The Westminster Tournament Challenge
| The Challenge | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created | 1511 |
| Location | British Library |
| Commissioned by | Henry VIII |
| Author(s) | Thomas Wriothesley |
| Purpose | Invitation to 1511 Westminster Tournament |
The Westminster Tournament Challenge was the invitation to the 1511 Westminster Tournament, the joust held in honour of the birth a son Prince Henry to Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII on New Year's Day 1511.[1]
Written in the form of an allegory, The Challenge begins by introducing the four challengers who have come from the realm of Cuere Noble to ‘accomplish certain feates of Armes.[2]’ in honour of the ‘byrthe of a yong prynce'.[2] Each challenger is given an allegorical name: Sir William Courtenay as Bone voloyr, Sir Edward Neville as Joyous panser, Sir Thomas Knyvet as Vailliaunt desyre, and Henry VIII as Cuere loyall. This is followed by a description of the tournament's allegorical theme along with the rules and regulations to which the challengers and answerers will adhere. It concludes with the signatures of those who took part over the two days of the joust
The Challenge, was commissioned by Henry VIII and produced by the workshop of Thomas Wriothesley. It is on a single piece of parchment, measuring 460 mm x 354 mm, held in the manuscript collection of the British Library (Cart. Harl. Antiq. 83 H 1). It is written in the chancery hand style;[3] Sydney Anglo has produced a complete transcription of The Challenge's text[4]
Edward Hall's Chronicle mentions the challenge as a "goodly table" displayed at the tournament on an artificial tree. Henry Ellis first published the text in 1827.[5]
Signatures[edit]
The manuscript appears to have been displayed at the tournament and signed on two days.[6] In the original spelling, for the first day: Henry R; Rychard de Gray; Thomas Cheyney; William Par; Robert Morton; Richard Blunt; Thomas Tyrell; Sir Rowland; Cristoffer Wyloughby (son of Christopher Willoughby, 10th Baron Willoughby de Eresby).
For the second day: Thomas Howard; Charles Brandon; Henry Stafford, erll of Whyllsyre; Lord Marquis; John Grey; Sir Thomas Boleyn; Henry Guildford; John Melton; Gryffyth Don; Edmund Howard; Leonard Graey; Ric. Tempest; Thomas Lucy.[7]
Fabrics and costume featured the royal initials, "H" and "K".[8] The costumes of some of these participants were described in Hall's Chronicle. The Marquess of Dorset and Sir Thomas Boleyn wore emblems of pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. The Earl of Wiltshire wore cloth of silver and brought a tree of pomegranates, an emblem of Catherine of Aragon.[9]
References[edit]
- ^ Henry Ellis, Hall's Chronicle (London, 1809), pp. 518–519
- ^ a b Walker, Alison Tara (2011). "The Westminster Tournament Challenge (Harley 83 H 1) and Thomas Wriothesley's Workshop". The Electronic British Library Journal. 9.
- ^ Tillotson, Dianne. "Medieval Writing". Medieval Writing.
- ^ Anglo, Sydney (1968). The Great Tournament Roll of Westminster. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 109.
- ^ Henry Ellis, Original Letters Illustrative of English History, series 2 vol. 1 (London, 1827), pp. 179–187.
- ^ Tara Alison Walker, 'The Westminster Tournament Challenge (Harley 83 H 1) and Thomas Wriothesleys Workshop', eBLJ (2011), Article 9, p. 6.
- ^ Tara Alison Walker, 'The Westminster Tournament Challenge (Harley 83 H 1) and Thomas Wriothesleys Workshop', eBLJ (2011), Article 9, p. 3: Henry Ellis, Original Letters Illustrative of English History, series 2 vol. 1 (London, 1827), p. 183.
- ^ Isabel Escalera Fernández, 'La influencia de Enrique VIII y Catalina de Aragón en el inventario de joyas de 1542-1546 de su hija María Tudor', Libros de la Corte, 26 (Spring 2023), p. 34 doi:10.15366/ldc2023.15.26.002
- ^ Henry Ellis, Original Letters Illustrative of English History, series 2 vol. 1 (London, 1827), p. 186: Henry Ellis, Hall's Chronicle (London, 1809), p. 518