MR. VICECHANCELLOR,
AFTER my very hartye commendations. Althoughe youe may here
by rumors of the Quene's Majesties intention to repayre thither in her
progresse, and to remayne in that University three days (that is 8, 9, and 10
of August) yet I, consideringe the place I holde to be your chauncelor (though
unwordelye) have thought mete to impart the same unto youe; praying you to
conferr with suche of the Masters of the coleges ther as you shall think mete,
and consider
What lodginge shal be metest for her Majestie, and
Next what manner of pleasures in lerninge may be presented to
her Majestie, who hath knowledge to understand very well in all common sciences:
Thirdlye, youe may doe well to confer with the maior of the
towne, how the towne for both your jurisdictions may be preserved from
contagion of plague.
As for myself I meane to lodge with my old nurse, in St.
Johns College: and so I pray youe informe the master.
If you should think mete to communicate any thinge with me
concerning this matter, I praye youe sende some man of knowledge to me, with
home I may conferre. Me desire is that two thinges maye speciallye appeare in
that Universitye: order and lerninge. And for order I meane bothe for religion
and civill beheaviour. And thus, being pressed with much business, I am hastely
forced to ende my scriblinge. At Grenewich the 12 of Julii, 1564.
Your assured frende,
WILLIAM CECILL.[2]
We learn from one Matthew Stokys [Stokes], a beddle[3]
for the University, who kept a running record relating to matters of the
progress[4],
that a letter from Edmund Grindal, Bishop of London, was sent on the 15th.
And thereupon the said reverend father advertised them, to
put themselves in all readiness to pleasure her majestie, and to welcome her
with all manner of scholastical exercises, viz. with sermons, both in English
& Latin; disputations in all kind of faculties; & playing of comedies
& tragedies; orations & verses, both in Latin and Greek, to be made and
set up of all students, in the way that her majesty should goe or ride.
As was the practice in such matters, the Queen would be
expected to ride into the town on a fine royal charger (likely saddled and
mounted upon arriving at the boundary of the place) and various stations
erected along her path at which she would stop to receive orations and fine
gifts.
In the instance of her visit to Cambridge, we have perhaps
the finest record of the details surrounding a visit along a royal progress.
Records relating to the University were, as the rule, carefully kept and preserved.
The day after Cecil’s letter representatives of the University were dispatched
to the Court to receive information and instructions.
1. The next day [after the receipt of Sir William Cecil's
letter] were sent from the University both the Proctors [Richard Curtis and
Henry Morley] and one Beddell: Who, upon their coming to London, were very
gently received & had conference with the said Sir William Cecyl, the bishop
of London, and Dr. [Walter] Haddon, master of the requests, & Mr. Dr. [Gabriel
Goodman] the dean of Westminſter. And, in conclusion, had put in writing by the
said Mr. Secretary all such orders as should be observed, of the university
& every member of the same, at the queen's majestie's coming.
2. [viz.] As well for the standing of all scholars &
graduats in their degrees & habits; the receiving her, at the west door of
the King's college church, with a canopy born by four doctors; the delivering
up of the bedells staffs; the provost of the said college with all his company
standing in copes; the ringing of bells; the order of the proctor's oration,
which he should make in the name of the university; as for making of the stage
in S. Marie's church; the order of disputation; the questions for the same; the
sermon ad clerum; the order of the comedies and tragedies; the verses
made, to be seen by the best learned in every house; and the said verses to be
compiled in one book, to be given to the queen's majestie; as also one other
book of the founders and benefactors of every college, & what great learned
men & servants to the prince & commonwealth had been brought up in the
same.
3. During this time provision of beer, ale and wine was sent to the King's college, & divers officers of the court repaired to the town, to take up the queen's lodging, & to know when any dyed of the plague; with certain information, that the queen's majestie would be at Cambridge upon Saturday the v. of August. Whereupon the vicechancellor & the maior took order for the well paving of all the towne; & that every inhabitant should provide sufficient sand upon the coming of the queen's majestie.[5]
Time was of the essence. There was a vast amount to be done. Little of which is ever mentioned in our films, histories or historical novels, where pageantry just happens somehow. The details as to just what was involved, exactly, will be the subject of this series of posts.
[1]
The Chancellorship was largely an honorable position thus intimately connecting
the University to the highest levels of the Royal Court. The Vice-Chancellor
actually ran matters.
[2] Annals
of Cambridge, II.181.
[3] Archaic
form of Beadle. Usher also tasked with maintaining peace and order.
[4]
Stokes, Matthew. “The triumphs of the muses; or the grand reception &
entertainment of Q. Elizabeth at Cambridge, - (6 Eliz.) 1564.” Peck, Francis. Desiderata
Curiosa, II.VII.259-275.
[5] Nichols, John. Progresses, Public Processions, &c. of Queen Elizabeth (1823). I.152-3.
Also at Virtual Grub Street:
- Queen Mary I to Princess Elizabeth, January 26, 1553 [1554 N.S.] February 1, 2021. “Right dear and entirely beloved Sister, We greet you well: And where certain evil-disposed persons…”
- The Grand Ceremony of the Baptism of Prince James of Scotland (later James VI). December 15, 2020. “The infant James was also reported, in the English court, as having been gravely ill.”
- Excerpts from Letters about the Origin of the 1563 Plague. January 17, 2021. “on the progress of the conflict between Queen Elizabeth I’s forces and those of the French Regent, the Queen Mother, Catherine de Medici.”
- A Most Curious Account of the Funeral of Queen Elizabeth I: April 28, 1603. April 28, 2019. “Once it was clear that James I would face no serious challenges, Cecil and the others could begin to give attention to the matter of the Queen’s funeral.”
- Check out the English Renaissance Article Index for many more articles and reviews about this fascinating time and about the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
- Check out the English Renaissance Letter Index for many letters from this fascinating time, some related to the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
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