-9 {{doi|10.1080/14629712.2019.1626110}}</ref><ref>Michael Pearce, [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360425074_'MASKERYE_CLAYTHIS'_FOR_JAMES_VI_AND_ANNA_OF_DENMARK 'Maskerye Claythis for James VI and Anna of Denmark', ''Medieval English Theatre 43'' (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2022), pp. 108–123]</ref>

After James and Anne king and queen of England at the [[Union of the Crowns]] in 1603, narrative elements of the masque at their court became more significant. Plots were often on classical or allegorical themes, glorifying the royal or noble sponsor. At the end, the audience would join with the actors in a final dance. [[Ben Jonson]] wrote a number of masques with stage design by [[Inigo Jones]]. Their works are usually thought of as the most significant in the form. [[Samuel Daniel]] and Sir [[Philip Sidney]] also wrote masques.

[[William Shakespeare]] included a masque-like interlude in ''[[The Tempest (play)|The Tempest]],'' understood by modern scholars to have been heavily influenced by the masques of Ben Jonson and the stagecraft of Inigo Jones. There is also a masque sequence in his ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'' and ''[[Henry VIII (play)|Henry VIII]]''. [[John Milton]]'s ''[[Comus (John Milton)|Comus]]'' (with music by [[Henry Lawes]]) is described as a masque, though it is generally reckoned a [[Pastoral|pastoral play]].

There is a detailed, humorous, and malicious (and possibly completely fictitious) account by Sir [[John Harington (writer)|John Harington]] in 1606 of a masque of [[Solomon]] and Sheba at [[Theobalds House|Theobalds]].<ref>Martin Butler, ''The Stuart Court Masque and Political Culture'' (Cambridge, 2008), pp. 125-7: Clare McManus, 'When is woman not a woman?', ''Modern Philology'', 105 (2008), pp. 437-74.</ref> Harington was not so much concerned with the masque itself as with the notoriously heavy drinking at the Court of King James I; "the entertainment went forward, and most of the presenters went backward, or fell down, wine did so occupy their upper chambers".  As far as we can ascertain the details of the masque, the [[Queen of Sheba]] was to bring gifts to the King, representing Solomon, and was to be followed by the spirits of Faith, Hope, Charity, Victory and Peace. Unfortunately, as Harington reported, the actress playing the Queen tripped over the steps of the throne, sending her gifts flying; Hope and Faith were too drunk to speak a word, while Peace, annoyed at finding her way to the throne blocked, made good use of her symbolic [[olive branches]] to slap anyone who was in her way.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/nugantiqubeinga03harigoog/page/n374/mode/2up Henry Harington, ''Nugae Antiquae'', vol. 1 (London, 1804), pp. 348-351]</ref>

[[Francis Bacon]] paid for ''[[The Masque of Flowers]]'' to celebrate the marriage of [[Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset]] and [[Frances Howard, Countess of Somerset]].<ref>Martin Butler, ''The Stuart Court Masque and Political Culture'' (Cambridge, 2008), pp. 8, 77, 214.</ref> [[James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle]], was a performer and sponsor of court masques. He wrote about the tight-fitting costumes, that it was the fashion "to appear very small in the waist, I remember was drawn up from the ground by both hands whilst the tailor with all his strength buttoned on my [[Doublet (clothing)|doublet]]".<ref>Lesley Lawson, ''Out of the Shadows: Lucy, Countess of Bedford'' (London, 2007), p. 55.</ref>

Reconstructions of [[House of Stuart|Stuart]] masques have been few and far between. Part of the problem is that only texts survive complete; there is no complete music, only fragments, so no authoritative performance can be made without interpretive invention. By the time of the [[English Restoration]] in 1660, the masque was passé, but the English [[semi-opera]] which developed in the latter part of the 17th century, a form in which [[John Dryden]] and [[Henry Purcell]] collaborated, borrows some elements from the masque and further elements from the contemporary courtly [[Opera|French opera]] of [[Jean-Baptiste Lully]].

In the 18th century, masques were even less frequently staged. "[[Rule, Britannia!]]" started out as part of ''[[Alfred (Arne opera)|Alfred]]'', a masque about [[Alfred the Great]] co-written by [[James Thomson (poet, born 1700)|James Thomson]] and [[David Mallet (dramatist and poet)|David Mallet]] with music by [[Thomas Arne]] which was first performed at [[Cliveden]], country house of [[Frederick, Prince of Wales]]. Performed to celebrate the third birthday of Frederick's daughter [[Princess Augusta of Great Britain|Augusta]], it remains among the best-known British patriotic songs up to the present, while the masque of which it was originally part is remembered by only specialist historians.