“And I Will Make Them One Nation.”

This BBC programme, all about how the Stewarts led the century that set up England, Scotland and Ireland to become Great Britain, is a highly watchable and accessible piece of work by Dr. Clare Jackson, of Cambridge University.

Mary Queen of Scots (Mary, Queen of Scots as a young girl)

“The Stuarts” BBC Programme Link

 

In it, she starts of telling the story of James VI and his impeccable lineage, descended from not only the Scottish Stewarts, but also the Danish royal family (Through Margaret of Denmark),  and, more importantly, the English royal family (through his paternal great-grandmother, Margaret Tudor).  He had apparently always felt that he would unite the crowns and kingdoms of England and Scotland under one man, himself.  Dr. Jackson then takes us through his efforts to legally unite the two nations, but for James, to no avail.

Margaret Tudor   (Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York)

What was curious for me, and I was glad to see it, was that she had also paid attention to Henry Frederick, James’ eldest son and Prince of Wales.  In many texts, his life tends to be glossed over a bit as it wasn’t he, but his younger brother Charles, who succeeded their father as King.  This was due to a premature death at the age of 18.  From there, Dr. Jackson goes into the story of Charles as Prince of Wales and his incredible journey to Spain.  She supposes that much of his style of kingship was influenced by his time there as a guest of King Philip IV.   His love of pageantry and his insistence on ceremony may also have been influenced by Philip’s court.

Elizabeth Stuart (Elizabeth Stuart, the Winter Queen, daughter of Anna of Denmark and James I)

She concludes the episode after explaining how Charles came to be king, married a French princess, the Catholic Henrietta Maria, and the struggles he faced over religion with Scotland.

Henrietta Maria (Henrietta Maria, queen consort to Charles I)

All in all, this episode is a fabulous bit of history and it was quite enjoyable to watch!  The only thing that was frustrating to me, really was the lack of Queen Anna.  Her name was mentioned exactly once.  That was in reference to the death of Henry.  Was Anna’s influence as queen consort not felt more than just the death of her son?  Wasn’t she a partner in the creation of the legacy of the Stuart dynasty?  She spent 14 years in Scotland with James before they took England by storm in 1603. She then spent 16 years as Queen of England before her death in 1619.  It seems as though she was shunted to the side, ignored.  Henrietta Maria got her portrait on the screen and the mention about how she was Catholic.  There is evidence to support a supposition that Anna converted to Catholicism, so wouldn’t that conflict between her and her strongly Protestant husband make for an interesting bit of monologue?

 

What seems to be forgotten, at least so far, is the story of the women of the Stewart/Stuart dynasty.  Brief mention of Mary, Queen of Scots, Margaret Tudor, Elizabeth Stuart, Henrietta Maria, and even less for Anna.  Perhaps this will be discussed in the future two episodes set to air?  If not, then I hope there will be material on the programme’s website dedicated to these women.  (Anna’s not even mentioned in the “The early Stuarts: marriage is power” page!)  I think that focusing on the monarchs makes for good TV, but including the consorts and daughters makes for good history.

Greece vs. Rome in “Vision of the Twelve Goddesses”

“It is noteworthy that the model for the King’s action is Greek.  Luminalia also had a Greek component in that one of the minor themes dealt with the expulsion of the Muses from Greece and their eventual settlement in Britain.  Greece signified culture in contrast to Rome with its associations with military and imperial might.”

– Graham Perry, The Golden Age Restor’d: The Culture of the Stuart Court 1603-42, Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1981, p. 202-203.

 

From a printed edition - 1880
From a printed edition – 1880

 

Upon reading the above quote in Graham Perry’s work on the Stuart masques, it really got me thinking of Queen Anna’s first public masque, The Vision of the Twelve Goddesses by Samuel Daniel and designed by Inigo Jones.  Even though the quote is in reference to the Caroline masques and not the Jacobean ones, it is an interesting framework to examine the assignment of roles in the masque.  Performed in 1604, it was the first masque of Anna’s career as Chief Masquer (not Blackness by Ben Jonson in 1605 as Perry asserts).     Below I have compiled a chart of who danced with Anna in the masque and what persona they embodied.  This is an appendix taken from a paper I wrote up as a thesis of sorts to complete a directed study.  In the scope of this post, I’ll just be looking at the role that Anna took, rather than the ones that were assigned to her Ladies of Honour.  I hope to, at another juncture, have the opportunity to look even deeper at the masque and analyze the iconography and symbolism in the text and device.

The Vision of the Twelve Goddesses, by Samuel Daniel
Name/Rank Role
Queen Anna Pallas Athena
Countess of Suffolk Juno
Countess of Hertford Diana
Countess of Bedford Vesta
Countess of Derby Persephone
Countess of Nottingham Concordia
Lady Rich Venus
Lady Hatton Macaria
Lady Walsingham Astraea
Susan de Vere Flora
Dorothy Hastings Ceres
Elizabeth Howard Tethys

 

I’ve gone through and done a simple sorting scheme – Red = Roman, Green = Greek.  The role that Anna chose for herself was quite significant in terms of how she wanted to be perceived and was an effort in self-fashioning her public identity.  Instead of choosing the role of the Roman Queen of the Goddesses (well, Queen Consort!), Juno, she gave that role to Catherine Howard, the Countess of Suffolk.  Suffolk had served Queen Elizabeth for many years and was a person Anna respected and trusted, as is evidenced by the fact that Suffolk had been chosen to be godmother to Anna’s daughter, Sophia.  Anna accorded Suffolk with a very high honor in placing her as the queen of the goddesses.  Her choice for herself was Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, battle, and the arts.

Athena was also the patroness of the City of Athens, which was named for her.  An ancient cosmopolitan centre, Athens was home to a bustling arts and culture scene and has typically been regarded as the birthplace of western civilization as we know it.

Perhaps Anna’s motive was to seize a new image for herself, one that reflected virtues that she wanted others to think she possessed, or ones to which she did lay rightful claim?  Perhaps her choice of Athena was a chance to scintillate and titillate the English and to show that she was a very different sort of Queen consort?  The last queen consort, Katherine Parr, was also a very literary woman who published popular works in her own name while she was Queen.  Anna didn’t create written works on her own, she was more of an idea lady who directed the works of others.   It was through those works though, that the image that Anna wished to portray comes out clearly.  In Vision of the Twelve Goddesses, as Athena, her persona was of a strong, wise female who held dominion over Athens.  Her costume included a short tunic (that bared her legs below the knee) and a helmet with a spear.

Anna’s husband, James, dearly held to the ideal of pacifism and detested using force and military might.  With her act of appropriating the weaponry and tools of war, Anna took on a more traditionally masculine role in their perceived relationship and set herself up as a worthy successor of Elizabeth I.  Which was a prudent act to take as the costumes were also from Elizabeth’s wardrobe.  As a cost saving measure, the Late Queen’s wardrobe was raided for her sumptuous gowns and the garments altered to be fit into appropriate costumes for the masque.

(“I know I have the body of a weak, feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.” ~excerpt from Elizabeth’s speech at Tilbury, 1588)

Looking to the quote at the start of the post, however, it is interesting that Anna chose Athena instead of Minerva.  Minerva, Athena’s Roman counterpart, would have more exemplified the Early Modern interpretation of the Roman empire, one of peace loving imperialism, instead of the Greeks, who demonstrated the aforementioned arts and sophistication.  Anna, then, presented a dual image.  With choosing the Greco-interpretation of Athena, she sided herself with the perception of culture that was generally accepted to have belonged to the Greeks.  Perhaps she was trying to conflate the new dynasty with a rebirth of Athens.  With choosing Athena, though, she also personified the militaristic might of the Goddess of War, tempered, of course, with Wisdom.

In so doing, Anna managed to display both the sophistication of the Greeks with the imperialistic might of the Romans, subtly reminding the attendees of the virtues of Pax Romana and the olive tree of Athens.