The Elizabethan Court Day by Day

Introduction

"The Elizabethan Court Day by Day" is a project by scholar Marion E. Colthorpe documenting the daily life of Queen Elizabeth, and the day-to-day activities of her court. More content coming soon!

Author's Introduction

This began, decades ago, as an investigation into the people and places visited by Queen Elizabeth I on her travels, known as ‘progresses’, and the entertainments presented before her. It gradually expanded until I had discovered the whereabouts of the Queen on every day throughout her long reign, what she was doing, often what she was saying, who her companions were.

Thus it shows the Queen at work as well as at play. Light is shed on her relationship with favoured courtiers, her dealings with foreign ambassadors and monarchs, with her Councillors, her Parliaments, her people. Although the focus is on the court, a number of events away from court, some overseas, are included.

Plays, tournaments, and other court entertainments, are covered in detail. Hundreds of extracts from contemporary books, many dedicated to the Queen, some by famous authors, build into an unusual anthology of Elizabethan literature.

Numerous sources not previously published have been used, including diaries, letters, and the account-books kept by senior officials of the Royal Household. To endeavour to make everything readily accessible spelling has been modernised, and references to sources have been made as brief as possible. The New Year has been taken to start on January 1st, not (as was the custom) on March 25th. Foreign languages have been translated; dispatches of Ambassadors often give revealing glimpses of the Queen.

As listed in a ‘Contents Summary’, a large number of Indexes are provided, for example of ‘Women at Court’, which has biographical details never brought together before. The ‘Prominent Elizabethans’ Index gives condensed biographies of the leading personalities of the reign. There are some 150 ‘Subject Indexes’ which cover a very wide range of topics, such as Apparel, Jewels, Music, Ships, Sports, Voyages. There should be something to interest everyone.

Marion E. Colthorpe, Cambridge, 2016.